Top BuildFire Apps That Made Waves in 2021

The new year is finally here. Like many of you, I use this time to reflect on the past 12 months and set goals for the future. 

As I look back on 2021, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to highlight some of my favorite apps created with BuildFire. Every app on this list had a significant impact on revenue for their companies in 2021. Read on to learn the reasons why each app made the cut for the Best of 2021.

Kidz Bop Live

Kidz Bop is a name that you’ve likely heard of—and for good reason. As the number one music brand for kids, Kidz Bop has sold over 22.5 million albums and generated more than 6.5 billion streams worldwide. 

Only three artists in music history – The Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Barbra Striesand – have sold more top ten albums than Kidz Bop.

For those of you unfamiliar with the brand, the concept is really simple. Kids sing covers of popular music. The songs, music videos, and albums are available on all major streaming services, including Apple Music and Spotify.

In addition to selling albums in record numbers, the Kidz Bop brand also sells out arenas worldwide for concert tours. These concerts inspired the launch of Kidz Bop Live, the mobile app created with BuildFire.

The app gives the Kidz Bop core fan base a way to interact with the brand 365 days a year. Parents can find out about upcoming shows, buy concert tickets, purchase merchandise, get access to music, and watch videos directly from their smartphones. 

Unfortunately, most of the Kidz Bop 2021 tour was canceled due to the pandemic. But this only made the Kidz Bop Live app that much more important to the brand and its fans.

The app makes it easy for parents and children to watch exclusive Kidz Bop videos from anywhere. So while they can’t attend any concerts, they can still have fun and engage with the community every day.

Rob Decker, Kidz Bop Director of Marketing, explains why the app has been so popular over the past year. “The most used feature in our app is the video section. People are looking for a way to find and consume our content. While fans are stuck at home, they’re looking for some entertainment.”

2022 looks to be a better year for live music and concert tours, which means the Kidz Bop Live app will help to grow the brand and entertain fans even more in the new year.

311

Sticking with the music theme, this list wouldn’t be complete without the 311 mobile app.

311 has been making rock music for more than 30 years. With 13 studio albums and over 8.5 million records sold in the US, this band has created some of the most recognizable rock songs of the past few decades.

311 has a very loyal fan base. That’s where the 311 mobile app comes into the equation.

The app has everything you’d expect from a band. Fans can find tour information, buy tickets, get 311 gear, and see news about the members. But unlike the average music app, 311 has one of the most active fan communities on the planet.

Fans love the in-app message board.

With BuildFire, implementing this feature was as simple as installing a plugin from the BuildFire marketplace. The rest is history.

Fans use the message board feature on a daily basis to talk about the band and music. They discuss past shows, upcoming events, and share some of their favorite 311 stories. The app has essentially become the ultimate fan community hub. App users even use these message boards to coordinate post-concert meetups and after-parties. 

It’s truly incredible to see how the app evolved from something so simple into a must-have app for every 311 fan.

Amputee Walking School

The Amputee Walking School was founded in 1988 by Todd Schaffhauser. Todd lost his leg to bone cancer when he was just 15 years old. 

But that didn’t hold him back. As a Paralympic Games gold medalist and world record holder, he revolutionized the way athletes can run with prosthetic legs. Todd’s story is truly inspiring. 

Today, The Amputee Walking School has over 30,000 members, and they help more than one thousand amputees every year. 

Enter the Amputee Walking School Mobile app. Created with BuildFire, the app has become a lifeline for amputees and healthcare professionals. 

To summarize its top features, the app offers:

• Resources for amputees and people considering an amputation
• Help for people struggling with the mental aspects of amputations
• Physical therapist training videos
• Patient training videos
• Direct access to the Amputee Coalition of America
• Walking challenges for app users

Arguably the most impactful feature of the app is its physical therapist training. The Amputee Walking School works directly with hospitals, prosthetic companies, and outpatient services programs across the country. This role includes training for physical therapists who work with new amputees during the rehab process.

But an afternoon of training isn’t always enough for a physical therapist to retain information. The mobile app solves this problem by giving therapists direct access to walking videos, exercises, and techniques from anywhere.

So when a patient comes in for a rehab session, the therapist simply opens the app on a smartphone or tablet. They can play a video, and the patient just needs to mimic the movements on the screen. 

This mobile app has single-handedly bridged the gap between physical therapist training and patient care for amputees. The walking challenges and in-app leaderboard helps inspire the amputee community. It gives people motivation to get out there and walk, so they can post their step counts in the app. 

In 2021, the Amputee Walking School mobile app was used to connect doctors, patients, educators, and even prosthetic companies. The sky’s the limit for this app in 2022.

Kids Learning Tube

Kids Learning Tube is an education tool for kids. It teaches subjects through animated videos and songs. With over 1.25 million subscribers and more than one billion video views, Kids Learning Tube has been used by teachers and parents worldwide as a resource to make learning fun.

The app was initially launched out of necessity. After YouTube faced some compliance issues related to online ads in children’s videos, Kids Learning Tube needed to pivot.

They came to BuildFire and launched an ad-free platform where teachers, parents, and kids could access all of the videos. 

The app has proved to be extremely useful in 2021. Countless parents across the globe were navigating unfamiliar waters. All of the school closures and uncertainty forced parents to teach their kids at home. This is far from an easy task.

First, you need to get your kids excited to learn. Then coming up with teaching materials and a way to convey those lessons can feel impossible for parents. 

But Kids Learning Tube solves all of those problems. 

Not only did the app allow Lindsey to scale her list and make money, but it also improved the experience for her subscribers. Rather than getting a text message, which wasn’t always supported on different devices, the app allows Lindsey to reach her subscribers with daily push notifications.

Feature	Text Message	PepTalks App
Device Support	Not always supported	Supported with push notifications
Notification Frequency	Fixed time	Customizable settings
Access	Specific time each day	24/7/365 on-demand

Users can customize these settings to control how many notifications they get per day and what type of inspirational quotes they want to receive.