O2 starts pushing mobile application developer service to customers

GoMo News got an email from O2 today, telling us that the “Litmus” service from the operator is being moved to the next stage in its development. This is being done via an ad campaign, targeted at 1 million O2 subscribers. But what is Litmus?

The Litmus Test

Named after the famous chemistry test taught to children in high school (secondary school for those at home), O2 Litmus is intended to be an incredibly quick and easy way to test mobile applications. It operates kind of like a social network - except all of the users are developers or application users. There are a lot of developer portals run by networks, and they all offer the same broad range of services. O2 is trying to mix it up by giving developers the chance to get user feedback while the application is still in development.

So, Litmus offers the software, APIs and developer support that any operator would provide. The consumer side is there to give the developer an idea of how the market will react long before the app is ready. It’s an interesting two-sided sword - I’m sure there’s a lot of valuable data to be gleaned there, but letting people see your product before it’s actually ready can be a big turn off.

The consumers seem to be offered two incentives by O2 to get in there and test applications:

1) Get access to cutting edge apps months before anyone else, and seriously annoy everyone you know by lording it over them
2) If you test an app, you get it for free if it launches

What’s the news?

Litmus was originally launched back in January, but it has mostly been involved in attracting developers since then. After all, the site does have the necessary infrastructure (including APIs, development and marketing support) to interest an app maker. It’s only now that O2 feels it has enough developers on board to let the consumers in. So O2 is running a targeted campaign to get what it considers to be the right kind of consumer involved.

What’s the right kind of consumer?

You need to have a decent phone. That’s the very first criterion that O2 revealed. Makes sense - you won’t be bothered by Litmus if you can’t run an app. You also need to be in the right demographic.  I’m guessing males aged 18 - 34 will be the primary one. And you need to have a history of mobile data use.

From the release:

James Parton, Head of O2 Litmus: “We have learnt and developed so much since O2 Litmus launched in January 2009. We are confident that the model is right and we have critical mass of developers and applications inside Litmus. This marketing push has long been in the pipeline and it’s great news that we’re now welcoming so many new people to Litmus.”

What we think?

This could be an incredibly valuable service to developers… but they will have to be carfeul. The problem here is that you are making app development more personal. If a user has a problem with your app, they can now berate you for it personally over the network you share. And if the internet has taught us anything, it’s that for every tester who has something useful to tell you, you’ll get two more who simply give you trouble for not doing things the way they want you to. Like a TV actor who lets harsh comments from a test sample destroy their confidence, this kind of personal feedback can be dangerous information. Like I said, this service can probably be used to great effect by a developer - but they’d better have thick skin and the patience to sift for diamonds.