Linden Lab is currently talking about "A Big Year of Progress" for the mobile viewer in the official Second Life blog, from clearer pictures to in-app purchases to using the avatar starter pack via one's smartphone, and more. But in New World Notes, Hamlet Au mentioned another milestone. Linden Lab confirmed that the total amount of SL mobile app downloads has reached one million.
Hamlet had first guessed this by noticing the number of downloads on Google Play was 500,000. So he reasoned the number of those downloaded from the Apple App Store, which isn't pictured, was at least the same. In March, the total number was reportedly close to 300,000, and the total listed on Google Play was 100,000.
But this would be a guess until Linden Lab head Brad Oberwager confirmed the total number did pass one million.
As a reminder, Second Life has been downloaded on computers millions of times.
Last week, Linden Lab announced there would be an episode of Lab Gab on Thursday February 29, at 10 AM SL time. The subject: an update on developments on the Second Life Mobile Viewer.
Interested in learning more about our Second Life Mobile app? Our
development team is working hard to add new features and fixes to bring
the best of Second Life to iOS and Android mobile and tablet platforms –
it’s an entire virtual world in the palm of your hands!
Second Life’s Senior VP of Product Grumpity Linden and Senior VP of
Product Operations Patch Linden will be discussing the latest updates
and future plans for Second Life Mobile ...
Residents are free to submit questions. Those interested need to fill out this form on Google Docs, "some selected questions will be answered by both Grumpity and Patch on the show." You'll need to hurry as it will close sometime tomorrow, Monday February 26. The event will be pre-recorded and presumably no live audience watching.
Linden Lab currently has several job openings, including one of which one sentence has sparked a little speculation on the company's future plans.
Among the current positions the Lab is looking to fill is Senior Product Manager. This is a position in which one can work remotely from one of fifteen US states.
Role Overview
We’re looking for a Senior Product Manager(remote)
to elevate multiple facets of our Second Life product. This person
would also enable growth and scale by shipping features that improve our
customer experience. This role reports to the VP, Product. You will
have a direct impact on solutions that help us attract users, enhance
engagement and drive retention. This is a great opportunity for a
thought leader with strong technical acumen, exceptional communication
skills, and thoughtful execution.
What We’ll Offer You
The stability of an established company with new startup momentum. An
unparalleled opportunity to create relationships, systems, strategies,
and culture. An environment where your voice will be heard and your
impact deeply felt. A sense of belonging where your work is appreciated
and rewarded.
As a Senior Product Manager, you’ll utilize in-depth product
knowledge to successfully drive key projects on Second Life. You’ll work
alongside a supportive team of people across engineering, design, QA,
and other cross-functional teams to build products and new experiences
and play a pivotal role in shaping the future of the original metaverse.
And finally, the pleasure of seeing your solutions ship, scale, and
make a measurable impact on millions of customers' lives across the
globe.
* * * * *
"Millions of customers' lives." That's quite a comment, considering it's active userbase even if counting those who log on just once every month is just a bit more than half a million. Perhaps it's boasting. But in New World Notes, Hamlet Au suggested the words might reflect the Lab's hopes of how the upcoming Second Life mobile app will expand the virtual world's userbase. He stated that IMVU and Roblox experienced huge growth after they came up with mobile apps that allowed users to access their platforms from smaller devices and not just computers, in the case of IMVU expanding to seven million who log on at least once a month. Roblox tripled it's userbase from 14 to 43 million. While a place mostly for kids, two-thirds of it's userbase under 16, still numbers not to ignore.
With these numbers in mind, the Lab has reasons for optimism that when the mobile app is finally out, Second Life's numbers will experience similar growth. Time will tell.
For a list of Linden Lab's current job openings, some remote, some at it's San Francisco office, Click Here.
At the Web User Group Meeting moderated by Keira Linden on July 7, Keira had some details on several issues. But the most notable one was about Linden Lab's mobile app for Second Life. She announced that it had been approved by Apple for it's App Store. It wasn't currently in the store as the Lab wants to add a few things before it gets posted. It will just be the iOS version as Android still needs more work.
The app is just a chat app only with no 3D view, for now. Also for now, one can only directly IM others with it, though group chat should be available later. One can search names on the app, but it can't access notecards (or anything else in inventory). Keira Linden thought it would be particularly useful for Second Life merchants to keep in touch with customers away from their computers.
To read in detail what Keira Linden stated about the app, see more in Design.
For those of you waiting for Linden Lab to come up with a Second Life app for mobile devices, there were a few small bits of information made available. First, in the Technology section of the forums, there's a new sub-section: "Mobile." A thread soon started, and Keira Linden made a few comments.
In response to how much longer for an app for the Marketplace:
Marketplace does pose it's own set of challenges. We have had (and will
continue to have) many internal discussions about what features to
introduce at what time and Marketplace did rank high on that list.
Right now, we're really focused on the social aspects like chat (both IM
and group) and getting those right.
About an hour later:
I've got a little gossip, but not sure how juicy it is. 😆
Android app is in the works! We went with iOS first because we have
more Residents on iOS devices, not because we don't love our
Android Resis too! Release for an Android app is going to be a little
delayed after iOS because we still have some backend work to do and (in
case you hadn't heard) we are frantically working on this eency little
project called UPLIFT. 🤣 But, we're
still working on what we can along side iOS. Once we have a beta
version of it that we can open up for you all to bang on, I'll drop an
announcement in here so you all can sign up.
SL blogger Daniel Voyager feels this means sign-ups for a beta version of an SL mobile app will be "very soon." The full version of the app is not expected to be available until sometime in 2021.
Earlier this week, Linden Lab posted on the official blog "What's Next For Linden Lab," which was a rundown of improvements and changes to Second Life, and Sansar, in addition to some upcoming developments.
The Lab went on to say they were getting their Environmental Enhancement Viewer "into shape." For those who don't know what the EEP is, it's "a series of new customizations in the environment rendering system that will allow for the creation and sharing of advanced environment settings, including up to four different sky layers which can be set independently. " (link to video) Of the migration of Second Life's data to cloud servers, the Lab stated progress was continuing, saying they were trying to make the move as "invisible" as they could, "Your inventory data has been in the cloud for quite some time, and the maps website moved a little while ago."
The Lab told readers to, "Stay tuned for updates on when to expect the return of Last Names, availability of a new mobile app beta, changes to Premium options, improvements to Events, Search, the Destination Guide, and much more."
Something else the Lab discussed were "New Growth and Community Initiatives." Among them was an upcoming "Second Life Blogger Network." "This new initiative will promote high-quality independent blog content to the Second Life community." The Lab stated there would be more details on it soon.
The Lab also told residents to expect some Halloween fun in October, "Residents can expect a mix of new events, freebies and other spooky surprises." Among the events, a Halloween-themed Swaginator hunt.
Also mentioned were the "New Video and Ad Campaigns." These included the Second Life Destinations Youtubes, the "Made in Second Life" videos, and the "Lab Gab" show by Strawberry and Xiola Linden.
And of course, Linden Lab had a few things to say about their other virtual world, Sansar.
"Sansar introduces new features including improved avatar editing, experience points and titles, and new core worlds. We also have first-of-their-kind partnerships with several established music and entertainment companies. Now with a rich backstory and new quests, Sansar has come a long way since it debuted in beta in 2017 and is worth a second look!"
A press release mentioned musical performances in Sansar on Wednesday September 25 and Thursday September 26. For more information, click on the blog post here.
Last week on April 4, Patch and Grumpity Linden spoke at the VWBPE. Then answered some questions from the event host, Phelan Corrimal, as well as a few from the audience. Grumpity was in her stick-figure avatar. Patch had on mouse ears and a tail.
Of summarizing what Linden Lab has accomplished in the past twelve months, Grumpity commented there has "so much going on, it's hard to think back a full year." She touted general improvement in Second Life's infstructure, a fair amount of content and feature development, the introduction of animesh, the new Linden homes, new estate tools (still ongoing), parcel and estate management, and helping educators with their courses. Patch brought up Linden Lab's involvement in SL15B, "lots of gift stuff happening," and things coming up beyond Linden homes.
Of moving Second Life from current data centers to cloud-based servers, Grumpity stated the Lab was "very carefully moving things and not disturbing the way things are set up. ... with a 15 year old infrastructure, there's some complexity there." She hoped it would eventually lead to lower prices for residents, but "the migration from the data center to the cloud is quite expensive for us, taking a lot of resources and additional costs." So if there is an effect on what residents are charged, it will be "a few years into the future"
Work on a mobile client for Second Life was going on, Grumpity saying, "I'm looking forward to seeing how that impacts Second Life usage in education. ... There's not a lot to report yet. ... SL wasn't designed to go on a mobile." She stated the Lab was going in the direction of an IOS style viewer for now, "a robust text-based viewer."
Of the new Linden Homes, Patch stated didn't want to reveal too much. He called them a "complete redesign,' from the original ones. The "structure of the regions themselves designed more organically, less repetition, more choices," and more options to modify the homes. People will also be able to modify them from inside the homes themselves instead of "web-based tools" as they are now. Already, the land for the new homes was being placed, "The continent will grow as we continue to roll these things out ... it will get much bigger. We will .. expand continent connections, water pathways" for sailboats and flying.
When asked if they were improving existing tools for users, Patch stated they haven't gotten new ideas or requests from the residents, going on to say his team doesn't make the tools regular users of Second Life put to use, but use them as well. Grumpity called it "eating our our dog food," commenting one can only put so much on a prim.
Of Sansar, Grumpity stated she and Patch have been "rooting for the success of Sansar" but they've been mostly looking from the sidelines with their attention on Second Life.
After a while, questions came from the audience. One was if the Lab was trying to improve Second Life's Search function. Grumpity answered that there was a project ongoing about that, adding a few years ago there was another for Marketplace search, calling it "painful and complex."
It was asked if having an app to get on Second Life via mobiles would affect age restrictions. Grumpity stated the introductions of mobile clients would have "zero effect on that." They were also asked if there were any plans for a new grid that didn't allow for adult content so educators could more easily use it to teach younger students. Patch stated that would require a policy change by the Lab, "the idea of a second grid isn't foreign, but it's not on the roadmap." He would go on to say Sansar pretty much handles that function and there's been much improvement there lately.
When asked about plans for artist development, Patch responded that the Linden Endowment for the Arts was in "hiatus." But people have come forward to the Lab to offer ideas to move things forward, so he told the audience to watch for developments.
Asked about why the number of groups residents can be in is limited due to a design issue, it was answered that the Lindens were able increase the number of groups after some infrastructure work, notably for Premium residents.
One question was how can Linden Lab overcome the impression that Second Life is a "seedy world." Patch Linden didn't think that was the case, and if so not as much today as yesterday. Grumpity went on to say the Lab welcomed Second Life's different communities with their different interests.
The last question to the Lindens was how would they like to see more interaction with the education community in Second Life? Grumpity wanted a more open forum for conversation, "We can highlight your work, and you can influence ours." Before leaving, the Lindens asked the audience to spread word about the educational resources of Second Life.
There's been some talk in the past several months about Linden Lab coming out with an app for mobile devices, such as iPhones and Android phones. During the "Meet the Lindens" events at the Second Life Birthday in June, Ebbe Linden stated the Lab was "thinking hard about mobile." In August, Linden Lab had a job opening for a "Senior Mobile Engineer."
...we discussed at our Town Hall events last year that we’re actively looking at ways to extend the reach of Second Life to new audiences including mobile platforms. For example, we’re in the early stages of work on an iOS companion app for Second Life.
Right now we’re focused on getting a prototype out to our Residents, at which point we’ll be looking for feedback and suggestions. In the early stages, we will not be tying the app to a streaming service. However, we don’t have anything to formally announce yet about the specific features, capabilities, and availability.
Inara felt this wasn't much information to go on. But it did say they were in the early stages of the project. When they'll have something to release for the public is still unknown.
