Alliance in the News

Latest News

Application Developers Alliance President Appointed to FDA Health IT Workgroup

Washington, D.C. (April 22, 2013) – Application Developers Alliance President Jon Potter has been appointed to a new workgroup charged with helping federal agencies develop a framework for health IT regulations, including rules for mobile medical apps. Congress established the workgroup in last year’s Food and Drug Safety and Innovation Act to provide industry insight as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) develop a report to Congress on a regulatory framework for health IT. / Read more.

Application Developers Alliance Applauds Hearing on Patent Troll Abuse at ITC

Washington, D.C. (April 16, 2013) – Today, the Application Developers Alliance praised the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet for its continuing investigation of abusive patent litigation. Today’s hearing, “Abusive Patent Litigation: The Issues Impacting American Competiveness and Job Creation at the International Trade Commission and Beyond,” focuses on how patent cases are handled before the International Trade Commission (ITC). / Read more.

Letter to FTC Chair Edith Ramirez Requesting Delay of COPPA Implementation

Washington, D.C. (April 15, 2013) – Today, the Application Developers Alliance is asking the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to delay the effective date of changes to the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The revised rules, which go into effect July 1, create significant new obligations for app developers and their partners. Delaying the rules would give developers more time to understand the requirements, to consult with partners regarding re-engineering their apps, and to make the necessary changes. Additional time will also provide the FTC an opportunity to provide guidance materials that promote compliance. / Read more.

Alliance Hosts Developer Patent Summit in LA

Los Angeles, CA (April 11, 2013) - Last night, the Alliance hosted the second event in its 15-city Developer Patent Summit tour. Perry Robinson, VP & Associate General Counsel at Rackspace Hosting, delivered the keynote address. Gary Rinkerman, a partner at Drinker Biddle, gave a presentation. / See photos and read more.

Alliance Attends NTIA Multistakeholder Meeting on Mobile App Transparency

Washington, D.C. (April 4, 2013) - Today the Alliance will be at the latest meeting of the NTIA-convened privacy multistakeholder process regarding mobile application transparency. / Learn more.

Application Developers Alliance Adds Ten Members

Washington, D.C. (March 28, 2013) - Today the Application Developers Alliance added ten new companies to its growing membership. Appfuel, Humetrix, Legcyte, My Apps Co., Ordr.in, Ridepost, SNOBSWAP, Sociocast, TrendPo, and the Trip Tribe joined the Alliance as corporate members. The companies include startups offering cutting-edge services across a broad spectrum of the industry. / Read more.

Alliance Hosts Event on Discoverability: How to Get Noticed in a Marketplace Overflowing with Apps

San Francisco, CA (March 28, 2013) - Last night the Alliance and the Emerging Technology & Research Working Group presented a panel on discoverability at Yelp’s headquarters in San Francisco. Discussion included the latest information on how to get an app noticed, climb app store search results, and grow a business. / Read more.

California Legislature Actively Debating Privacy Legislation

Sacramento, CA (March 27, 2013) - The Alliance closely monitors legislative activity that could affect our industry. The California State Legislature reviews several “privacy” bills each year, but this year legislators have been particularly active, introducing more than a dozen bills. They seem intent on passing a bill that would transform companies’ collection, usage, storage, and sharing of consumers’ data. In fact, the Speaker of the California Assembly, John Perez, established a new “Select Committee on Privacy” to consider these bills. / Read more.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Responds to Congress on Regulation of Health and Medical Apps

Washington, D.C. (March 21, 2013) - Today the Department of Health and Human Services responded to Congress on proposed regulation of Health and Medical Apps. / Read the letter here.

Alliance Member Rackspace Testifies at House Small Business Committee Hearing

Washington, D.C. (March 21, 2013) – Today, Application Developers Alliance member Rackspace testified before the House Small Business Committee’s Subcommittee on Health and Technology. The hearing, “Protecting Small Businesses against Emerging and Complex Cyber-Attacks,” focused on cyber-attacks that affect emerging technologies used by many of today’s small businesses. / Read more.

Alliance Member Happtique Testifies at House Energy and Commerce Committee Hearing

Washington, D.C. (March 19, 2013) - Today Alliance member Happtique testified before the House Energy and Commerce Committee. The hearing, “Harnessing Wireless Innovation,” was the first in a three-day series exploring Health Information Technologies and addressed the possibility of FDA regulation of health apps as medical devices and the effect of regulation on health innovation. / Read more.

Intel Joins the Application Developers Alliance Board of Directors

Washington, D.C. (March 13, 2013) – Today, the Application Developers Alliance announced that Intel has joined its Board of Directors. The Board is made up of representatives from across the industry, including award winning app development companies, carriers, app service providers, startups and startup accelerators, and global manufacturers. Roger Chandler, Director of Business Planning and Innovation within Intel’s Developer Relations Division, will serve on the Board. / Read more.

Alliance Speaks Out on Concern that Smartphones Could Be Taxed as Medical Devices

(March 11, 2013) - In yesterday's Burrill Report, Alliance President Jon Potter was quoted on the concern that smartphones running medical apps could be taxed as medical devices. / Read the article.

Alliance Team at SXSW / Read more.

Alliance at LAUNCH Festival

(March 8, 2013) - Earlier this week, the Alliance attended LAUNCH Festival in San Francisco, CA. The event featured over 5,000 registered attendees all huddled in the San Francisco Design Concourse and swarming booths to see the newest and most interesting apps, devices, and ideas. / Read more.

Alliance Hosts "Unbiased, Real and Raw: Developer Insight and Opportunity" at Mobile World Congress

Barcelona, Spain (February 28, 2013) - The Alliance is co-sponsoring today's programming at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona with the App Quality Alliance and developerprogram.com. "Unbiased, Real and Raw: Developer Insight and Opportunity" is a full day of sessions focusing on upcoming trends, tools, and the demand for quality applications. / Read more.

How Patent Trolls are Harming Innovation

Washington, D.C. (February 28, 2013) - Today, the Alliance's Tim Sparapani spoke on a panel about how patent trolls are harming innovators and startups. The panel was hosted by the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and included panelists. / Lean more.

Alliance LaunchesAlliance Launches Kids and Education Working Group

Washington, D.C. (February 26, 2013) – Today the Application Developers Alliance launched its Kids and Education working group. Comprised of Alliance members, the group’s goal is to create more and better opportunities for the development of apps for children, parents, and teachers. / Read the full release.

Alliance Testifies before Maryland Senate Committee on Finance

Annapolis, MD (February 19, 2013) - Today the Alliance testified before the Maryland State Senate Committee on Finance in opposition to SB 374, which threatens to undercut Maryland’s growing app economy by creating a “no-kids-app-zone” that invites companies to move to Virginia and the District of Columbia to build their businesses. / Read the full testimony.

Alliance and Board Member Testify before Maryland House of Delegates

Annapolis, Maryland (February 6, 2013) - Today, the Application Developers Alliance and its Board member Josh Matthews, CEO of Apkudo, testified before the Maryland House of Delegates Committee on Economic Matters opposing House Bill 316. Maryland's app economy ranks 15th in the nation, with an economic impact of $436 million annually. The bill would proposes an inconsistent extension of the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) that would undermine Maryland's app development community, including mobile ad networks, without adding meaningful protections for Maryland's children. Moreover, the bill would diminish the number of apps available for kids, parents, and teachers. / Read more.

Alliance at BlackBerry Jam Europe

Amsterdam (February 6, 2013) - The Alliance attended at BlackBerry Jam Europe, an unprecedented showcase for BlackBerry development. Alliance Evangelist Hessel van Tuinen represented the Alliance at this Amsterdam event.

Business and Revenue Working Group Forms DeveloperWeek Panel

San Francisco, CA (February 5, 2013) - Today, the Alliance's Business and Revenue Working Group formed a DeveloperWeek panel on "Challenges in Monetization." The panel was moderated by working group Chair Trevor Cornwell of Appbackr and featured members Yoko Nakagawa of Smaato, Robi Ganguly of Apptentive, and Nina Sodhi of Blu Trumpet. DeveloperWeek is a 4-day educational conference with more than 1,000 attendees, featuring app development contests, developer tech exhibitors, startup lightning pitches, and keynote talks.

Alliance Comments on Federal Trade Commission's Report on Mobile Privacy

Washington, D.C. (February 1, 2013) – Today, the Application Developers Alliance commented on the report released by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on mobile privacy. "We’re pleased that the FTC is joining our call to favor simple, short-form notices to consumers that will effectively communicate what data apps are collecting and with whom that data is shared. Long, legalistic privacy policies benefit only the lawyers who write them and can read them. We welcome the Commission's approval of the progress made at the U.S. Department of Commerce/NTIA multi-stakeholder meetings, and the Commission's intent to look favorably on app developers and publishers that implement the voluntary mobile app transparency codes that result from the NTIA process. The App Developers Alliance and three leading consumer organizations have led the consensus-building process for several months, and we look forward to concluding soon,” said Alliance President Jon Potter. / Read more.

Alliance Board Member Nicole Glaros of TechStars Encourages Companies and Individuals to Join the Alliance

(January 26, 2013) - Read Board Member Glaros' full post on her blog, Nearly Nicole: "App Developers Unite with the Application Developers Alliance." / Read the post.

Application Developers Alliance Welcomes First of the 2013 Class

Washington, D.C. (January 24, 2013) – Today, the Application Developers Alliance welcomed its first new corporate members of 2013. The new members include AdMobix, Bunndle, Filament Games, Flatter World, Kinvey, and Common Sense Media, joining as an associate member. / Read more.

Alliance President Speaks at Churchill Club with CPO of Microsoft and Executive Director of the World Privacy Forum

San Jose, CA (January 23, 2013) - Alliance President Jon Potter spoke on a Churchill Club panel titled, "Open Forum: The Privacy Gap." Moderated by Facebook's former Chief Privacy Officer, the panel also featured Microsoft's current CPO, FTC Attorney Laura Berger, and Pam Dixon, Executive Director of the World Privacy Forum. / Read more.

Member News: AppStori and Grafighters featured in The Wall Street Journal

(January 18, 2013) - In The Wall Street Journal's "The Accelerator" blog, the article "Create a ‘Discovery Platform’ to Connect With Investors" profiles Alliance members AppStori and Grafighters. / Read the article here.

"After a year, Application Developers Alliance counts 20,000 developers, 120 corporate members"

(January 18, 2013) - To mark the one-year anniversary of the Application Developers Alliance, FierceDeveloper sat down with Alliance President Jon Potter to discuss the Alliance's member-driven agenda, 2012 successes, and policy objectives for 2013. / Read the full article.

Alliance Attends Eighth NTIA Meeting on Mobile App Transparency

Washington, D.C. (January 17, 2013) - Yesterday the Alliance attended the NTIA's eighth meeting on mobile app transparency. The agenda worked towards finalizing the proposal that the Alliance developed with consumer groups. The next meeting will be held on January 31.

Alliance VP of Law, Policy, and Government Relations Speaks at FOSI's COPPA Redux Event

Washington, D.C. (January 10, 2013) - Today the Alliance's Tim Sparapani spoke at the Family and Online Safety Institute's event, "COPPA Redux: Implications of the updated Children's Online Privacy Protection Act Rule." Learn about the Alliance's reaction to the FTC's changes.

Alliance Thanks California Attorney General for Issuing Privacy Recommendations for App Developers

Washington, D.C. (January 10, 2013) – Today, Application Developers Alliance President Jon Potter thanked California Attorney General Kamala Harris for her thoughtful guidelines for app developers in Privacy on the Go: Recommendations for the Mobile Ecosystem. / Read more.

Member News: Speek Launches iPhone App for Super Simple Conference Calls

(January 7, 2013) - Congratulations to Alliance member Speek, who has just released a new iPhone app for free, visual and mobile conference calls. Get details and download the app from the company's blog.

"Software patent progress? Hopefully, it’s just a start"

(January 3, 2013) - In a PandoDaily Op-Ed, Alliance President Jon Potter writes on the challenges that application developers face from the software patent system. / Read the op-ed.

Alliance News: Startups Team Up with Application Developers Alliance

Washington, D.C. (January 2, 2013) – Today, the Application Developers Alliance welcomed twelve thriving startups as corporate members. Mentorship-driven startup accelerator TechStars has joined, along with Animoca, CoFoundersLab, Find Your Lobster, Grafighters, HugeFan, LearnStreet, PapayaMobile,PlacePlay, Ruckus Media, Uppidy, and Virtual Nerd. TechStars’ Nicole Glaros will serve on the Application Developers Alliance Board of Directors in 2013. / Read more.

December 2012

Commentary: Mobile commerce - approaching $1 trillion and growing

Member News: Edmodo Hits 15 Million Users

Alliance News: App Developers Alliance Adds Eight More Corporate Member s

November 2012

Events: Variety Entertainment Apps Conference and Awards Dinner

Events: Alliance Hosts Washington, D.C. Privacy Summit

Member News: LeadBolt delivers a world's first with Gyro-based performance advertising

Alliance News: Ten More Companies Team Up with the Application Developers Alliance

Alliance News: Application Developers Alliance Launches Mobile Payments Working Group

Alliance Congratulates Member AT&T on Major Investment in the Future of App Development

Events: Alliance Sponsors Tech Cocktail's Mixer at DC Week