Haarlem, Netherlands – The App developer Crunding, today is proud to announce it has changed its name to Impala Studios and merged a number of development branches into one. The developer’s portfolio now accounts for the apps Flight +, Flight Companion, Reader for Craigslist, Vegas Slots, Calculator HD, Alarm Clock 4 Free, Alarm Clock HD and Video Tube. The apps, with combined downloads upwards of 65 million, represent some of the most popular content browsing and utility apps in the Amazon, Google and Apple App stores.
Until now, these apps had been released by branches of Crunding BV, an app building company based in the Netherlands. The brands had been introduced to the public separately, so it will be surprising to some that they all belong to the same company. Impala Studios will continue to support and develop the products, providing a recognisable brand for users and advertisers.
Background:
The original developer accounts: FCSS, IAFTT, The Alarm Clock Company, Vegas Casinos, Guies and YY Music Video were set up to represent different groups of products and were developed by Crunding. Crunding was set up in 2009 and will now continue as Impala Studios. As the mobile app market matures, it is becoming more important to form a recognisable brand. Having a single brand will have the dual benefit of letting users communicate with one, trustworthy partner whilst forming a large publisher that is of interest to business partners.
Why are these apps being merged into Impala Studios? “We have a strong focus on utility apps and content browsing through a touch interface,” explained Frank List, CTO at Impala Studios. “Video Tube, Reader for Craigslist and IAFTT’s flight apps for example, make browsing a huge amount of data a pleasant experience on a tablet or a phone. These apps fit together well, just like our utility apps and there is considerable synergy on a technical level too, in developer knowledge and server infrastructure. Most of all we think that our users and business partners will associate more strongly with Impala Studios than the somewhat impersonal Crunding branches.”
What will change? “In the direct future, not much will change. Impala Studios will continue to offer the Apps in Free and Ad-Free editions and we will continue to support the apps,” said Peter Schotvanger, CCO at Impala Studios. “Our advertising partners will have more space to advertise and Impala Studios will be more recognisable as a company that continues to innovate in non-intrusive advertising. For users some things will improve: Impala Studios believes in listening to user experiences and adapting our products regularly so there will be more updates. We will keep improving the apps according to users’ wishes; our development teams are passionate about providing users a beautiful, engaging experience.”
What else does Impala Studios have in store? “Impala Studios will soon include even more apps,” commented Frank List. “We can’t announce too much yet, but we will soon expand the portfolio with a number of utility apps that we think fit very well with our utility apps – I think people will be surprised by how many users are already served by our apps.”
App Portfolio:
Flight + and Flight Companion: The apps for iOS and Android respectively, keep track of your flights and trips to help you catch your flight, see delays and transfer easily. The app uses a real-time database with all of the world’s flights and airports. These apps used to be released under the IAFTT branch.
Reader for Craigslist: Regular visitors of the classified ad site Craigslist will know how hard it is to use on a tablet or a phone. We developed a mobile reader that gives you the same content, but with a compelling, easy to use touch interface. Reader for Craigslist was developed under the FCSS branch.
Vegas Slots: A multi-platform slot machine, running on any iOS and Android device including Amazon Underground and Apple TV. This was developed and maintained by Vegas Slots developer account.
Calculator HD: An old fashioned desktop calculator for the iPad, complete with material buttons and a paper history tape. The app was developed by Guies.
Alarm Clock 4 Free and Alarm Clock HD: Full-featured Alarm Clocks with customizable interface and alarms and integrated weather. Alarm Clock HD also includes News and Twitter integration whilst Alarm Clock 4 Free has a large number of themes to choose from. Alarm Clock HD is the most popular alarm clock next to Apple’s pre-installed Clock and is also available for Android and in the Amazon Underground store. Alarm Clock 4 Free is regularly at the top of search results and the utility category in the App store. The apps were developed by the Alarm Clock Company.
Video Tube: A video viewing app that was originally developed as a YouTube viewer for iOS – the app now includes Dailymotion and Vimeo content and is available on iOS and Android. Previously it was developed by YY Music Video.
Impala Studios
Impala Studios Apps
Press Kit (zip)
Based in Haarlem, the Netherlands, Impala Studios is a mobile development studio of twenty international developers. The company’s slogan is “Creating Usability,” emphasizing the core values of Quality, Design and Utility. The founders have worked together since 1998 and still own the company – Frank List, an iOS programmer, is the CTO and Peter Schotvanger, graphical designer, is the CCO. Impala Studios develops for App stores only, delivering to Apple’s App Store, Google Play and Amazon. Specializing in utility- and content browsing apps with a few games in portfolio, their products are some of the most popular in-category, with regular no.1 listings. Copyright (C) 2015 Impala Studios BV. All Rights Reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, iPhone, iPad and iPod are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. Other trademarks and registered trademarks may be the property of their respective owners.