How do smartphones enable the use of mobile applications?
Before we get into the details, let us first understand what are mobile apps exactly?
A mobile app is computer software designed to run on smartphones, tablet computers, and other mobile devices.
These apps are usually available through app distribution platforms like Apple Store, Google Play, Windows Phone Store, Blackberry App World, etc. Users can download required applications from these platforms to the target device.
Apps make accessing information easier. Instead of going to the browser for information, finding the same thing using an application is much easier and more convenient. This is also important because people spend more time on their phones and tablets than they do on their desktop computers. It is important to note that they spend this time on mobile apps rather than browsing mobile devices.
One of the reasons for this rise is easy access to high-speed internet. It is one of the most readily available utilities and is being provided by almost all service providers. Because of this, consumers are spending more time on apps than ever before. Over the past couple of years, the rapid increase in mobile devices has changed us into an app-driven society, offering marketers new opportunities to connect with consumers by creating more interesting and sophisticated apps to capture their attention.
Almost all professionals and students carry a smartphone these days. Their use may vary from email colleagues or text messages to family and friends. Apart from those apps are also used to find information and entertain oneself. This is all because of the smartphones that allow the use of mobile applications. Almost everyone out there scrolls through a 3.5 inch screen more than their computer screens.
When observed carefully, it has shown that people use their smartphones other than calling, emailing, and texting. They use more apps which clearly indicates that apps dominate. Users spend, on average, 82% of mobile minutes on apps and only 18% on web browsers. They download about 40 apps on their phones (out of more than 1 million available) and regularly use about 15 apps.
Mobile applications are growing in popularity, as their use is becoming more and more widespread among mobile users. A study of results conducted in May 2012 reported that during the previous quarter, more mobile subscribers used more apps than surfed the web on their devices: 51.1% versus 49.8%, respectively. Moreover, the researchers also discovered that the use of mobile apps is closely related to the user’s context and is dependent on the user’s location and time of day.
In conclusion, one thing is clear – apps have won and the mobile browser has taken a back seat. Now every company in the world including Google is adapting to this reality.
