an introduction:
Our Arab world lacks statistical studies in many fields. These studies are lacking in the field of iPhone, iPad and iPod touch systems, which constitutes a large gap between Arab application developers and Arab users. Neither the developers know the needs of the users nor the users are satisfied with the many Arabic applications. Therefore, the idea of this study was to be a reference for developers and a guide for users in pursuit of advancing the use of technology in the Arab world.
The aim of the research:
The aim of this research was to find a reliable reference for Arab user behavior and their interaction with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch applications. And an attempt to shed light on the positive behavior, evaluate the negative behavior, and provide a reference for Arab developers to upgrade the level of Arab applications and meet the needs of Arab users.
Research materials and methods:
This study was done by designing a questionnaire that was published on the Internet and inviting users of Apple iOS operating systems to participate in it .. The amount of participation was wonderful, as the number of those who participated in the questionnaire reached XNUMX, which is about five times more than most foreign questionnaires that discussed similar topics. The participants were distributed over XNUMX countries, with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia the largest percentage (XNUMX%), and Arab participants living in foreign countries XNUMX% of the total participants.
Data were collected and categorized, all notes were read carefully, and posts that did not meet all requirements were neutralized to obtain more accurate results. Then, these results were analyzed and converted into graphic charts to facilitate presentation of the information.
Results and discussion:
According to the results of this study, most of the iPhone users in the Arab countries (XNUMX%) are between the ages of XNUMX-XNUMX years, which corresponds to the fact that the Arab nation is considered a young nation, and young people make up most of its age structure.
Most of them (XNUMX%) carry an iPhone XNUMX device. Which indicates that the Arab market is becoming, day after day, a promising market for Apple ... which may give an indication to Apple that it is necessary to improve the support of the Arabic language in its products.
Although most Arab users of the iPhone download the latest version of it. However, they are not yet much purchasing power in the App Store. As XNUMX% of Arab users do not purchase paid apps from the app store. And replace them with free or crack applications. And it may be that the lack of suitable payment methods for many users is what drives them and not their unwillingness to buy (as indicated by many of the notes accompanying the questionnaire). A third of the group that buys from the App Store spends less than $ XNUMX a month.
Installus, which can be installed from the Cydia store, is an important way to download cracked applications. More than half of the people (XNUMX%) use it, and the important point is that only XNUMX% take into account not to download Arabic apps through it despite the presence of several fatwas prohibiting downloading these applications (especially if their developers are Muslims) (Review the article on the Islamic ruling of jailbreak and crack and clarify the difference between them)
Whereas more than half of Arab users search for free applications or download a cracked version of paid applications. We invite developers to try relying on ads to generate income, especially since XNUMX% of users thanks this method and XNUMX% of users are not bothered by the presence of these ads.
But the question remains: Can ads generate enough income for developers? We also advise developers to provide a free version of their applications .. Most Arab users (XNUMX%) prefer to try the free version before purchasing the full version.
Moving on to try to analyze how the user chooses their applications. We find that the Arab user tries to search for the appropriate applications for his needs in the application store mainly. Then websites and friends recommend good apps.
The content of the app is the most important factor in choosing. Most people (XNUMX%) clearly rely on it. Then comes the fact that the application is free .. Then come other factors such as the design, the extent of its spread among iPhone users, and the level of its rating.
Despite the tendency of most users to search for good content for applications, less than 2010% of them try to benefit from the experiences of others by reading their reviews of the application. While some foreign statistics (AppStorm XNUMX) indicate that XNUMX% of foreign users consider application evaluation very important in the purchase process, and this is a point that must be focused on to change the behavior of the Arab user.
As for the nature of the applications that Arab users download ... we find that social networking applications are parallel to Islamic applications ... and together they occupy the list of the most downloaded applications in the Arab world.
Then comes the games and some other classifications .. It is clear that most Arabs consider the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch as entertainment and entertainment and do not use them seriously to increase productivity in their work, despite the presence of amazing applications that help in improving productivity significantly.
Most Arabs (XNUMX%) use their devices for reading, which is a wonderful percentage that I did not expect .. It seems that the reading nation has returned to reading with the presence of modern technologies.
However, the Arabic references were not included in the list of the most downloaded applications .. The reason may be that the Arabic content is not yet available in a quality that matches the aspirations of Arab users. Here comes the role of developers and institutions in providing appropriate digital content and taking advantage of all the features provided by modern technology.
Recommendations
- Dedicating some articles on the use of the iPhone to increase productivity .. it is something that may add a lot to the performance of users in various fields of their work.
- Writing an article explaining how Apple deals with developers .. Many participants blame Apple for the prices of the apps or the quality of their content, which are matters that Apple does not interfere with. Rather, Apple's role is limited to the applications in reviewing its performance and compatibility with the device and addressing the issue of purchase.
- Writing an article about InApp Purches, because many users think that it is a hoax that some apps are free to download and then charge for downloading the content.
- Conducting more surveys regarding younger age groups, usage of jailbreaking, and education.
- Encouraging developers to experiment with funding their applications through ads and making them available for free to users.
- Focusing on promoting Arabic content and presenting it in a professional format that helps users read.
This study was presented by: Dr. Lujain El-Gabawi
Sponsored site iPhoneIslam
the source: Questionnaire about the behavior of the Arab user in the application store
149 comment