When the first iPhone was released over 10 years ago, few people understood the real potential smartphones had. At the time, there was no app store. There were only your basic iPhone OS applications and access to web browsing.
Fast forward to today and there are more than 2.3 billion smartphones worldwide. Not only are there a whole lot more of them, but they’re also a whole lot faster and a whole lot smarter. The mobile industry is booming, and in many ways, it’s the people behind the apps we use who are defining the mobile experience.
At Denver-based POSSIBLE Mobile, they’re helping brands and businesses reach consumers where they’re most engaged: on their phones. But more importantly, they’re helping them remain competitive in a space that is constantly changing.
“We help these brands evolve with the technology curves,” said CEO Ben Reubenstein. “The pace at which Apple is innovating on a yearly basis is something to keep up with. You have to stay ahead. Many big enterprises will have these two-year plans, but that’s not the way that mobile works. You have to be much more agile and get things to market sooner.”
But what makes POSSIBLE Mobile different from the other mobile shops in town? According to Reubenstein, it comes down to their passion, their process and their willingness to continue broadening the scope of their work for clients.
Reubenstein, along with other members of the company’s leadership, was an early adopter of the iPhone. Driven by nothing more than a passion for Apple’s technology and software development, he built one of the first applications to appear in the app store — long before the days of Instagram, Snapchat and Angry Birds.
That same passion drives his team today, but their process is much more methodical. When approaching any project, Reubenstein says iteration is key.
“We really work to understand the end-user of the product, holding the phone in their hand — seeing, touching, and feeling,” he said. “And that involves doing testing of the work we’re doing. So from a design perspective, we’re building simple prototypes, testing those with small focus groups, and understanding what the pain points are. Because if you can do some of that work up front, you save a lot of time and money later on when you actually go out and build the solution.”
Looking ahead, Reubenstein said it’s no longer just about mobile. With the rise of IoT technology, smartphones are now just another strand in a web of interconnected devices. In order to help their clients stay on the cutting edge, POSSIBLE Mobile need to build apps that go beyond the smartphone.
“The real opportunity, and where I want to take POSSIBLE Mobile, is making these experiences more seamless,” he said. “As you move from your phone to your computer to, say, a voice-activated device — all of these pieces are coming together and each of them has the information that the other has. The device is really just a way to do input, output, but we want to be able to orchestrate that experience.”
POSSIBLE Mobile now helps their clients integrate their mobile apps with devices like Amazon Alexa, Chromecast, Apple TV and Apple Watch.
“Over time, we’ve seen everything get faster, the networks are getting better, and our tools are getting more powerful,” Reubenstein said. “As a result, we’re able to do more for our customers in terms of features and in terms of things that will ultimately impact their business.”
Photos via POSSIBLE Mobile.
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