Why Is there No App?!

[muffetmd]

Fuelly needs an app, the added exposure on the android marketplace/apple app store would increase membership an immense amount. There is no good reason why there is no app (a mom and pop restaurant down the street has an app!) I did not even know fuelly existed until earlier because it does not have good exposure (trust me I have google searched 100's of cars MPG and not once has fuelly been a top result). Get an app get exposure its that easy.

App = Exposure

[mathowie]

We have a mobile-friendly website that has been tested in all the popular smartphones:

http://www.fuelly.com/faq/11/Fuelly-Mobile

We are in the process of developing an API that will let any MPG-app author send their data to Fuelly, so we hope to start seeing some applications in a few months that will address this need in a way we can't currently.

[muffetmd]

The problem is not that there is no mobile access to the site the problem is exposure in my opinion. I feel that it would be well worth fuelly's time and money to just have an app built for them.

[pb]

Yeah, I think this is a question a lot of companies are facing right now: is the cost of app development worth it if the sole purpose is marketing? We're two Web developers, so we don't have the expertise in house to develop a native app for the various mobile platforms. That means hiring developers who are very much in demand right now. If the only goal is exposure, that is expensive exposure.

As Matt said, we're going another route by providing an API. Until then, we have Fuelly Mobile and entering data via SMS. Those are good methods of entering data on a phone.

[ralph124]

Personally I prefer having a bookmark to an app. Uses fewer resources on the phone, takes up less real estate on screen, and it's easier to find.

For those that want an app, there's one available now that is just a shortcut to m.fuelly.com. It's in the market.

[yads]

I just found the mobile site and it's perfect for what's needed. It's cross platform and it works for entering fuel ups. It'd be nice if the site also had some stats that you could look at.

[pb]

You should be able to jump over the standard Fuelly site on your phone for stats. Everything should work on a phone.

[crackhammer]

I am curious, why do you have to hire someone to develop an app? There are loads of companies that will do it for you? I don't know the cost implications but just my 2 cents.

[pb]

Loads of companies that do free development? I'm skeptical of that. But we don't want to put our name out there on something that doesn't work well. So we need to hire good developers to make that happen.

If our only purpose for making the app is exposure and marketing, we don't want a terrible product out there with the Fuelly name on it.