App usage is growing, but only a few apps are reaping the benefits

Top 10 mobile apps

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The increasingly dominant role smartphones are playing in users’ lives has prompted the app market to surge. In 2016, total time spent in apps globally hit 1.6 trillion hours, up over 50% from the previous year, according to App Annie.

The increasing time spent bodes well for firms that have bet on apps, as opposed to the mobile web, to reach consumers — the top 20% of US smartphone users on average use over 45 apps per month.

But, these 45 apps aren’t receiving an equal share of time spent, since users spend most of their time in just a handful apps.

On average, US app users spend 90% of their mobile app time in their top five apps. This suggests that unless a brand app is one of the most used apps, it's unlikely to get a meaningful share of users’ attention.
Facebook and Google dominate the US mobile app space. The two app publishers own all of the top six apps with the highest reach, and account for eight of the top 10 apps, according to comScore’s 2017 US Mobile App Report.

As the app ecosystem consolidates under the umbrellas of Facebook and Google, brands and developers will need to look to avenues of user engagement beyond their own apps.

Alternate app experiences could provide brands and publishers with a channel to reach consumers where they’re already spending most of their time. For example, Google is pushing Instant Apps, which lets developers highlight a single part of their app that users can launch from within Google Play without having to download the app. Apple’s iMessage apps, which are stripped-down app experiences that launch from within iMessage, could also help increase brand engagement.

In 2009, Apple coined the phrase “there’s an app for that,” and within six years, its prophecy had been fulfilled.

Apps had become the primary way people navigate the internet, overtaking mobile and desktop web browsers. And now they account for the vast majority of time spent on mobile devices.

But, despite this dominance, an intensifying engagement crisis is putting the ecosystem at risk. App usage is consolidating and once they've tried an app, users mostly aren’t coming back for more.

This shift could usher in a "post-app" era, which could transform the way consumers access the internet and digital services. Mobile tech giants Apple, Facebook, and Google have each put in motion strategies that best ensure they emerge not only unscathed, but ahead of their competition. At stake is the dominance of an industry projected to reach $102 billion in value globally by 2020.

Laurie Beaver, research associate for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has written a report on the end of apps that assesses the evolving app landscape, examines how the existing app model is threatened by the decline of broad app usage, profiles the promising new tech in the space across Apple, Facebook, and Google, and explores barriers standing in the way of user adoption.

To get the full report, subscribe to an All-Access pass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and more than 250 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >> Learn More Now

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