Apps 6 Times More Popular than Web on Phones, Less Popular on Tablets

The debate among mobile developers is on. Are apps the sure-fire way to consumers wallets, or is it mobile websites? On smartphones, apps have proved hugely popular. These tiny programs that usually do one thing really well have clicked with consumers to even Apple’s, the company that first brought apps to us, surprise. Apps have made some developers rich, and for others provide a viable income stream. But the fact is apps are not an efficient way to deliver functionality. Each app must be developed several times — once for each smartphone platform — in order to reach the widest number of users. They must also be maintained and updated across these platforms, and in order for people to get them they have to be found and purchased, or provided free, through an app store.

On the other hand is the mobile web. Functionality that can be developed for delivery through web browsers only requires one vector of delivery and maintenance, and the programs are automatically accessible to all. Browser technology is great for almost all of the functionality that apps now deliver, and there’s no app store policies for developers to deal with. Typically consumers follow the easiest route, right? Well, not according to the following recent data. Maybe it’s the shiny icons, cool names or flashy home screens, but consumers greatly prefer apps on their smartphones (although not quite as much on tablets).

The study, conducted in April 2011, found that on smartphones, apps were used 85% of the time, but the Web browser was used just 15% of the time. On tablets, apps were still popular, but were used just 61% of the time as compared with Web browsing, which was used 39% of the time.

Says Jing Wu, from Zokem’s research team, “it can be speculated that for tablets, the bigger screen and the better overall user experience in browsing contribute to the relatively higher face time for Web browsing. On smartphones, on the other hand, a smaller screen and of course, better availability of apps, contribute to the apps’ dominance.”

It makes sense that the smaller the screen the more likely a consumer would prefer an app. It’s a shame though to have to lose your collection when changing phones, or borrowing one.

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Q: Are Web Apps the Future of Websites? (A: Yes)

As we become more of a mobile society, with respect to the computer and communications devices we use, everything becomes smaller. This includes the time expected to complete tasks, the amount of time we’re allowed to be unavailable, the keyboards and screens we use, and the applications necessary to do our work. The Age of Apps is upon us. Due to the great success of iPhone apps we can now expect to see AppStores everywhere: the MacApp Store, the ChromeApp Store, the AdroidApp Store, and app stores from probably every telecom, computer platform and device maker known to humankind.

Why have Apps become all the rage? Very simply, people want to do things on the go. Apps provide functionality in a nicely portable form with a wonderful simplicity. Most apps do a single function very well. They’re easy to install and use, and in a large way exemplify what people have always wanted from computers. With this in mind, the following article will make a lot of sense. Businesses need to start thinking of how they can offer their content and functionality as simple apps that people can use on-the-go.

In the mid-2000s, many of us still had to “go online” – meaning if we wanted to use Internet services like e-mail or read content published in a blog, we needed to get to a computer connected to a network (or attached to a modem).

That doesn’t really happen anymore. Or, at least, it’s happening less and less. We now travel about our real world surrounded by a bubble of data and functionality that is always available to us. And, since we have ditched the spending-time model in favor of the doing-tasks model, we should expect that the organization of functionality and content should change as well.

No one had to persuade people to start using apps (unlike the unrelenting “education” of consumers regarding 3D TV). The demand has always been there. Now there’s a way to deliver the goods via portable devices. People like having their data and functionality with them. Smart businesses will take note and begin finding ways to provide customers with the information and capabilities they want.

 

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