Quick onboarding, progressive disclosure and innovative engagement features.Consumer mobile is a hard industry: high customer acquisition costs due to competition, retention challenges, niche addressable markets and many more obstacles.Growing sometimes involves hand to hand combat: Evan was willing to try anything to get users. When he was home in Pacific Palisades, he would go to the shopping mall and hand out flyers advertising Snapchat, said a former Snapchat executive about the initial growth of thecompany.But once in a while, an app crack thecode.They figure out a distribution channel, partner up with the right influencers, ship an amazing product and make itwork.Todays post is about one ofthose.Ladder is a coach-driven strength training app that was launched in 2019. During the last 5 years, it has become one of the best rated App Store apps in its category, grew 500% last year alone and raised a $12mm SeriesA.Patrick Murphy of Tapestry VC, a fund that participated in their latest round, summarizes the apps edgewell:Ladder has built engagement levers similar to social apps, but instead of selling your attention to advertisers, theyre genuinely helping you by keeping you excited to work out. We think its only a matter of time before Ladder is a household name in consumerfitnessFrom a UX perspective, lets see how they pull thatoff:By the end of this article youll notice theyve got a great product. But before sticking around, users need to experience it.For fitness apps, the Aha! Moment happens once they complete one workout (or more)thats when the apps dynamics become clearer. Ladders goal with their initial flow is to have users go through that experience as soon as possible.In growth speech, we want to shorten time-to-value, have users go through a fun workout and show them all the app has to tooffer.How Ladder gets usersinTo get you started, theres a quick 3-step video-driven sequence. What stands out here is how they do a very good job making onboarding easy and attractive:Explanations with videos are less boring than justtext.1 click and 3 screens between the splash screen and the next section of the app is a very easy set ofsteps.They present the concept of an influencer being the coach and that youll become part of a team. This is novel and creates a curiosity gaptheres something beyond just building a workoutplan.Great, but until now theyve only quickly introduced theapp.To highlight what I find interesting next, well need contrast.You see, most fitness apps ask tens of questions on the name of building your workout. Things like what are your goals?, have you worked out before? are common place. Frequently theres also a bothersome sequence asking for your weight, height, equipment andmore.Because of these unnecessary questions, onboarding becomes ashore.I registered to Ladders 4 main competitors and counted the amount of steps between download and beginning aworkout.The difference is startling:Ladders onboarding is much easier. The next screen after the 3-step introduction is a list with huge cards where you decide which goal resonates with you themost.One step, one clear decision.Its OK for Ladder to offer less customization because their value proposition is exactly around workout programs that fit a specificgoal.Through copy, they also reduce the perception of commitment needed to take each step. They let users know you can go back on your decision later on so its psychologically easier to moveforward.All that puts you in the right mental space to keep flowing through each onboarding step.I picked Coach Coreys Forged because becoming a part-time bodybuilder is every designers dream.Great, were insidenow.Getting people to do their firstworkoutWeve moved forward fast, but remember: theyre still trying to get us to do a couple of workouts. I didnt get any value from ityet.The Aha moment is when the user realizes the value in a product.- WesBushAfter picking my favorite program, the first thing I notice is that regardless of the team, every Welcome Workout is30.That makes the barrier to finish a workout very lowits reasonable for most people to fit that into their schedules and get started. Its a great way to shorten time-to-value.Another detail here is that many features are locked until you get your first workoutdone.This progressive disclosure approach creates curiosity. It makes users think what else is there to see about the app while also putting the main next action in focus (starting a workout).Multiple mentions about the notion that Im part of a team contributes to making me feel curious. I can see through the main section that I have teammates and wonder what that is as it is a novel concept from what Ive seen in multiple fitness apps homescreens.First workout and making people stickaroundOnce you get started, in-workout experience is overall good but not much different than others. Its a permission to play in the industry afterall.Now, there are some details that make it standout.First, the app further introduces us the idea of teammates through a reaction featurea way other users can cheer you on mid-workout, triggering a lively emoji explosion on yourscreen.When youre done, youre given a tally of all the support you received. It serves as a visible reminder that your teammates digitally have yourback.Theres also a shared image board where you can post a post-workout picture.Lots of teammates share and it looks like a virtual celebration wall, creating sense of bond. Being part of this tribe feels engaging and motivating, theres a sense that youre on a team that is in a similarjourney.Ladder also does a great job reinforcing your progress: streaks are a popular gamification feature but they can backfire you missit.As UX consultant Peter Ramsey putsit:As the value of a streak increases, you want the cost of losing that streak to increase too. Thats why they work. But as a result, if they do lose their streak, the user now has to incur or suffer the thing that they were trying toavoid.To solve for that, Ladder highlights different types of progress, not juststreaks.Whether you hit a new milestone, spent >100 calories or simply showed up, they make it clear that a win is awin.After acknowledging all you gained, youre back on the homepage.With the first workout done users get access to more features. That allows us to see how big of an importance they put on engagement, community and social features.Out of their 4 main tabs, 2 are related to the notion of teams and being social (chat tab and teamtab).And thats likely a big part of theirsuccess.I spent time going through Reddit, Social Media comments and App Store reviews, and most of users mention Teams and Coaches as part of the reason they lovedLadder.It makes sense. Fitness journeys can be lonely: you, the gym, the treadmill, headphones and thats it. Their well executed social features makes us feel were on a path and have others by ourside.Premium Pricing for a PremiumProductAfter youve gone through the Welcome workout, they prompt you to pay for the subscriptiontheres a free trial option but no freeplan.It stood out to me how much more it costs when compared to its competitors.Growing fast while being the most expensive option in your category is quite an accomplishment, but to me it is not surprising atall.When you compare it to the more generic, faceless apps in the space, its clear why Ladder can thrive while charging$180.From the moment you hit the splash screen, the design quality of the app stands out. The UI is clean, intuitive, easy to use. They also leverage the charismatic, high-energy coaches well and add new layer of appeal, giving users the sense theyre part of something more exclusive and exciting. Its a high-value signalthis isnt just another fitnessapp.In the end, Ladders success shows how investing in design and UX can pay off. Theres a market for quality and some users are willing to pay a premium when an app goes beyond and deliver a truly engaging experience.I write frequently on products UX, design and growth. Sign up uxbreakdowns.com if you want to keep up todate!Lets connect on X aswell!How Ladder onboards and keeps users engaged was originally published in UX Collective on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

We may earn a commission from links on this page.If youre new to the Meta Quest 3 or the Meta Quest 3S, theres a huge world out/in there, but getting started can be a challenge, so I put together a collection of must-haves for "3 series" VR devices, with a focus on apps, games, and utilities that take advantage of their improved hardware and mixed-reality capabilities they offer. Both the Quest 3 and the Quest 3S run the same software, so all of the below games and apps will work in either. (While the two devices may run the same software, there are some key differences between the Quest 3 and Quest 3S. If you're wondering which VR headset is superior or trying to decide which to buy, I've done a point-by-point comparison to help you decide.)Must-have games for the Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest 3S Credit: Soul Assembly - Stephen Johnson Batman: Arkham Shadows: Previous generations of standalone VR headsets delivered glorified tech demos instead of games, but that's all in the past. The Meta Quest 3 and 3S are powerful enough for AAA experiences, and Batman: Arkham Shadows is the AAA-est. This action-adventure game is as intricate and detailed as any console or PC title but adds full VR immersion; playing it feels like being Batman, and isn't that what everyone has always wanted? As an added bonus, bundles are available that include both Arkham Shadows and a 3 or 3S. Drop Dead: The Cabin: I am in love with the mixed-reality mode of Drop Dead: The Cabin. It replaces the windows and doors of your room with game-specific portals, stocks your house with virtual guns and ammo, and sets zombies loose to kill you. Its like living in Dawn of the Dead.This mode is a good fit for people who get "VR sick," because you're not fully in virtual reality. Assassins Creed: Nexus VR: Another ambitious, AAA game, Nexus combines stealth gaming with virtual reality and the detailed Assassin's Creed universe. Nexus really takes advantage of the beefed-up power of the Quest 3 and 3S and delivers one of the systems best AAA game experiences.Asgards Wrath 2: This action-RPG has earned raves from game reviewers for taking VR gaming to new places and using the medium to tell stories in new waysit's a noticeable step forward and a hell of a lot of fun. Puzzling Places: If you're into jigsaw-style puzzles, this might change your life. It allows you (or you and a friend if you're playing co-op) to construct elaborate 3D miniatures of real places, and as they come together, they come to life. I can't even describe how mellow, cozy, and addictive this game is, and I don't even like jigsaw puzzles. Smash Drums: If you always picked drums in Rock Band, this is the game for you. Smash Drums' drums are virtual, but the feedback from the controllers does a very impressive job of making drum playing feel tangible, and there's an AR mode to keep you grounded and at home.Vegas Infinite: This free game is for the casuals out there. It lets you gamble virtual money at poker, blackjack, roulette, craps, and slots in virtual casinos, but the people youre playing with are real. Its relaxing, social, and takes advantage of the Quest 3 and 3S's pass-through cameras and improved hand and eye tracking, too.Must-have utilities for the Meta Quest 3Side Quest: This app lets you download and install apps on your Quest 3 and 3S that dont come from the Meta Store, so if youre interested in expanding the possibilities of your VR headset, Side Quest is a must. It gives you access to a huge collection of tech demos, games, apps, and more, as well as providing new options for customizing and improving your Quest experience. Youll also need Side Quest to install Quest Game Optimizer.Quest Games Optimizer: If youre even a little serious about gaming, consider this $10 utility. It allows you to control the resolution on games, letting you up-rez the graphics on many Quest games, as well as letting you control frame rates, record video, and access other settings.Virtual Desktop: Virtual Desktop allows you to wirelessly connect to your computer in virtual reality. Along with streaming videos, browsing the web, and doing anything else your PC does, you can use this to run PCVR games with your Quest 3 or 3S (as long as you are running a Window 10 or 11 PC thats specced for virtual reality games) unlocking a new level of gameplay.Must-have video-streaming apps for the Meta Quest 3 and Meta Quest 3S Credit: Xstadium - Stephen Johnson Bigscreen: This social video-streaming app lets you watch movies and TV with other folks in the Metaverse on the VR equivalent of a 100-foot video screen. You can watch YouTube, Disney+, Twitch, and PlutoTV streams, rent movies, or watch videos stored on your computer, either alone or with others.XStadium: If youre into sports, XStadium is a mind-blower. It puts you courtside at live NBA games, giving you a fully immersive, 360 degree, you-are-there basketball experience. You can also immerse yourself in UFC fights from the Octagon, and check out X-Games madness, watch some good old fashioned wrestling, and enjoy other sports, either in 360 view or in multi screened mixed reality.DeoVR: You can watch and customize all kinds of video content with this appits not just for porn. But if youre interested in new thresholds of virtual-reality pornography, this is the go-to video app.Must-have fitness apps for the Meta Quest 3 Credit: Sealost Interactive LLC - Stephen Johnson Les Mills BodyCombat: Whether you want to sweat in virtual or mixed reality, Les Mills has you covered. BodyCombat features a ton of martial arts-inspired workouts and knowledgable virtual coaches, and it doesnt require a subscription.Supernatural: The subscription-based Supernatural is my favorite fitness app for the Quest. Im a music snob, and finding an app with real music, that I actually like, was downright shocking. The coaches are charismatic, and the workouts are almost as fun as Beat Saber. The Thrill of the Fight 1 and 2: These boxing simulations provides the hardest workout of any app in virtual realityshadow boxing is no jokebut they're incredibly addictive games too, so you'll want to work out. Thrill of the Fight 2 adds multiplayer, letting you box other Quest users online, but it's currently in early access mode and doesn't offer a single-player experience. Still, early reaction has been very positive towards the head-to-head combat. Must-have relaxation apps for the Quest 3Pillow: Most VR games are about action and being active; Pillow breaks the trend. It's made to be played on your back in bed, and each of its four "dreams" (mini games) are as chill as possible. Activities include stargazing, storytelling, meditation, and my favorite: fishing for other people's thoughts. You cast onto your ceiling, and when you reel in a virtual fish, you hear audio of another user answering an open-ended question like, "describe something that changed your life." It's very strange and calming. TRIPP: This app promises a "life-changing shift" and a "revolutionary approach to mindfulness." I don't know about all that, but it's definitely trippy. If you're into guided meditation, breathing exercises, and surreal experiences, check it out. But download the free demo first; the $60 price tag is a bit steep for a sight-unseen experience.

Now that the iPhone's iOS 18.2 update is out, you might have noticed a brand new app on your iPhone 15 Pro and 16 series deviceImage Playground. This is an AI image generator built into your iPhone, powered by Apple Intelligence. Image Playground also works on iPads and Macs that support Apple Intelligence, so even if you're on Android, you might still be able to use it. I've been running iOS 18.2 for a while thanks to the beta, and here's everything I've discovered about Apple's first dip into AI imagery.Getting started with Image Playground is really easy Credit: Pranay Parab I struggle to come up with useful text prompts for AI image generators, but Image Playground makes this process easy. While you have the option to type a sentence or two to generate images, the app also lets you choose from a bunch of preset themes such as fantasy, chef, forest, etc. Each of these themes appears above the text box for your prompt. You can combine multiple themes and add a text prompt to quickly create a detailed suggestion for Image Playground to work with. I generated an image of a scientist using Image Playground. It turned out okay, other than the disappearing glasses. Credit: Pranay Parab You also have the option to hit the + button to choose photos from your library to upload as part of your prompt, and there's a profile icon that lets you select a person from your photo library as the image suggestion. Finally, you can generate images in either an "animation,""illustration," or "sketch" style. It's a bit limiting to have to select from these prebaked options, but it helps take away the complexity of describing a cohesive aesthetic over text, and the inability to generate photorealistic images should help prevent deepfakes.Overall, I was quite impressed with Image Playground's ability to generate images even without any custom text prompt, although I'm glad the option is there. It should make the tool approachable for experts and beginners alike.You get multiple results for each prompt Credit: Pranay Parab While trying out Image Playground, I was also impressed by its speed. I tried a few different prompts of varying degrees of complexity, and the app always generated an image within seconds. I was in a forest with spotty internet connectivity during some of these tests and even then, the app delivered its results quite fast. This is because a lot of the processing happens on-device, and as a result, my iPhone 16 Pro Max got slightly warm after generating around 15-20 images.But while you'll get your first result in record time, it's not the only one you'll get, since swiping left on your result will show more options as they're available. Typically, the app would quickly generate 3-5 results for me per prompt, with one of them usually being close enough to what I wanted.You can also try multiple styles per prompt. I used Image Playground to generate a picture of Lifehacker writer Khamosh Pathak attending an Indian wedding, and the final result worked best in the animation style. The illustration and sketch styles may work better for things like a profile picture on social media.Use Image Playground with other apps for best results The Image Wand feature in action in Apple Notes. Credit: Jake Peterson If you're looking for a great use case for Image Playground, look no further than how it's been implemented in Notes. You can now draw a sketch in Notes and ask AI to turn it into art. This can be great to jot down your ideas and quickly pair them with images to help you visualize them. When you create a new note in the Notes app, just tap the pen icon in the tool palette and create a sketch. Then, tap the Image Wand icon (it looks like a stage magician's magic wand), circle the sketch, and optionally add a description to allow Apple Intelligence to turn your sketch into a more detailed AI image. It'll automatically start in the "sketch" style, but pressing the + icon next to the image will allow you to swap styles. If you don't add a description, Image Wand will pull context from your notes themselves to help generate your image. Similarly, you technically don't even need a base sketch, since Image Wand can also text from your notes to generate an image from scratch.Note that this feature works on iPhone and iPad, but not on Mac. I generated this image of a chocolate cake within the Messages app, to show a friend my vision for what I'll do with my brand new dutch oven. Credit: Pranay Parab Image Playground is also integrated into Messages, and allows you to generate images while you're chatting with someone. This feature works on your iPhone, iPad, and the Mac. Simply tap the + button in any chat and select Image Playground. Now, type a description and you'll be able generate an image from within Messages and send it right to your contact. This is probably the way I see myself using Image Playground most in the futurefor some harmless fun with friends. Watch images carefully for bad results Credit: Pranay Parab AI-generated images tend to appear impressive at first, but when you look closely, you'll sometimes be able to spot mistakes. In the aforementioned prompt involving Lifehacker's Khamosh Pathak, one of the results generated a hand with no nails and only three fingers. In other prompts, the app generated a knife with a handle so bent that it looked broken, and fantastical fruits that no human has ever seen. Apple clearly displays a warning that Image Playground may generate unexpected results, but the onus is on you to spot them.As long as you're using this app to generate fun photos for entertainment, it's really enjoyable. I just wouldn't use it for serious work.

Thick as Thieves is a new project from the team of immersive sim and stealth-action icons at OtherSide Entertainment, which includes Deus Ex creator Warren Spector, Looking Glass Studios founder Paul Neurath, and Thief: The Dark Project lead Greg LoPiccolo. Yes, that's a stacked lineup. Together, the OtherSide crew has created or worked on the System Shock, Deus Ex, Thief and Ultima Underworld series, and (along with Doug Church and Ken Levine) are largely responsible for the existence of immersive sims as we know them.So, Thick as Thieves is one to watch. OtherSide's latest project adds multiplayer to the immersive stealth genre, creating a first-person PvPvE experience set in an alternate timeline at the dawn of the 20th century. The game takes place in a version of the 1910s that's been infused with advanced technology and magic but these two forces are at odds, and they've created vast disparities in wealth and power.The game's main city contains a dark criminal underbelly and audacious displays of wealth, and players have to infiltrate both spaces in a competitive multiplayer experience. Thick as Thieves is all about sneaking in, stealing things and escaping unnoticed in a variety of steampunk-adjacent locations.Strategizing and smooth execution are key in Thick as Thieves, but other players pose a constant threat. The game supports varying play styles, from pure stealth to run-and-gun, and you can adapt your approach with each new mission. OtherSide promises there are secrets in every shadow of the city and vital information to uncover from NPCs, and your personal storyline will evolve based on the way you choose to play.OtherSide EntertainmentHere's how Spector describes it: Thick As Thieves captures the vision of immersive gameplay that OtherSide was founded on. With this game, were empowering players to create their own stories in a world that values observation, craftiness, and creative problem-solving.Thick as Thieves is being published by Megabit, and it's due to hit PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S in 2026.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/thick-as-thieves-is-a-multiplayer-stealth-action-game-from-legends-warren-spector-and-paul-neurath-004352183.html?src=rss

Adobe has a new experimental tool for removing window reflections from photos. The feature was originally announced at Adobe Max 2023 as Project See Through and is available to preview in Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Bridge right now if youre a Creative Cloud subscriber, with Adobe Lightroom support coming soon.If youve ever taken a photo of something through a shop window, youve likely dealt with your own reflection or a variety of light streaks and distortions ruining the image. Adobes Reflection Removal tool (as Project See Through is referred to now) is designed to make those reflections a lot easier to remove.AdobeThe tool uses AI that can isolate two separate images: the reflection and whatever is on the other side of the window or reflective material. The training data Adobe used to teach its AI was built from thousands of reflection-free photos that were combined in pairs to create composite images with simulated reflections. The AI model was given the task of determining what two original images the composite was made from, which Adobe engineers could then reward or penalize until the models accuracy improved.The final product works best with reflections that take up the entire field of view of the image. Specifically, Adobe says the Reflection Removal tool cant handle reflections from windows that are small or far away or reflections from wine glasses, car bodies, or clouds reflected in a lake. Engadget was able to test the feature on a reflection in a pair of Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses and came to a similar conclusion. Adobes tool was able to make the lenses of the sunglasses oddly clearer, revealing some of the background behind them, but not remove the reflection entirely.EngadgetIf you want to try the feature for yourself, Adobe says you can go to the Preferences Panel in the Camera RAW plug-in, enable the New AI Settings and Features Panel, and then restart whatever app youre accessing the plug-in from. Once youve uploaded a photo, the Reflection Removal tool will be in the Remove panel under the Distraction Removal section.Reflection Removal is just one small example of how Adobe has been trying to integrate AI into its suite of creative apps in the last few years. The company has been putting most of its attention towards generative AI, first with Adobe Fireflys image generation capabilities, and more recently in October 2024, video generation, too.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/cameras/adobes-new-photoshop-tool-can-clean-away-window-reflections-235855968.html?src=rss

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