By the end of 2014, mobile app usage was climbing— no, skyrocketing!
That’s right.
According to a report released by the Yahoo-owned mobile analytics firm, Flurry, overall app usage (meaning actual engagement) grew by 76 percent in 2014. Can you believe that Flurry recorded more than two trillion — TRILLION! — app sessions during the year.
As if it wasn’t already, it’s clear:
The mobile app is where it’s at.
There was no single app store category that didn’t see growth in 2014, but a few saw more growth than others. To the tune of triple-digit growth, more and more mobile users are using applications to shop ‘til their scrolling fingers drop; apps in the Shopping category grew 174 percent. (Android sessions were up by as much as 220 percent, even!) Said Flurry, “if 2013 was the year messaging apps took off, 2014 was the year retail came to mobile in a big way.”
While some of this explosion of growth can be attributed to the launch of several e-commerce startups, as much is owed to an increasing level of consumer comfort. Mobile users are ever more comfortable buying from big box retailers on their smartphones; using barcode scanners for comparison shopping; clipping electronic coupons; bargain hunting; and reselling secondhand clothing — all from their smartphones.
The Utilities & Productivity category also saw triple-digit mobile application growth in 2014.
This can again be credited to more new apps on more new screens, and to consumer comfort. The year 2014 saw the development and release of mobile applications for word processing, scheduling, and even work-focused mobile emailing. More so than ever before, our smartphones are an extension of our functional lives.
We work from them. We shop with them. We play on them.
Sometimes, we even still talk to each other on them.
But…
What does this mean for the future of mobile app development?
If you’re us — northern Virginia’s preeminent web & mobile application developer — it means one thing: Opportunity. And tons of it.
Successful mobile application development involves just the right combination of design, usability, and technical implementation for handheld mobile devices. With over a hundred applications successfully developed, Innolance has a demonstrated knowledge in the functional and technical aspects of next generation mobile application development, and is eager to work with and for your company to create the next, newest, most exceptional mobile application.
