The word is that LinkedIn has major plans to ramp up its mobile platform in 2014, and one or maybe two standalone, new apps appear to be part of that effort.
LinkedIn has stated in the press that it has more apps planned to be launched in 2014 and 2015. One will definitely be unveiled this year, but no one yet knows what it is.
As of now, LinkedIn has four mobile apps:
- LinkedIn – This is the general, standard LinkedIn app for smart phones. It provides mobile users with most of the features from the web version of LinkedIn.
- Pulse – LinkedIn bought Pulse and its mobile newsreader in 2013 for $90 million. The app features popular news and feature articles from the World Wide Web. It replaced LinkedIn Today as the website’s main news aggregator last November.
- LinkedIn Recruiter – This app was released last fall, and is mostly used for HR and recruiting. It gives tools that are used to monitor and discover possible new employees on LinkedIn. There is a new Android version coming out this week.
- LinkedIn Contacts – This app extracts key LinkedIn information, such as profile alerts, profile details and calendars.
No one high up in the LI food chain is sharing any details about the new app, but we think that it is probably going to be targeted towards the general user base of the website.
Reaching a bigger audience with new apps will help LinkedIn to increase its worldwide base of users, which currently stands at 277 million.
LinkedIn does not have a standalone messaging app currently. Meanwhile, Twitter (trying to look more like Facebook) and Facebook (making privacy setting changes again) have recently been making private messaging a priority this year.
We are not expecting LI to come out with a messenger app yet; the company does not yet have any chat-style functionality. Our hunch is that the app will be based upon one of LinkedIn’s current features.
Parker Barrile, VP of Product for LinkedIn Talent Solutions noted this week that mobile apps work the best when they are very focused one specific type of functionality. So, expect to see a new LinkedIn app that does one thing very well.