Twixl Distribution Platform for Distribution via App Stores - Details

Twixl Distribution Platform
- App Store and Inhouse Publishing Deployment Tool

Distribution Made Easy via App Stores (iOS, Google Play) and via inhouse publishing.

The Twixl Distribution Platform is a cloud-based service to manage the content in your app.
It also allows enterprises to publish all kind of apps, content/publications and
documents within the company network.

A Twixl app is basically like an empty shell that gets its content from the Twixl Distribution Platform.
On the platform, you will define the interface of your app, your navigation and
optionally manage who can get access to the content in the app.

The Twixl Distribution Platform lets you:

• Create and manage the interface and navigation of your apps
• Manage your content
• Push content from your own CMS
• Interface with the app stores and manage how your content is offered for sale
• Manage access to your content
• Optimize your bandwidth usage
• Analyze how readers interact with your app

What it is - The tool to deploy your apps to the App Stores

Once you have created your app you’ll want to distribute it in the app stores.
Single-issue apps can be published directly to the app stores,
but for multi-issue apps you need a distribution and storage platform.
That’s what the Twixl Distribution Platform is all about.

To publish multi-issue apps in the app stores you need a content management system (CMS)
to both manage users, content and store issues of multi-issue apps created with Twixl Publisher.
The Twixl Distribution Platform is a cloud-based backend CMS to manage and store content,
users and multi-issue apps created with Twixl Publisher.

The CMS allows you to set up multiple apps, and manage the issues in those apps.
Apps can contain free content, in-app purchase content (per issue),
and/or subscription content.

The Twixl Distribution Platform CMS will also manage the storage of the issues and determine
which issue(s) are going to be available to users that make a particular purchase.

The Twixl Distribution Platform also interacts with the App Store developer portals,
iTunes Connect (for iPad apps), Google Play Developer Console (for Android apps),
or Amazon (for Android apps on Kindle) to get detailed info about the content in the app.
This makes sure that for every purchase via the app store, the Twixl Distribution Platform
will let the user download the correct content.

Platform downloads are automatically optimized for the device,
so that an iPad retina will only get the retina content,
and a ‘standard’ iPad only the normal resolution version
(the same goes for 7” and 10” for Android devices).

Push notifications are also supported so you can send a notification message
to all existing users of your app when publishing a new issue.

Twixl Distribution Platform uses Akamai Content Delivery Network (CDN)
to ensure optimal download speeds from any location around the world.

How it works

The Twixl Distribution Platform offers different cloud-based services.
Basically these services manage the distribution of your content and
manage who gets to download which issues. Apart from this, it also enables
you to communicate with your subscribers by means of push notifications.

Frequently publishers may want to provide print subscribers of a publication
with free access to otherwise paid content in an app.
The Twixl Distribution Platform supports this as an extra option / ‘Entitlement’.

• major increase in download speed
• optimized network of servers and intelligent software
• content is cached on different servers across the world

Browse pages

In terms of content apps we all know the kiosk approach.
Working article-based you are not bound to one specific setup,
you can layout your app interface just the way you want it to.

On the Twixl Distribution Platform you can create the interface for your app
by using 'browse pages' that guide your readers through your content.

Using a graphical user interface, you can easily preview the complete look and feel
of your browse page, and changes you make are reflected immediately.
You can create a separate setup for tablets and phones.

These browse pages are essential to increase the reach of your app
and let you guide your readers to the content you want to emphasize.
Even if you are publishing on a regular interval it offers the capability
not only to better present what you have to offer,
but also to focus on different items from time to time.

Browse pages can highlight different types of links to your content:

• Single articles
• Collections of articles
• Images
• Movies
• A placeholder
• Web links
• Web viewers

Twixl Publisher lets you work with browse pages to introduce your content and
with a menu/navigation to guide your readers through your content.
You can work with one introduction browse page or with different browse pages,
even using a specific browse page per collection of articles.

You can define which article(s) you are going to emphasize,
which specific chapters or sections you want to put in the spotlight,
how you’ll provide an overview for readers to access all your legacy content, …

Based on a grid layout you can layout every single cell of your browse pages.
This interface can be a classic kiosk approach, a continuous channel approach,
a combination of both, anything you want.
You are in control and you can define how you want to guide your readers
through your content.

Next to the browse pages you can also define your own menu/navigation
in the same way you define your browse pages.
This makes it even easier for the user to find its way through your content.
Use the browse pages to introduce the content and the menu to guide the reader.

This approach combined with the ability to publish article by article
is offering you a tremendous flexibility.

Note that the configuration of your app’s interface is fully server-driven,
so any change you make on the platform of different display parameters
of your browse pages and menu is reflected in your app on the fly.
This means that there is no need to update the app itself,
nor need to resubmit an app update, if you just want to update
the look and feel and the organization of your browse pages.

The Twixl App Reviewer also lets you review your entire app,
both the interface with all browse pages, and the contents itself.

Manage your content

Apps can use Adobe InDesign-based content, HTML content, PDF and
also standalone images and movies.

The Twixl Distribution Platform lets you managing your mobile content.
You define which articles, issues or collections will be published in your app.
Content can be organized in ‘collections’.
A collection is a series of articles
- in traditional kiosk type apps a collection would be the same as an issue.
However, it is more flexible, because the same article can be part of
different collections if you want to.
You’ll define which collections or articles you want to highlight in your browse pages.

A Twixl Distribution Platform account lets you manage different apps.
There is an account administrator who will have access to all apps,
and app administrators will have access to only specific apps.

Selling content

Twixl Publisher supports in-app purchases on a collection level,
standard subscriptions and all access subscriptions.

On the Twixl Distribution Platform,
you’ll select whether a collection is a free download or an in-app purchase.
The Twixl Distribution Platform then interacts with the App Store developer portals
(iTunes Connect - for iOS apps, or Google Play Developer Console - for Android apps)
to get detailed in-app purchase and subscription info for the app.
This makes sure that for every purchase via the app store,
the Twixl Distribution Platform will let the user download the correct content.

Storage

The Twixl Distribution Platform is first and foremost a storage platform
where you will store all the content that you wish to publish.
Whether you upload them manually, via an editorial system, a CMS or automatically
via an RSS feed, all content will be stored on the Twixl Distribution Platform.

Storage is also about the user and how much space your content will take on his device
and indirectly how much bandwidth you will consume.
The space a Twixl article based app can take on the device of a user is limited to 750 MB.
The user has access to all content at any time
but only the most recent consulted content is stored on his device.

With article based apps the user downloads article per article and not a complete collection at once.
To provide a smooth experience when moving to the first article in a collection and for quicker access,
the subsequent article is pre-loaded in the background.
Also, when e.g. navigating to article 5 in a collection, not only the subsequent article (6),
but also the previous article (4) is pre-loaded in the background.

Each collection is also available to be downloaded as one package for easy offline access.
Here the user is in control and if he requests such a download we’ll inform him how much space
the collection will take on his device and if he is fine with that to confirm his demand.
In this case the total amount of data of the app can exceed the standard 750 MB,
actually it is not limited but the user is in control and is in the ability to manage the content
that’s stored on his device, and to remove certain content to free up space.

We also offer the possibility for the publisher to publish in a full offline mode.
This way all content of all collections will be downloaded completely when first starting up the app.
This is ideal for users who sometimes don’t have an internet connection when they are on the road.
Every time a user goes back to the app and he’s online, a check will be performed if
there is new and/or updated content that needs to be downloaded.
The most common use cases are sales apps and apps of service manuals.

Bandwidth

The Twixl Distribution Platform infrastructure uses the Microsoft Azure platform,
and has five different storage locations around the world.

Note - For European customers:
Customer data hosted on the Twixl Distribution Platform infrastructure
is on servers located in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

In addition, we use the Akamai CDN (Content Delivery Network)
to ensure optimal download speeds from any location worldwide.

Article-based publishing is very bandwidth friendly because
the reader only downloads what he reads, which is often not all of
the available content in a publication or app.

Video content integrated in Adobe InDesign offers an option for
streaming from Twixl Distribution Platform instead of downloading.
You will need to evaluate whether streaming is the best option
for you or if embedding would work better.

The bandwidth volume we offer is sufficient for about 95% of our customers.
But in case you run out of bandwidth, you will notified in time.
You’ll receive a warning when 75%, 90% and 100% of your volume has been used.
You can then purchase extra bandwidth as required.

Bandwidth that is purchased remains valid as long as you
have an active subscription for Twixl Publisher.
So if you don’t use all of it during the year,
it will remain available for the next year.

Analytics/Statistics

Twixl Publisher allows you to integrate analytics in your apps.

Twixl Publisher allows you to gather analytics information for your app.
We offer built-in analytics for all apps on the Twixl Distribution Platform.
Twixl analytics are available on an app level, but also on an article and collection/issue level.
They allow you to have a good understanding of how readers interact with your content.

Analytics data can also be exported as a .xls file or, using Twixl's Integration API,
you can even integrate with your CRM solution and automatically extract analytics data.
Single- and Multi-issue-based apps also support the use of Google Analytics
(to get started, you will need to create an account with Google first.
Once you have an account, you can get a tracking code from Google
that you can then embed in the app).
Localytics analytics is supported in issue-based apps only.

Analytics is integrated in Twixl Distribution Platform (for kiosk apps only)
with a dashboard overview of statistics following the MPA Standards
(The Association of Magazine Media Standards for Digital Magazine Metrics) like:

• total consumer paid digital issues
• edition readers per issue
• number of sessions per issue
• average time spent per reader per issue

Users of the Twixl Distribution Platform will get an automatic overview for
all multi-issue apps, with zero configuration required, for app-level as well as
issue-level analytics information. All live data can be accessed on
the Twixl Distribution Platform at any time to track all apps, to analyse the results
of different issues, and follow what readers have been looking at in an issue.

Push notifications

Push notifications are short messages that appear on
a mobile device (even when the lock screen is on) or within the app itself.

You can send push notifications to all readers of your app,
either when you are publishing new content or whenever
you feel the need to get in touch with them.

The number of push notifications you can send is unlimited.

Entitlement

Entitlement integrates 'Entitlements' and 'Categories' in your apps.

Entitlement is available as an extra paid option for
Twixl Publisher One, Four, and is included for free in Unlimited apps.

Twixl offers both built-in entitlement or restricted access options as well as
the ability to interface with your own ‘custom’ entitlement server.

This feature lets you integrate access for a subscriber or user database in your app.
It allows you to determine who gets access to which content in your app.
It also provides the option of using categories in your kiosk apps.

Password management makes it easy to manage the passwords of a large group of users.

Entitlement allow a publisher to ask more information
of the reader before access is granted.

The publisher can define what information is required,
going from regional information to personal preferences:

• users and groups with restricted access
• login & password
• access code
• region / language selection
• promo code

Typical use cases for Entitlement:

• link print subscribers to tablet editions
• distribute regional sensitive content
• distribute language specific content
• offer privileges to existing clients
• Build brand loyalty
• Keep clients informed over new products, collections, projects,…
• Stimulate offline sales
• Provide restricted access to sensitive content
• Dealer information
• Physicians/medical content
• Finance / financial info

This way publishers can provide easier access to tablet editions and they
can give free access to specific target groups for a limited period of time,
with a better conversion rate to paid subscribers afterwards.

Frequently publishers may want to provide print subscribers of a publication
with free access to otherwise paid content in an app.
Publishers can also offer certain content to a specific audience and so increase
the value proposition and advertising value of their publication.
Obvious segmentation criteria are e.g. regional content, language-specific content, etc.
Other entitlement options allow the use of e.g. an access key or a promo code
to claim free access to a particular publication.

The special "Users & Groups" entitlement option is targeted at companies
that deploy apps in-house either by distributing an app internally using
Apple's Developer Enterprise Program, or by publishing an app on
the App Store with "restricted access".

Some publications are only meant to target a closed group,
e.g. medical publications, reseller information, etc.
Using entitlement allows a company to publish to specific target groups
without making the content available to the public.
Only entitled users that the company has defined will be allowed access.
Different groups can be defined so that each group may have
access to different publications.
It is also possible to track analytics by entitlement token and
to analyze the behavior of every entitled user.

The Twixl Distribution Platform provides built-in support for a number of
specific use cases for entitlements, but integration with a custom (external)
entitlement server is also possible.
In most cases, integrating direct entitlement will require some custom
development to provide for the connection between the Twixl Distribution Platform
and the publisher’s database of users/subscribers.

Technical documentation on how to integrate entitlement is available on request.

Subscribers of Twixl Publisher ONE App or FOUR Apps can
order the "Entitlement Pack" as an option in its subscription.

If you are thinking about migrating from Adobe DPS / AEM Mobile to Twixl Publisher,
and you are currently using Adobe own direct entitlement API,
then you can transparently move to our solution without having to
make any changes on the side of the entitlement server.
The Twixl entitlement server will act as a “go-between” between
the app and the Adobe direct entitlement server.
Twixl supports both v1 and v2 versions of the API.

'Categories' let you divide your content into different sections.
The categories feature lets publishers divide their content in
multi-issue (kiosk) apps into different sections.
Each issue can be assigned to one or more categories.

This feature is useful for publishers, but also for enterprise solutions.

Use cases for publishers are:

• sort by Week edition vs. Weekend edition
• sort by Year
• sort by Topic

Use cases for the enterprise are:

• sort by product
• sort by application
• sort by chapter (for catalogue-type publications)

Integration API

Twixl Publisher lets you integrate with different editorial systems or
basically any CMS so you can push your content directly from your solution
to the Twixl Distribution Platform and thus into your app.

The “Integration API” option allows you to integrate with
a number of solutions that we support out of the box:
Canvasflow / TruEdit / vjoon K4 / WoodWing Inception

Using our API, any type of CMS could be setup to
push content to the Twixl Distribution Platform.

Some custom development or help from a local integrator
may be required to achieve this.

The Integration API is available as an extra paid option.

Automated Content Sources

Another way to integrate an external content source in an app
on the Twixl Distribution Platform is by pulling content from an RSS feed.
Any RSS feed can be integrated into your app and generate a
collection of feed content items.
This can be a standard web site feed (like WordPress, Drupal, etc.)
or also a YouTube or Vimeo channel.
It is a very easy and effective way to enhance your app.