A lot of fascinating mobile app news has come out recently. Let’s take a look at the three that piqued our interest the most and what we’re taking away from them.
1. The Purge: App Store
For years, the number of apps in the Google Play store and the Apple App Store has been a source of bragging rights. But now that we’re more mature, we know that it’s really not quantity but quality of these apps that matter. For that reason, we applaud Apple’s decision to purge old and out-dated apps from its store (something it probably should have been doing for a while), even if it means they’ll no longer be able to tout having 2 million apps in their next iOS conference.
Source: TechCrunch
Some, like TechCrunch, are reporting that hundred of thousands of apps may be deleted in the Great App Purge since “50 percent of all apps have been abandoned by developers since May 2015.” While we don’t think it’ll be this drastic — a million apps disappearing would be a shock — it’s exciting to see that the apps that are continually being updated and improved will have less competition on iOS.
Takeaway: Updates matter. Regularly maintained apps will likely see a boost in traffic.
2. We’re 50% Apps Now
It’s finally happened: comScore.com has reported that 50% of all time spent on digital media now occur on apps. Here’s a pretty simple illustration of this trend:
Great news for app developers right? Well not quite. comScore also reported that 8 out of 10 minutes spent in apps were allocated to a user’s favorite three apps. So this uptick in app time mostly means that a lot more people are spending time on Instagram.
But the trend is clear: we are an app-first digital society. Sure, businesses that aren’t Facebook might be competing for the 2 minutes of app-time remaining, but with billions of smartphones, that’s a lot of total time. What’s clear is that businesses from small to enterprise need to spend time and resources on improving apps above all else.
Takeaway: It’s not just “mobile-first,” it’s app-first by a long shot.
3. SMBs are App-Curious
This is pretty amazing: a new Intuit study shows that 66% of small-business app users are willing to “hire someone to train and educate them on the right apps for their business.” What caught our eye is that word “hire.” The thought that two-thirds of SMBs are willing to hire app experts is a clear indication that business are willing to put money on the line to get into the app race.
Source: Intuit
Since the 66% willing to spend money on app training are already app users, it shows that usage leads to an understanding of the real value of mobile apps. In fact, SMBs expect to save money by utilizing mobile solutions, so in the long run they fully expect (as they should) that investing in apps will ultimately lead to reduced costs and overhead. SMBs that are already used to apps know that there will be good ROI investing in apps.
Takeaway: Two-thirds of SMBs understand that apps are a solid business investment.
