If you can’t live without your smartphone, aren’t you living your life through an app? Every day, we are using an app for as many mundane and imaginative uses as possible. From checking the latest news updates in the morning, to booking a cab to pondering over what dress to buy next to unavoidably checking Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn etc., there’s app for almost everything.
India now has a billion mobile users (as er the data released by Trak.in), and ast year’s 49% jump in people having internet access via smartphones, has made India home to the largest online user base after China, leaving USA behind. With the government promoting data digitization and digital wallets through J-A-M (Jandhan- Aadhar- Mobile), it won’t be long before App-led smartphone usage becomes commonplace. And, with smartphone and data access prices dropping, the day isn’t far when every household, even in the remotest of villages, has at least one smartphone with a data connection.
According to the Smartphone User Persona Report (SUPR) 2015, a comprehensive report based on a study conducted by Nielson informate Mobile Insights, throws up a few interesting findings:
- The growing smartphone penetration is driven by Indians under the age of 25 years who make up for 63% of the user base.
- Smartphone users on an average spend 169 minutes per day on their devices.
- Smartphone users map to six key user personas: App Junkies, Social Stars, Conversationalists, Entertainment Buffs, Utilitarians and Dabblers.
App usage on mobile devices grew a whopping 58% in 2015 according to a survey by Yahoo-owned analytics firm Flurry. According to Dazeinfo the number of apps by January, 2015 had a phenomenal increase in different app stores. Below is a snapshot of the data-
A click away!
With the rise of more and more mobile applications, the world seems to be a more accessible place to be, majorly because you are just a click away from getting what you want. Recently, we saw a growing number of home service apps such as UrbanClap, Doormint, LocalOye, Qyk, Near.in, Housejoy, Mr.Right, TaskBob, Fixy and others that provides services like laundry, dry-cleaning, plumbing, carpentry, cleaning and other home services. Not just these that you can expect, but appointments for beauticians, tattoo artists, accountants, interior designers, etc. are also on the list, you just got to name it.
Health apps like 1 mg, HealthifyMe, Practo, MeraDoctor are the most convenient tools to book appointments and get medications or even look for the required doctor for particular illnesses and get appointments accordingly.
You can now sit back and buy groceries, vegetables, fruits rather than going out tiring yourself to find out the right thing only to tick off the required product in your list. Apps like Grofers, PepperTap, BigBasket, ZopNow are here to make your life easier.
Making a futuristic app-world
Recently, with the increasing pollution at an alarming rate, startups have actually started adding features to the apps to notify each one of us about the pollution levels and air quality updates in India. Helpchat is one such Bangalore based app that provides alerts when the air quality drops below a certain threshold.
For all the Instagram lovers, it has recently added the 3D Touch feature in its app v7.14.0 which allows the users to use ‘Peek and Pop’ based on the pressure applied on the screen of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus. This feature has been added to Android app store too.
The government is also pushing app usage for its Digital India mission. To help people associate with the government initiatives, four apps such as Digital India mobile app, MyGov mobile app, Swachh Bharat Mission app and an updated Aadhar mobile app have already been launched.
With government, society, and personal life merging on the app landscape on your mobile screen, app usage can only be going up. How do you expect your life to app-ify in 2016?
Here’s wishing you an App-y New Year 2016!