LinkedIn says that their mobile platform is the “fastest growing” aspect of their service. On average, 27% of their unique visitors comes through their mobile apps – up from 15% a year ago. In a year, their mobile pageviews have increased 250%.
And with the added focus on mobile comes the need to improve upon its mobile apps. Today, LinkedIn has launched significant redesigns of both their iOS and Android apps.
“We want to make it easier for our members to quickly discover and engage with the rich professional insights being shared across LinkedIn to help them make smarter decisions from wherever they may be working. We’ve designed the new LinkedIn mobile phone app for every professional, with a richer and more engaging stream and more personalization features,” says LinkedIn’s Tomer Cohen.
Probably the biggest part of the redesign is the new activity stream. Not only is it more media-rich, with bigger photos and links to outside content, but it’s generally better looking. It’s also better at bringing in all types of content, including updates from connections, news, and posts from LinkedIn’s top influencers. In most every way, the new mobile apps mirror what LinkedIn has done to improve the desktop feed over the past few months.
It’s also easier to get around the app with a brand new navigation page. All you have to do is swipe right to reveal a customizable menu complete with you messages, invitations, calendars, and more.
LinkedIn says that 64% of their members are located outside the U.S. To that end, they’ve also expanded the language offerings of the apps – Dutch and Norwegian for iOS, and Turkish, Dutch and Norwegian for Android. As of now, 15 languages are supported across both apps.
Finally, ads. Lead Mobile guy for LinkedIn Joff Redfern confrimed to TechCrunch that LinkedIn will be bringing more sponsored content to mobile. They’ve been doing the same on the desktop and iPad version of the app.
“We’re now expanding this test into the mobile phone experience,” he says.