MUMBAI: After introducing the app Hungama Pro for Android, the digital company, Hungama Digital has expanded its presence in iOS too. It has launched the PRO service at the time when there were reports that Apple is discontinuing music applications from its iOS App Store.
In June, there were reports that Apple has asked app developers to remove downloading functionalities from their apps but it seems Hungama was able to surpass the new development.
Hungama Digital, COO (Consumer Business and Allied Services) Siddhartha Roy said, "We gave good four months in developing the app. The app was first made in-house and then we coordinated with the iOS team since every app has to go through the process before it is made available." PRO enables the consumers to save music and video which can be played without internet connection anywhere, anytime and saves data cost. The app has integrated audio and video streaming and downloads together.
When quizzed about the amount spent on the project, Roy said, "We invested lot of time on developing Hungama Pro and we have invest fair amount behind the development of project." Currently, it is available for free trail after which consumers will have to pay a monthly fee for the product.
Talking about the platform, Roy added, "It is a closed eco-system where the consumers cannot download content because they have to go to iTunes. But with our premier subscription services the consumer can get unlimited music as and when they want and are able to play music in an offline manner."
Handsets of iOS are usually priced above Rs 25,000 but still it has a major traffic coming from South Asia Diaspora, stated Roy. "We are present in iOS and android. We are number one in Windows. All platforms we are relevant and we are pushing ourselves," he further elaborated.
Hungama will add new features to the existing app in order to target the consumers in Tier II and Tier III cities, through which they are aiming for good response. "We are trying to get into markets that we are not present in," he said.
Roy also added, "We are in top five downloaded music app in the iOS space and we witnessed phenomenal downloading and the growth continues. We are popular services in iOS as the consumption is there. Today, iOS has the quality to provide 323 Kbps lossless music quality as well."