Android Tablet on The Church App Platform

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Introducing Android Tablet to the Subsplash Platform. Last year, Android tablet accounted for 61% of all tablet sales. And today, there’s a tablet in nearly 2/3rds of every US household. There are more ways to engage people today than ever before, and tablets have become a preferred avenue for experiencing media. With that in mind, we’ve thoughtfully spent the last year developing a rich and intuitive experience on Android tablet. Every detail in our apps are crafted with the end user in mind. From incredibly fast speeds, visually stunning media delivery, and a new robust sharing experience tailored to each unique user and their desired sharing outlets.

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Android Tablet on the Subsplash Platform:

+ Available on a plethora of devices including: Nexus 7, Nexus 10, Samsung Note, Samsung Note, Samsung Galaxy and many more. + We wanted to build something that displayed media beautifully. Leveraging the capabilities of the Android Tablet UX, your media experience has never been better. + Video experience improvements. + Audio experience improvements. + Updated Now Playing experience. + Your large high res artwork looks brilliant within the app. + We've revamped the download experience. Managing and viewing your downloads is simple and intuitive. + Our improved sharing experience is delightful! Your audio and video content can now be shared from more places within the app than ever before, and to all of your social networks.

Available for download in the Google Play Store.

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Are you ready to go mobile? With the Subsplash platform, you can now offer your own customized app on iPhone, iPad, Android Phone, Windows Phone, and Android Tablet. Sign up for the Subsplash Platform today.

Already one of our wonderful clients? Upgrade to add Android Tablet to your suite of apps today.

Stories from The Church: The Village Church

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"Thank you to all the Subsplash staff who worked to get our mobile app live this week. We’ve received rave reviews already about it because it provides one more medium to extend our messages about the gospel out to the world. Your team worked tirelessly and patiently with us to get this accomplished. I cannot thank you enough for all you guys have done. We love you guys and pray the Lord’s rich blessings on you and your team members. May the gospel be shared over and over through the work you guys do and may our great King’s name be glorified.”

-Matt Chandler, Lead Pastor of The Village Church

The Village Church, lead by Pastor Matt Chandler, is a church of 10,000 people across four campuses in the Dallas, Texas area. "The Village Church exists to bring glory to God by making disciples through gospel-centered worship, gospel-centered community, gospel-centered service and gospel-centered multiplication. The gospel is the story of God reconciling and redeeming a broken creation and fallen creatures to Himself through the life, death, resurrection and future return of Jesus Christ. Our hope and desire is that the gospel would stand at the center of all that we do. It is what directs and defines us. It is our identity." Since launching in May of 2012 The Village Church App has had almost 150,000 downloads, 15x more than their congregation.

I was able to catch up with Scott Ballard, Web Manager at The Village Church, to talk about the impact that The Church App has been having on their church.

Q: What was the heart behind creating your app?

A:“The purpose of creating the app for us was another way to get the Gospel out to an audience we may or may not have been reaching in the first place. We really appreciate the ease of getting the Gospel in the hands and hearts of people through The Church App. We’ve really enjoyed the experience so far and it is serving us really well.” said Ballard.

Q: Have there been any surprising benefits of the app?

A:“We have been especially pleased with the amount of traffic/impressions coming through the app. Social traffic has been huge and much greater than anticipated. Not only that, but the global impact has been really tangible through the app.”

Q: Do you have anything you'd like to share about your experience with The Church App?

A:“Your level of service has been exceptional. TCA is fantastic and your heart to get the gospel out really struck me. We like to partner with people that love the Lord and the Gospel. There is nothing remotely negative to list. The Church App has been a welcomed addition to our family, and has really met our need and served the body well.”

 Download The Village Church App here.

Redeemer Presbyterian: +100,000 Downloads

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Most churches make it a goal to reach out and serve their cities and communities well. What does that look like when your church just so happens to be located in Manhattan? In the case of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, they actually formed out of a heart for serving the city instead of the other way around. In 1989, a group of 15 Christians were meeting as a home bible study group and were praying for an opportunity to start a church. By 1993, 400-500 people were meeting for church each Sunday, and Redeemer Presbyterian Church was thriving in the city center with Tim Keller as the Senior Pastor.

“While no one had doubted God's direction in establishing a new church in Manhattan, neither had anyone expected an authentic revival. But so it seemed. New believers were being added weekly, skeptics were thronging to the services, every decision seemed blessed, and God provided for every need, sometimes before we even knew we had it. From its first morning worship service, Redeemer has grown to an average Sunday attendance of around 4500 per week, although it would be more accurate to say that there are about double that number who attend on a regular basis. Sunday services are held in different locations around the city and many ministries have been developed to address human needs in the city. ”

As our culture has become most readily accessible on mobile, Redeemer knew that was exactly where they needed to be. In 2011, Redeemer built the Redeemer Presbyterian App with The Church App Platform. Since the launch in 2011, they have just recently passed 100,000 downloads.

I recently had the opportunity to speak with Cregan Cooke, Director of Communications and Media at Redeemer, about their experience using The Church App Platform. The app was originally intended to be just another channel to get content out, and the actual results "have been far beyond what was expected" said Cooke. Not only has Redeemer's visibility been extended significantly in the tri-state area, but the impact both nationally and internationally has been really tangible. Redeemer has also seen a “significant savings by printing fewer bulletins” said Cooke, as their organization and congregation utilizes the full potential of the app. "There has been a very positive reaction to the app, and Tim (Keller) really likes the app and has been excited about the impact."

Inside the Redeemer App users are able to access hundreds of Redeemer's free sermons, the Redeemer Report monthly newsletter, Sunday worship bulletins, and a customized bible reading plan, among many other things.

Download the Redeemer Presbyterian App here.

Client Spotlight: ARC Churches

Last month, the Association of Related Churches (ARC) launched an app with Subsplash on the eve of their biggest conference of the year. ARC, an association of over 400 churches, provides resources and support to church planters and other church leaders. "Our primary goal for the app is to make it easier than ever for our church planters to stay connected to the ARC community," says Guy Walker, ARC Marketing and Development Coordinator.

During the conference the app proved invaluable: "The new ARC Churches app was the perfect tool for our church planters at the All Access Conference," explains Walker. "They were able to view the conference schedule and detailed information about speakers throughout the whole event."

Because the Subsplash App Platform gives clients real-time control over their app, Guy and his colleagues were able to communicate last-minute schedule and event changes to attendees using the app. "At one point a speaker told everyone they could find her speaking notes in the app. This was a few seconds after we added them!" says Walker.  "The ability to update on the fly has been amazing!"

We're very excited to be partnering with ARC and many other great ministries. If you're interested in planting a church, check out ARC's free online training for pastors: "The 8 Keys to Effective Church Planting".

For more information about developing an app with Subsplash, contact us!

Download the ARC Churches app here.

Do Churches Really Need an App?

It seems that everyone is talking about apps these days. A word once known more for its prowess at dinner parties has now become synonymous with mobile applications. With this craze, people everywhere are thinking, “hmm..maybe I should get an app for (insert creative thought here).” A word of caution, not all app ideas should be invested in and not every organization needs their own app. So how do you know if you should take this venture on, and if so, where do you start? The road of mobile development can be daunting, so it helps to plan well and to know where to start.

First off, there are many kinds of apps. For the sake of this conversation, I’m going to primarily focus on apps built for churches and ministries. For those looking to build an app for your organization, follow two simple rules: provide content and deliver quality. It needs to be done really well and it needs to have a reason for people to use it regularly.

If there is no reason for someone to download and then repeatedly want to use your app, it’s probably not going to be very successful. You need content, lots of fresh meaningful content. That’s one of the biggest reasons a lot of churches and ministries have had wildly successful apps.

At Subsplash, we have had the opportunity to work with incredible ministries of all sizes. We see over half a million page views daily on our platform. People are using it like crazy and the number one reason people use these ministry apps is to access media. Churches are in the unique place of being content creators and at least once a week there is a new sermon that they want to get into people’s hands. Not only are churches and ministries adding sermons to their apps, but there are a whole host of other things you can provide through the app such as blogs/news, events, online giving, sermon notes and bulletins, music, small group resources, Bibles and reading plans, and pretty much anything else you can think of. The app shouldn’t just be a duplicate of your site, but rather a source to get relevant content into people’s hands. Keep it simple and put your best foot forward.

Along with content, you need to make sure that your app is done incredibly well. As technology continues to develop, people demand more. They want it to be cooler, faster, smarter, and much more fun to use. So, if you have incredible content but you develop a sub-par app, people will hit the eject button before you get a second chance.

Apps are a powerful tool if done well. They can do much more than a mobile site or simply accessing the web through your phone. Take a feature like listening to audio in an app. If your app audio player only allows you to hit play and pause or do a simple fast-forward/rewind, you are going to add frustrations to the end user. What happens when you get a phone call while listening to a 45 minute sermon? Shouldn’t the app remember where you last left off? Or what if you live in a place where you don’t have the best cellular coverage, wouldn’t it be nice if you could download that audio for offline listening? These are just a few examples that seem like luxury items, until you start using the software and realize how important they truly are. We often don’t notice the quality until we use something that doesn’t meet our expectations. Don’t get caught being the church that built an app that was frustrating to use.

Overall, your app should be simple to use, it should work how you expect it to, and it should look really nice. It doesn’t have to win awards, but make sure it’s visually appealing and a delightful experience.

Most of the churches that have utilized our software have seen more downloads of their app than attendees in the church. Sometimes up to 50 times more downloads of their app than church members. Also, most churches see their sermon downloads increase as well as a spike in online giving. As an example, one church with a membership of 1000 people saw 2,000 downloads, 22,000 launches, and increased giving within the first six months of having their app. If your ministry has content and wants to present it well, doing an app might just be the right next step.

Discover more: Watch the video