Second Screen Apps Development

in: Apps, Games, Reshet 13, Web Apps Development, Second Screen Apps Development, Realtime Apps Development, User Generated Content, Trivia Apps, Polls, Social Networks API

"Second Screen" applications are designed to give the television viewer a complementary experience and actually provide him with additional employment while watching television. Through the same dedicated applications, the viewer can consume information and interactive content related to the same program, while the program is broadcasted. He can play in front of the screen in a manner totally associated with the broadcast, and even vote from home and affect the course of the program in real time.

Since 2012, we have developed a variety of second screen applications for Israel's leading franchise programs, such as "The Voice", "The Amazing Race", "X-Factor", "The Money Pump" and "The Best of all".

With operational management systems built for these applications, or by scheduling events in advance, the apps were synchronized to a hundredth of a second, so changes to the app occurred in real time. For example, the "Duel" application of "The Voice" or "X Factor's X-Meter" enabled the viewer to rate the candidate's performance in the application, from the same second that the performance began on the screen until it was finished. Another example, in the "Best of all" trivia application, the user could guess the answers to the questions that appeared to the candidates, just as the same question was being broadcast on the screen.

In The Voice's "Blind Audition" app, both in the PC app and in the mobile app, viewers watched the auditions of the candidates appearing on the show - during broadcast. And together with the mentors, the users chose their favorite candidates by voice only and not by appearance. In each program the wining users, who chose the five candidates selected by most users in the fastest time, won awards.

The Voice's "Duel" app in 2013

The Voice's "Duel" app in 2014.

The Voice's "Duel" app, which was featured on both the 2013 and 2014 shows, is The Voice's second screen app for the show's duel phase.

During the duel stage, each mentor selects two candidates who will compete with each other. And at the same time broadcasting the program - the users at home, through the application, also choose their preferred candidate. At the end of each duel, users can see which of the candidates received the most votes from other users, and the data is also broadcast to the screen in real time.
In addition, the app includes several additional components for use by the user: chat and ticker who draw posts from the Facebook page and the Twitter profile of The Voice, and send posts directly to the Facebook page of The Voice. Watching my friends and their choices. Checking out who are the most selected candidates by most users, and watching the leading users in the application, who are nominated for the prize.

The Voice's live vote application exposes the user to all candidates for the same program, with an indication of those candidates who were banned or saved during the course of the program. When the user clicks on a contestant's photo, the SMS application on the device opens, with a message containing the phone number to send the votes and the personal number of the selected contestant.

The application is controlled by the unique management system developed by Slash, and is immediately updated with any change from the system. For example, it is possible to change the situation of a contestant, to change the order of presentation of the contestants, etc. In addition, the application can be suspended during the show or between shows, with a dedicated screen displayed instead of the contestants screen.

The "Amazing Race" web application is a real-time application that broadcasts simultaneously to the "Amazing Race" episode on television, during which the user is asked to answer various questions related to the content that was broadcast at that moment in the episode.

A user who answered all the questions correctly entered the lottery for a vacation abroad.

The application was operated in the fifth season of the "Amazing Race" in Israel, fully coordinated and synchronized with the broadcast on the screen. Using a simple and intuitive management system, the operator can edit the questions that appear in each chapter and determine the order of their display, and "trigger" a question in real time so that all users will see it at the moment it is broadcast on the screen. He can also trigger real-time standby screens, end screens and countdown screens.

The "Glowing Performance" and "X-Meter" applications are "second screen" applications that accompanied the first two seasons of X-Factor in Israel.

Users can enter the game during the broadcast of the program, viewing the various candidates exactly the same time they preform on the TV screen, and voting for same at that same time span. Any user can give the candidate a rating, and see the rating of all other users in the game updated in real time. A user who has logged into his Facebook account can also see the votes of his friends.

During the "Best of all" program, applicants are required to answer various quantitative questions, which must be answered as quickly as possible. A candidate who is closest to the correct answer will be the winning that round.

At the same time as the question arose on the TV screen, the same question arose for the users of the application, and they were able to answer it together with the candidates. Exactly the same time the question was closed on the show, the question was also closed in the application.

After users' response, the data was calculated statistically, by segmenting the responses of the visitors according to different parameters, such as sex, locality, age, etc. The statistics could be seen in the application itself, and it were also broadcast on the TV screen to all viewers.

In the second screen application of the "Money Pump" program, the users played together with the game's real-time contestants - once a question was raised on the TV screen, the question also came up in the game. As soon as the answer on the screen came up, the answer came up in the game as well. If the user was correct in his answer to the question, he accumulated a sum of points according to the speed at which he answered the question.