Have we lost track of what an app is? It’s a thing on your phone that does a thing. Or did once. Putting aside conspiracy theories about apps invading personal space by perusing all data once installed, I still wonder if we really understand their nature, or natures.
Everything in life happens via app. We make restaurant reservations, order new boots, book an appointment at the gynecologist, turn the furnace down, have our driving monitored to improve insurance rates, analyze our sleep patterns, round decimals, know where to go at a festival, play games… There are a few million1 unique apps available in the App store, and equivalent.
There are a few million different things apps can do for us.
Booming, echo-y voice: All apps are not created equally.
Understanding this struck me when I heard someone mention the app ‘Temu’. Temu is a major online retailer of a broad select of low cost merchandise. It would be a department store, competing with Zellers, Kmart and Walmart, if it were bricks and mortar. The interface on the phone may be a little colourful square, like every other app, but Temu is not similar to the app that puts bunny ears on your mom’s photo.
What an app really is expands and contracts more that a hot air balloon. Apps are software, code, that performs a specific function, maybe simple (tic-tac-toe) or a complex (chess): A few hundred vs a few hundred thousand lines of code, which may or may not communicate with a server owned by an outside source.
This matters when people lump all the thing that apps do into a single bucket. It’s like equating making toast with baking sourdough bread from scratch to supplying bread to every grocery store in Canada. It either trivializes the complex or complicates the simple. Understanding the consequences of touching a button is important when it can put so many different things in motion, from a divorce to ordering a coffee.
This is why it’s important to understand where apps come from (beyond the App store, or equivalent). The package is the same, but contents vary, unlike traditional packaging which is designed to convey useful information about the product. An app that’s meant to be fun, like a puzzle, looks the same as one you use to do your taxes, which could land you in jail if used incorrectly.
The cost of an app doesn’t reveal much. Some apps are free because their developers created them in the spirit of sharing something useful. Others are free because the creator of the app benefits from having the app downloaded. This applies to almost any business that provides a free app, as it can enhance customer service and increase business efficiency.
There is no requirement to explain why an app has been posted in the store, so the innocent user is left to investigate the motivation of the app creator on their own.
Apps present a simple face, not disclosing how complex a process they stand in front of. They might have a hidden agenda. There is an existential aspect to this, illustrated by the Temu app reference. The Temu app is an embodiment of a large retail outlet. Other apps may be embodiments of mathematical equations, game rules, tax software, vegetable cultivation practices or a reservation system for a space flight. These things have vastly different scope, importance and functionality but look the same on your phone home screen and in the store.
Those of us in the entrepreneurship field, educators, enablers and/or investors, often say ‘an app is not a business’. Exactly. The business model behind the app can be any one (or more, for the unfocused) of the following:
- Socialism: philanthropy, contributing to society, being of a sociopolitical mindset that embraces open-source code, because sharing stuff that makes people’s lives easier rocks.
- Starving artist: freely contributing something useful to people to establish credibility, so bit of an ulterior motive but still good for everyone involved.
- Dollar store product: charging a modest fee (like less than a dollar) for a one time download that proves useful, this is kinda like a digital dollar store product.
- Freemium business model: offering free downloads of limited functionality with a premium product available for a fee.
- Subscription model: app sufficiently useful that users will pay ongoing fee to use.
- Storefront: the app is just another distribution channel for a complex business.
- Customer service portal: the app facilitates conversation between the business and customers. And probably provides the business with market insight to optimize its business practices.
The biggest business opportunity in apps of them all: The App store, and Google Play. These platforms make operating systems (iOS and Android) available for third party developers and provide the service of vetting the quality and security of the apps for downloaders, for a fee. App store activities have been under scrutiny at various times for the 30% margin they charge to app developers, and behaviour that reportedly restricts the ability of app creators to work outside the platform.
What’s unsettling me about apps is consumer attitude towards them. Downloading the app commits us to anything from nothing, to a giggle, a frivolous purchase, sharing our medical information, or committing resources for a long period of time. I recall a time when very serious commitments, those involving large amounts of money or legal responsibility, required a witness’ signature. It was work to execute a contract. Too much simplification, via app, could deceive people about the seriousness of what they’re doing.
Referring to Temu as an app sent a shiver down my spine, for fear that a mega corporation, with all its financial, marketing and legal clout, looks as innocuous as suggestion for dogs names based on your lifestyle. And therein lies the potential to take advantage of the uninformed.
1Apple itself states that the App store has more than 1.8 million apps (https://www.apple.com/ca/app-store/) various other sites put the number closer to 2.2 million in 2024 https://www.businessofapps.com/data/app-stores/ and https://bigohtech.com/apple-app-store-statistics/ .