September 16, 2010
Pew report touts mobile “apps culture.” Does it matter?
A new report out this week from the Pew Internet and American Life Project highlights what they call The Rise of Apps Culture. That phrasing makes it sound like cell phone applications (“apps”) represent a huge, significant wave of activity in how people are using mobile phones. But the tagline for this report seems to backpedal a bit: “35% of US adults have cell phones with apps, but only 24% of adults actually use them.”
Which made me wonder—how important are apps, really? Especially to the news business? And is the catchy phrase “apps culture” really the most useful frame through which to understand mobile trends?...
By Amy Gahran
In the past year, many news organizations have made smartphone apps—especially for the iPhone and iPad, but also for Android phones—the cornerstone of their mobile strategy. There are also third-party apps like Pulse that enhance the aggregated mobile news experience.
I’ve tried many of these apps, and some of them are pretty cool. The question is, how well do they really serve your audience and your news business?
Let’s assume that Pew is correct that 24% of adults in your coverage area actually use mobile apps at all. That’s a sizable audience worth courting—but consider that these people don’t all own the same kind of phone. In fact, many (perhaps most) most of them probably don’t even have smartphones. Yes, many popular feature phones can run simple apps based on Java ME.
Apps are software that runs on mobile phones, so launching a mobile app is a software development project—which is pretty different from most other products from news organizations (including web sites). If you’re building an app, you must choose which mobile platforms to develop for, and which versions of each platform you’ll be compatible with. Each of these decisions narrows your potential mobile audience considerably.
If you develop apps for multiple mobile platforms in order to serve more people, your costs increase significantly. Plus, you’ll have to keep them all updated as platforms and capabilities evolve.
And then after all that: Will people actually download your app and use it more than once or twice? Most apps end up neglected after an initial use or two. Also nearly 60% of cell phone users polled in the Nielsen Company’s Mobile Insights Survey (discussed at length in the Pew report) report that they delete apps, usually because they aren’t as useful or compelling as other apps they prefer.
The bottom line is: When you build a news app, you’re competing for the attention of a subset of the subset of your audience that (a) uses apps and (b) can actually install and run the type of app you choose to develop. After that, there’s a good chance that most users who download your app will swiftly ignore or delete it.
Looking beyond apps. In contrast to apps, the Pew Report notes that 38% of all US adults use the mobile internet (via a mobile web browser). Also, 34% do e-mail on their phones. And a whopping 72% do text messaging.
None of those far more popular mobile activities require a news organization to develop or maintain software. There’s some variation in performance and usability on specific mobile handsets or operating systems, but those channels will work on most cell phones, without a software development effort. They will take resources to develop and maintain, and you will not be able to control the user experience as closely as with an app, but your potential mobile audience is much larger.
Given this, are apps really the most appropriate focus for a news organization’s mobile strategy and resources?
In general, I think it’s best to first cover the most important mobile bases: mobile web, e-mail, and texting. This is how you’ll be accessible to the largest possible mobile audience. Also, consider social media such as Foursquare, Facebook, Flickr, and Twitter as key parts of your mobile strategy—since social media is one of the most popular activities (through apps and otherwise) on all kinds of cell phones.
Apps seem to work best when they have a clear, compelling purpose that directly benefits the user immediately. Consider how to create an app that is not merely must-have, but must-use-regularly, because it does something (or a few things) spectacularly well. An app that simply serves up your news stories probably won’t cut it for most mobile users. Look for app ideas that meet common needs or solve common problems that cannot easily be addressed through other mobile channels.
Also, bear in mind that the mobile web and mobile web browsers are evolving quickly. The emergence of HTML5 and other new web capabilities and technologies means that mobile web pages can deliver a more app-like experience.
So keep an eye on the opportunities that the evolving mobile web offers. And before you invest in building a platform-dependent app, first ask “Can we do all or most of that with the mobile web—or will we be able to, soon?”
Apps can be very compelling and useful. I agree with Pew that there is a culture that’s evolving around them—but it may only be transitional in nature. Apps are just a means to an end. Successful mobile apps let people quickly do things, find things, learn things, and share things wherever they are. From a mobile user’s perspective, those benefits are more important than the delivery mechanism.
So when planning your mobile strategy, focus on the benefits to the user, and then choose the most appropriate and efficient delivery channel. Don’t just think, “Oh! We need a mobile strategy! Quick, let’s build an iPhone app!”
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