System and method for providing application programs to devices
A system and method are provided for installing applications on a mobile device at first device initialization. An installation client communicates with a management server at an initial start-up state of a mobile device. The management server identifies a set of applications that are available for installation on the client device, and provides the installation files to the device. The management server selects certain client devices for certain applications based on user segments, allowing customization of applications according to user data. This initialization-installation of application programs allows the user to have the experience of having access to pre-installed applications at device initialization, while allowing application providers and mobile network operators real-time management of application programs being offered, without requiring pre-installing a bundle of applications on a device prior to device distribution.
1. A system for providing applications to a client computing device, the system comprising a server computer adapted to:
determine an application program for installation on a set of client computing devices at the first boot initialization process of the client computing device in the set of client computing devices, based on a user segment associated with the application program, wherein a provider of the application program provides the system with a list that associates certain user segment identifiers with the application program to identify the user segment,
obtain, before the first boot initialization of the client computing device, at least one of demographic and behavioral data on users of each of a plurality of client computing devices,
identify in said plurality of client computing devices, the set of client computing devices associated with the user segment based on such data,
receive a request from a client computing device upon first boot initialization of a particular client computing device in the set of client computing devices associated with the user segment, and
send, in response to the request and during said first boot initialization process of said particular client computing device, installation data for the application program for automatic start of installation during said first boot initialization process on the particular client computing device associated with the user segment of the particular client computing device, before end user interaction is enabled;
wherein said demographic data is collected on users of said plurality of client computing devices at least upon first establishing of a service account, and
wherein said behavioral data is selected from a group consisting of purchase history of applications and devices, in-applications purchase history, call history and device usage data.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the client computing device is a mobile computing device.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein identifying a set of client computing devices includes determining the set of client computing devices from a list of client computing devices associated with the user segment.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein identifying a set of client computing devices includes comparing and matching user segment identifiers associated with client computing devices with user segment identifiers associated with the application program.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein identifying a set of client computing devices includes accessing a database storing user data associated with each of the client computing devices, determining one or more user segments for each client computing device based on the user data, and comparing and matching user segment identifiers associated with the client computing devices with user segment identifiers associated with the application program.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the demographic data is selected from the group including age, gender, ethnicity, language, income, education, occupation, and geographic location.
7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the geographic location is based on at least one of an address or area code, Internet Protocol (IP) address, or longitude/latitude.
8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the geographic location data is gathered from global positioning system or cellular tower identifiers.
9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the behavioral data is collected for users of the set of client computing devices who have an account history.
10. The system of claim 1 , wherein determining the application program for installation further comprises determining one or more of maximum downloads allowed by an application provider, date range of offering of application as available for downloading from the application provider, and one or more parameters set by the application provider when a promotion campaign is active for one or more application programs.
11. A system for providing applications to a client computing device, the system comprising a server computer storing instructions, which when executed, cause one or more processors to:
determine an application program for installation on a set of client computing devices at the first boot initialization process of client computing devices included in the set of client computing devices, based on a user segment associated with the application program, wherein the client computing devices are mobile computing devices, wherein a provider of the application program provides the system with a list that associates certain user segment identifiers with the application program to identify the user segment,
obtain, before receiving a notification of first boot initialization of the client computing devices, at least one of demographic data and behavioral data on users of each of a plurality of client computing devices,
identify in said plurality of client computing devices, the set of client computing devices associated with the user segment based on said data,
receive a notification of first device boot initialization of a particular client computing device,
identify when the particular client computing device is in the identified set of client computing devices associated with the user segment, and
send, during said first boot initialization process of said particular client computing device, and in response to receiving the notification of first boot initialization of the particular client computing device associated with the user segment and after identifying when the particular client computing device is in the identified set of client computing devices, installation data for the application program for automatic start of installation during said first boot initialization process on the particular client computing device before end user interaction is enabled;
wherein said demographic data is collected on users of said plurality of client computing devices at least upon first establishing of a service account, and
wherein said behavioral data is selected from a group consisting of purchase history of applications and devices, in-applications purchase history, call history and device usage data.
12. The system of claim 11 , wherein identifying the set of client computing devices comprises comparing and matching user segment identifiers associated with client computing devices with user segment identifiers associated with the application program.
13. The system of claim 11 , wherein identifying the set of client computing devices comprises accessing a database storing user data associated with each of the client computing devices, determining one or more user segments for each client computing device based on the user data, and comparing and matching user segment identifiers associated with the client computing devices with user segment identifiers associated with the application program.
14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the user segment identifiers associated with the client computing devices are selected from the group consisting of an international mobile station equipment identity (IMEI), international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI), mobile device telephone number (MDN), Android advertising identifier (AAID), mobile country code and mobile network code (MCCMNC), and location.
15. A method for providing applications to a client computing device, the method comprising:
determining, by a server, an application program for installation on a set of client computing devices at the first boot initialization process of a client computing device in the set of client computing devices, based on a user segment associated with the application program, wherein a provider of the application program provides the system with a list that associates certain user segment identifiers with the application program to identify the user segment;
obtaining, before the first boot initialization of the client computing device, at least one of demographic data and behavioral data on users of each of a plurality of client computing devices;
identifying in said plurality of client computing devices, the set of client computing devices associated with the user segment based on said data;
receiving a request from a client computing device upon first initialization of a particular client computing device in the set of client computing devices associated with the user segment; and
sending, in response to the request and during said first boot initialization process of said particular client computing device, installation data for the application program for automatic start of installation during said first boot initialization process on the particular client computing device associated with the user segment of the particular client computing device, before end user interaction is enabled;
wherein said demographic data is collected on users of said plurality of client computing devices at least upon first establishing of a service account, and
wherein said behavioral data is selected from a group consisting of purchase history of applications and devices, in-applications purchase history, call history and device usage data.
16. The method of claim 15 , wherein said client computing device is a mobile computing device.