During the early years, apps were promoted as mono purpose device transformers. Converting phones into say a calculator, a messenger or a map! Gradually or rather exponentially the apps evolved to serve more wants. By 2015, the ‘home screen domination era’ was coming to an end, now it was time for subtlety. Apps were becoming more contextually aware. The focus was on usefulness rather than on cramming extra features. Taking contextual signals like location, hardware sensors, usage history and predictive analytics, apps were focusing more on giving a tailor-made experience. In today’s time product development has become deeply integrated with analytics. Every interaction tells a story, every movement monitored. We at Affle are proud to have witnessed this journey from the very start, pioneering the App revolution in India and Singapore.
The App market continues to grow at a furious pace. After generating a revenue of $88 billion in 2016, it’s expected to reach $189 billion by 2020. The market as we know it is a duopoly, with Android and iOS being way above the rest. The Play Store leads the charge with 2.8 million apps, while App store is second with 2.2 million.
The apps are no more limited to the phone space, they’re moving beyond. With IoT on the rise, apps are required in a host of different devices ranging from smartwatches to IoT farms. Everything is dependent on the integration of apps. Example, Nest thermostat app that allows you to remotely control its thermostat from anywhere.
The rivalry between Android and iOS means both are coying developers to get more and more apps in their app stores. Continuous O.S updates are rolled out to keep bugs and other distressers at bay, maintaining a healthy platform for apps to flourish. Special Kits such as ARKit are launched so that app market continues to grow in prospecting ways.
How O.S drives device sales is well known, but can apps claim a similar hold? The example of android tab market tells us so. One major reason android lags so far behind iOS in the tab market is app optimization. Apart from the native android apps, most other 3rd party apps feel like upscaled phone apps. Things have improved over the years, but not enough. In terms of phones, people hold in-built iOS apps such as Facetime, iTunes in great esteem. Even Intex and Jio have worked to build their own profile.
