It’s 2014. You make media. So you need a mobile app.
Dwnld Promises to Make You a Free Mobile App You’ll Want to Pay For
It will face lots of competition.
Peter Kafka covered media and technology, and their intersection, at Vox. Many of his stories can be found in his Kafka on Media newsletter, and he also hosts the Recode Media podcast.
Right?
Actually there’s a bit of debate about that: Lots of people are consuming lots of content via apps. But sometimes even when they’re on apps, they’re really on websites. And having an app doesn’t mean people will be able to find it, or that they’ll use it if they download it.
Still! If you have a website and you don’t have an app, many people are happy to make you one.
Here is the newest entrant: Dwnld says they will let you quickly turn your site into an iOS app with a couple key strokes, for free. Then they’ll charge you $15 a month to keep it running.
I’m in no position to argue about the merits of Dwnld versus any other app maker, but they did make us a slick demo version of Re/code:
http://vimeo.com/104751580
CEO Alexandra Keating says the company initially thought it would be going after bigger media brands, but now thinks it has an additional opportunity pitching YouTube stars and other people who have lots of digital influence but not a lot of infrastructure.
They’ll find other folks going after the same market, like Victorious, which is making mobile apps for video celebrities, and FanBread, which is going to start making mobile websites for video celebrities.
One advantage Keating may have here is a strong network of media and tech folks who are backing her: Her co-founder is Fritz Lanman, a former Microsoft dealmaker who has become a high-profile investor, and she has raised more than $2 million from people with lots of media credentials, including mega talent agency William Morris Endeavor and the Chernin Group.
Keating herself knows a lot of people: Her father is Paul Keating, a former Prime Minister of Australia, and if you Google her you’ll find she has a network of her own.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
