Mobile Applications: User Discovery and Engagement

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Applications have become extremely popular and helpful tools over the last several years. Their use has been powered by the rapid development of portable digital devices and the speedy growth of the popularity of the internet. The more the users relied on their portable devices such as smartphones and tablets, the more customizable they had to become. Applications are the tools that allow the users to customize their devices based on the tasks and activities they engage in the most frequently.

Salz and Moranz (2013) theorize that the popularity and wide use of the mobile applications may soon result in what the authors refer to as “the perfect storm” that will grant more influence for the mobile applications and break the borders of the current app space enabling the apps to penetrate not just the field of entertainment and gaming but also education, healthcare, self-care, daily productivity, science, and retail.

Besides, the authors name mobile the most popular mass medium of the contemporary times comparing its influence with the “printed word from the 1500s, sound recording from the 1900s, cinema from the 1910s, radio from the 1920s, TV from the 1950s, and Internet from the 1990s” (Salz & Moranz, 2013, p. 11). This paper explores the ways and methods the modern users employ to discover and engaging apps. First of all, the definition of the concept of an app is provided. Further, the reasons why people need and want to discover new apps are discussed. Finally, the most popular how the apps are discovered and engaged.

App: the Concept and Meaning

Salz and Moranz (2013) define a mobile app as “a piece of software specifically designed to run on a mobile device such as a smartphone or a tablet” (p. 14). In most cases, the apps are accessed and downloaded on the devices by their owners individually. They can be accessed at different service platforms developed specifically for various types of devices and their operations systems such as Blackberry, Android, iPhone, and Windows. In some cases, the apps can be installed on personal computers and laptops as well.

The apps are programmed to cooperate with the operating systems of the devices and can take advantage of the features and options of the devices. For example, there are apps designed to manage the information and files on the devices to prevent them from losing speed due to the large amounts of needless information, such apps enable a user to select and delete the cookie and cashed files and also disable the processes that may remain running in the background slowing down the device. In other words, such apps have access to the stored files and active processes to free the operational memory and make sure that the device is not overloaded with needless files.

For a better understanding, a tablet or a smartphone can be likened to a personal computer where apps are the programs that are installed for a purpose to improve the user experience, maximize the ease of use of the device, and satisfy the individual and professional needs of a person. The main objective of apps is to serve people. When the new apps are created, the makers focus primarily on their utility. The creators and marketers of apps are to possess deep knowledge of the needs and desires of the customer base sector they are willing to attract. Due to their versatility, apps can address a large variety of interests. That way, since in many cases, apps target specifically the private experiences and unique choices of the individuals, their makers are to remember about the privacy and ethical concerns of the users.

Role of Apps in Everyday Life

According to Salz and Moranz (2013), three-quarters of the world’s population currently have access to the mobile phone, and this number exceeds the number of people with access to clean water suitable for drinking. Even though the number of mobile phone users is large, only a small part of all these population own smartphones able to support apps. However, the number of smartphone and tablet users is expected to grow within the nearest decade; as a result, the authors anticipate that soon as many as one billion people on the planet will have personal portable digital devices (Salz & Moranz, 2013).

Kothari (2015) reports that an average smartphone or tablet user tends to have about fifty different apps installed on their devices. The speed with which new apps are presented is truly impressive. For instance, by July 2013, the total number of apps offered at the Google Play store reached as many as 50 billion (Vermes, 2014). Knowing this number, one may easily assume that without proper marketing, most apps would get lost in such a huge competition. In fact, according to recent research, one-fifth (or 20%) of all apps downloaded by the users are only used one time and then neglected and deleted (Kothari, 2015).

As soon as the number of actively used smartphones and tablets in the world reaches a billion people the number of makers of apps would be likely to grow as well. As a result, hundreds of thousands of creators will generate millions of applications for consumers located all around the world. Naturally, most developers will take into consideration the cultural specificity of the regions, their languages, and the socioeconomic status of their users. In other words, the competition is going to grow even stronger and more complicated. To remain at the top of the competition, the developers will look for the new niches in their consumer’s needs creating apps that would make the everyday activities easier and faster to accomplish.

The primary role of the mobile applications installed on the portable handheld devices is to retrieve information requested by the users (weather forecast, news, email, and contacts), the facilitation of communication between people (messengers and social network outlets), entertainment (games, creative projects), healthcare (self-care, exercise, and diets), everyday activities (organizers, diaries, calendars), customization of devices (collections of themes, wallpapers, keyboard skins), education (reading and writing apps for children).

Besides, another type of application that has been rapidly gaining population over the last several years is a shopping application. Such apps carry out multiple functions helping the users to access and browse online shopping platforms, arrange their purchases, pay for goods instantly, and scan QR codes. Many retailers and businesses have already developed their apps that allow the users to obtain discounts and bonuses, pay for items quicker, and have a more comfortable and pleasant customer experience. Some of the companies known for their apps are Starbucks, IKEA, McDonald’s.

Future opportunities for the development of applications are numerous and suitable for multiple professions and fields. Potentially, apps can become real game-changers in terms of professional development, the optimization of labor, healthcare and service provision, research, and education. They are also capable of empowering the users to expand their activities and capacities to new spheres and obtain much more knowledge within short periods. In other words, the utility of mobile apps is hard to overestimate. Their influence is getting larger and more powerful by the year.

Apps from Different Platforms and Their Popularity

Among all the billions of apps, iPhone and iPad apps are one of the leaders in terms of user download rates. This platform offers apps targeting various activities and spheres of knowledge. Currently, the Apple app store offers about five hundred thousand applications and its number of user downloads has reached twenty billion (The role of Mobile applications in the modern world, 2016). Another leader in the world of mobile applications is Android, the international platform created by Google that offers about seven thousand hundreds of different applications, and has the rate of user downloads at twenty-five billion (The role of Mobile applications in the modern world, 2016).

These two platforms are the world’s biggest and most popular distributors of mobile applications. Many developers attempt to benefit from making two versions of their apps and placing them on both platforms to target a larger number of potential consumers. The other app platforms are Nokia, Blackberry, and Windows. The number of apps and downloads on these platforms is significantly lower than those of Apple and Android stores.

Regardless of the huge numbers of apps newly created and offered in the app stores every day, the demand for new software is growing rapidly. As a result, many applications begin to replicate one another. That way, searching for an app for a certain kind, a user is likely to be presented at least five different versions of it with almost identical functions and capacities but with different graphic designs and attributes. Due to the overwhelming number of apps repeating one another and flooding the stores daily, the users who are keen on obtaining the most interesting and unusual experiences may get frustrated while searching for suitable applications.

Methods Used for Discovering Apps

To make the search for new apps easier, the users may choose one of several ways that involve references and shares from friends, social networks and advertising, review websites, browsing the stores, and using the applications developed specifically for the discovery of requested apps.

Browsing the App Stores

This method is one of the easiest to put into practice. Applying this method, the users who want to find applications of a certain type simply use their tablets and smartphones to log on the app stores of their platforms (such as iOS, Android, or Windows) and use the search bar to type in the keywords that describe the application they require. This could be the name of an existing application or the functions it is supposed to carry out (such as diet, yoga, fitness, horoscope, weather forecast, or crossword puzzles).

Further, after the user taps the ‘search’ button, the store search engine will show suitable matches. For better convenience of the users, the apps are rated and commented on by the other consumers who have already tested them (Oughton, 2014). Based on these ratings and feedback an individual may choose the app they consider the best.

Ratings play a very important role in the apps marketing process because they are the ultimate basis according to which the consumers make decisions which of the several similar apps to download. That is why most applications request that the users who already have them on their devices rate them and leave comments. Negative feedback can ruin the reputation of an app while positive commentary increases its chance to be noticed and downloaded by more users.

Also, the stores help their customers to browse easier and with more comfort by sorting the apps into several categories such as Music, Games, Business, Healthcare, Education, Books, Traveling, among others. Also, the stores offer recommendations based on which apps a user is searching for or looking through. Browsing is quite a convenient method for discovering new apps.

However, it has several disadvantages. First of all, it may take a long time to find a suitable app because the consumers have to scroll through multiple similar applications and possibly download and test a few to find out how convenient and easy to use they are (Oughton, 2014). Another disadvantage is a distraction posed by the store’s recommendations. Searching for one app, a user may be offered some of the choices popular in their region or similar to the one they search in some way. As a result, the recommendations may drive the user away from the initial search and encourage them to download several more applications that are not necessary. It is a smart marketing move from the side of the store, but it is frustrating for the customers.

Friends’ Recommendations

Another popular method of discovering new apps is following the recommendations of friends, relatives, and colleagues. Often, people who share similar interests tend to need the same mobile applications. That way, professionals may recommend apps to one another. For example, teachers who look to employ modern technologies to support their classroom activities may discuss and select apps suitable for the age of their students and the kinds of assignments they search to provide. The same tendency goes for the entertainment and lifestyle apps as people who are interested in yoga, dieting, or exercise would benefit from sharing their favorite applications. That way, due to the recommendations of the trusted individuals the users would not have to spend much time browsing through all the large variety of choices given at the app stores but just search for specific names of the applications.

Social Networks and Advertising

The communities and groups on social networks that are involved in the placement of online advertisements for their members may sometimes recommend apps of different kinds. However, such advertisements are not as trustworthy as the recommendations of colleagues and friends. In other words, seeing the promotion of an app on a social network, a user is more likely to try and collect more information about the recommended application before logging on to the app store and downloading it.

Review Websites

To make the user’s search for information concerning mobile applications easier, there exist multiple websites that present reviews of the applications of different kinds (Oughton, 2014). Such reviews may cover the newly released apps within a certain period (a year or a season), or they may sort the apps based on their specialty (games, dating, and communication, music, education, healthcare, to name a few). Also, the websites tend to focus only on the apps presented at one of the existing platforms.

A good example of such a website is AppAdvice.com that reviews the applications created for iOS-based devices. The website offers full information including the news about iPhone and iPad applications, lists, ratings, and reviews of apps based on their specialization and themes. It also contains app guides and videos discussing apps. There are multiple websites of this kind, and they can be extremely helpful for the users who look for precise and detailed information concerning the latest products, their description, analysis, evaluation, and demonstration.

Apps for the Discovery of New Apps

Finally, as rich as the selection of apps today is – it has covered the issue of discovery of new applications already. Today, multiple applications exist specifically to help users find the needed apps based on their desires and activities.

An excellent example of such an application is AppHunt, an Android app that can be found in Google Play Market. Its description says that AppHunt is “a curated list of apps updated in real-time. The online community of users selects and vote the best apps: either disruptive new apps or apps with new awesome features. Install new apps you didn’t imagine they would exist” (AppHunt – discover new apps, 2016). Based on the introduction one may notice that the recommendations of the user community and the ratings the consumers, the list of apps are updated to show which apps are the most popular at any given time.

DailyTekk notes that apart from the apps featured on the app stores, many undiscovered ones are just as interesting and useful for the users with diverse interests (10 ways to discover the best new apps, 2014). Further, this source provides a list of ten applications helping users to locate and discover new apps. On the list, there are searching engines (a user browses for the required products based on the keywords and characteristics), crowd and friend-sourcing engines (the applications that recommend the products most frequently downloaded by the friends or a certain group of individuals), trending lists and reviews (the apps that provide real-time ratings allowing the users to see the most demanded products), and various discovery platforms that operate based on different features (filters and sorting by features, sharing with the community, discovery without typing, and predictive engines) (10 ways to discover the best new apps, 2014). All of the methods for apps discovery that were mentioned above are popular among certain users.

However, its popularity is unequal. Based on the results of a poll presented Parrack (2015), one may see that the most popular approach preferred by the majority of the respondents was browsing the app stores; the second and third ranks were taken by the review websites and the recommendations from friends accordingly, these two methods seem to be rather close in terms of popularity, app discovery applications are not favored by many users, judging from the poll data, and the least popular approach features the recommendations on the social networks.

How Do You Discover New Apps

How the Apps are Engaged

When it comes to the marketing of mobile apps, user engagement is one of the most commonly discussed aspects. Since the practice of creating and promoting applications is relatively new, the marketers still research the techniques that encourage the consumers to favor one app over another. Among the strategies that facilitate the user engagement, there is the creation of the warm welcome when the app is first installed or updated, the employment of push messages, the use of the ‘share’ button, and clarifying the conversions of the app (Keirtz, 2014).

In addition to the strategies that make the app more popular among the users, it is also important to cover a customer segment as large as possible to promote the app to multiple potential clients. For that, the value of an app is to be clarified for the users; also, knowing how many apps are abandoned and deleted after just a few uses, the makers are to engage the users constantly via interesting offers, catchy news, bonuses, and discounts (Tiongson, 2015).

Incentives can promt renewed app usage

Conclusion

Regardless of the massive popularity of the mobile apps, in terms of marketing, this field is quite chaotic since the competition is extremely dense and the marketing strategies for the products of this type are still being worked on. To date, the marketers of apps are aware that making their products available to a large number of potential users, addressing the interests and needs of the customers, and engaging them in the ongoing use of the apps are the keys to a successful promotion. However, all of these steps are complicated by the constant changes in the industry due to technological progress and the flood of competition.

Reference List

10 ways to discover the best new apps. (2014). Web.

AppHunt – discover new apps. (2016). Web.

Keirtz, C. (2014). News & Media Apps: How to Engage and Convert Your Users. Web.

Kothari, N. (2015).10 Smart Practices for Engaging And Retaining Mobile App Users. Web.

Oughton, J. (2014). Complete guide to using the iOS App Store for iPad and iPhone. Web.

Parrack, D. (2015). How Do You Discover New Apps? [MakeUseOf Poll]. Web.

Salz, P. A., & Moranz, J. (2013). The Everything Guide to Mobile Apps: A Practical Guide to Affordable Mobile App Development for Your Business. Avon, MS: Everything Books.

The role of Mobile applications in modern world. (2016). Web.

Tiongson, J. (2015). Mobile App Marketing Insights: How Consumers Really Find and Use Your Apps. Web.

Vermes, K. (2014). Will subcategories save the app discovery movement? Web.

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