A look ahead at potential changes in the Google app ecosystem. What will change for users and development companies?
Just a couple of weeks ago, a new Google brainchild was announced, on which the company has been working for a long time. It is about streaming web applications, a functionality that will become available as part of Google's search applications on Android devices. And this is just one of the possible upcoming changes that may affect the system of mobile applications in the coming years. However, two big questions immediately arise: 1) to what extent this innovation will be geared towards meeting user needs and 2) to what extent it will reflect companies' efforts to pursue their strategic focus.
Google and the app streaming model
The new model of the 'corporation of good' has been of interest to me for a long time. About a year ago, during our consulting phone call with a major technology corporation in the world, one of the main topics of discussion was this model. Its implementation can become the largest event that will change the current paradigm of applications. Google at this stage is ahead of everyone in the speed of introducing a new model, at the same time, Microsoft is working on something similar. Google has a good reason to be the first: this model fits well with the company's overall strategic goal of promoting the idea of the superiority of the web over applications, which in turn correlates with the fundamental model of interaction with content on mobile devices. The reason is simple: Google mainly makes money from web searches and all of its efforts to provide search results from apps (100 billion links from apps at the moment) are not working.
The question arises, is such a model focused on the consumer? Or is this one of the tricks from Google and other companies. primarily performing internal tasks and contrary to the wishes of users? It is becoming obvious that applications are becoming the dominant work environment in user devices, while the browser and the global web are rarely used in most cases. Be that as it may, today the problem with applications lies in their dual nature: they are either installed on your device and all the functionality is available to you, or not, in which case they may not exist for you. The best step for software developers in the context of search is to pay for the placement of an advertising link to install the application in search queries. This is what Hotel Tonight, one of the launch partners of the new model, does, but this method is rather tricky and leads the user to the beginning of his journey, without any mention of the original search.
The new app streaming model solves two problems for users: it includes content from applications not installed by the user into search that would not be shown in a regular search, and allows the user to access this content through the familiar context menu without having to install the application on a permanent basis. This innovation allows you to get rid of the need to perform five actions and, as a result, repeat the search in favor of direct search and saving the gadget in the same 'form' as before the search. For some scenarios, this is quite a good approach to the user.
I suspect that one of the reasons we have so many unused apps on our devices is the fact that we've installed them so we can only use them once and no more, let alone uninstall them. 'Broadcasting' applications will greatly simplify this process, optionally providing the ability to install the application you like on a permanent basis.
Cons of the new model
Nevertheless, this model has its significant drawbacks. Today it works only with a stable Wi-Fi connection with a certain set of products (which need to have an indexing API application), and only for services that do not have web equivalents, such as, for example, the same Hotel Tonight, which exists only as a mobile Appendix. Thus, the model is initially very limited, especially in terms of the need for a stable connection. One of the main advantages of many applications is their ability to work even without an Internet connection. the content is stored locally. It is clear from the definition of streaming applications that they only work with an internet connection. With an active connection, these applications will use more traffic per use than similar software installed in the device's memory. This is due to the rendering and re-streaming of the UI elements on each startup. This model is totally unsuitable for markets with poor and / or expensive connections.
Another interesting aspect is the development of the business model to interact with the new application model. A one-time charge per download is a pretty straightforward approach, but what is the cost to pay for the same app that the user is streaming? Obviously, such a model works for those products whose monetization is not dependent on in-app purchases (which again indicates that Hotel Tonight is a good launch partner), but it is unclear if it will work for other services. Apps might want to offer short trial periods through the streaming model with optional pay-per-download and additional features.
Other application innovations
Streaming applications, of course, is not the only possible way to bring innovation to the application ecosystem. A few weeks ago, we discussed the almost indestructible model Apple in which each installed application gets a corresponding icon on the desktop, and the increasingly obvious disadvantages of this approach. Essentially, I believe the next innovation will be so-called hidden apps that are installed on the phone and do not take up space on the desktop. If you look at it more broadly. then notifications and especially interactive notifications will gain popularity as a way of interacting with applications, perhaps in tandem with such a hidden model. Many applications are used solely for notifications and quick actions to respond to them, we don't even open the applications themselves.
Interoperability between applications will also evolve – recently Apple introduced the concept of Extensions, although similar functionality has been present in other platforms for some time. However, these interactions are often still at a rudimentary level, so the depth and level of such interactions can change significantly for the better. And of course, there is a separate question about the level of interactions outside applications through search and virtual assistants that are 'embedded' into the system. . All major platforms have a kind of built-in search that can access web content and content in applications, as well as other sources of information without having to launch applications.
Another aspect that needs development has already been mentioned by me in the context of application streaming – the application business model. App stores need evolution first of all. In order for developers to make money on their apps, such catalogs must support various subscriptions, be it paid upgrades, evaluation versions, or volume discounts.
The consumer as a driving force
Google's motivation for streaming apps is largely driven by the strategic goal of saturating the web space rather than native apps. But this does not mean that the web at this stage is inherently unacceptable and not consumer-oriented. But as application models and business models evolve, companies need to make sure that they bring in the very changes that benefit users in the first place. If companies instead pursue only their own internal goals, then their paths with users will diverge.
Original material by Jan Dawson
Elir: Google is redefining its views on the web and plans to shift the focus from apps to streaming webcasts. Not surprising, especially in the context of increasing ad revenue. What will it bring to users? The convenience of searching in this way is obvious, there is no need to install applications that are needed only occasionally. There remains a big question for the technical part, not everyone has a constant Wi-Fi signal, on the other hand, the development of 4G gives hope that such a protocol will be able to support streaming applications. The main question is whether the developers are ready for such a model and whether it will negatively affect the user experience.