App's dead? The increase in application quantity is due to the decrease of development threshold

Last year's July 10, the App Store spent its 6-year-old birthday. Tim Cook has just announced a startling figure one months ago at the Apple developer conference, with more than 1.2 million apps on the App Store today. The sheer volume of applications has also allowed "zombie applications" to rise in total usage. By January 2015, the ratio had reached 83%. This means that the chances of new applications being visible will be slim without changing the "discovered" rule in the App Store.

App's dead? Such doubts begin to plague entrepreneurs and application developers. At the same time, the application growth rate of the major platforms is still high, at the end of 2014, the number of Androping applications reached 1.43 million, the first more than iOS, and 2014, the use of global mobile applications also increased by 70% in previous years. This may explain the increasingly difficult business environment based on the app product, but the app product form itself remains extremely powerful.

The increase in application quantity is due to the decrease of development threshold

As early as three years ago, when the world's 1 millionth mobile application was born, a domestic media had discussed the cause of the rapid growth of app number, and the conclusion was that the threshold of development application was reduced. According to statistics, developers with fewer than 10 development applications account for more than 80% of total developers. Part of this 80% is for individual developers, partly through the creation of ideas and the outsourcing of programming tasks to some of the remaining 20% to complete application development, and the ownership of new applications. "Everyone can be a developer", which is almost unthinkable in the early days of mobile internet, when it comes to developing a mobile app that means first to pass the operator and fight the hardware and warranty issues.

Today, the threshold for mobile application development has fallen to almost zero, thanks to the emergence of numerous self-service-generating app platforms. In the Baidu search box input "app self-help" or "app generation", the results of a number of self-help generation app platform, through these platforms, users can in just a few minutes to create an app, and published to the major mainstream application market. These platforms are not only for social, media, electricity and other types for different demand developers to provide different template selection, but also in each type of app provides a variety of styles, users simply fill in the application name, introduction and other necessary information can directly generate an app and a separate background management system, Users in the background can be content management, advertising management, publishing goods and other operations, the entire production process less than 5 minutes.

The "0 threshold" can be described as "scary" for the growth of mobile apps. Statistics on iOS and Android applications add up to around 3 million, of which the app generates about 30%, and most of these applications are low in usage, Even some applications are discarded from birth. The lowering of the threshold of development, while promoting the growth of mobile applications, also pulled up the ratio of zombie applications.

Apps aren't dead, but entrepreneurial environments are getting tougher.

Development costs, promotional costs, and user access costs are a huge expense for an entrepreneurial project in the form of apps, and the emergence of similar entrepreneurial projects and the involvement of internet giants have almost wiped out the opportunities for entrepreneurial teams to survive. At the same time, super applications such as micro-letters continue to extend the product line, also let the outlook of app this product form begin to be questioned, the pessimist even sends "the app is Dead" The whine, holds this argument many, but its argument is most untenable, at best can prove the app entrepreneurial environment more difficult.

One powerful fact of the argument against this argument is that in the mobile internet age, the mobile screen is still dominated by a wide variety of apps, yet no new product form can replace it. It is said that the emergence of micro-credit public number is gradually replacing the location of the app, because for businesses and businesses, micro-credit for the Open service interface and the large number of users to meet their commercial needs. But don't forget, micro-trust is the app itself. There is also a point of view that users often use applications focused on a few required apps, because the day-to-day social, shopping, travel and other needs can be centrally resolved through these apps, no need to install other applications, so that the new application opportunities Slim conclusion, I disagree. The user's energy is limited, can be retained in the user's mobile phone down the application must meet the user some just need, this is the product can obtain user approval problem, is not the app product form problem, also cannot prove app's outdated or decline.

The only thing worth mentioning is the development of H5 technology, make H5 page in the product experience has been infinite approximation to the independent app, the market began to appear a large number of H5 technology based on light applications, many applications to H5 page form to focus on a platform, of course, most of these products are still the shape of the app. or Baidu direct number of practice, the business, enterprises, local life service providers to H5 page form to integrate, and through the mobile end of the search allows users to quickly and directly docking the required services. This model for the entrepreneur is certainly a good promotion channel, but the problem is to rely too much on the large platform to provide flow support, it is difficult to repeat the PC era bidding ranking mechanism of the mistakes. At the same time, the entrepreneur lacks enough control to the product, limited to various rules and is tired of coping with the abrupt adjustment of the platform policy. It is believed that the micro-trust operator is deeply impressed by this. This is why many PC-era owners would rather invest a lot of money to build an independent app than to use a product like a micro-community, because the user can not hold their own hands, lack of security.

The key to rescuing dying apps is the profit model

The number of free apps in the application market accounts for most, especially for Chinese developers, and it is almost impossible to get a share of the app's own installation because domestic users don't have the habit of paying for apps. When this road fails, all the developers are thinking about their profit model, because whether from the recognition of the capital market or the long-term development of the product, the profit model is a problem to be faced sooner or later. In particular, a more functional tool-type app, because the profit model is not clear, is often regarded as a gnome project by the investment community.

So how do you find a reasonable and lasting profit channel for your app? It is clear that the PC era by the flow of direct liquidity model in the mobile era has not worked, because mobile advertising in both the form or scale has not been keeping up with the development of the Times, simply by clicking on the amount of advertising profits can not guarantee the benefits of developers. Especially for the natural do not have a profit point of the application of tools, empty flow but can not be seen, often die in the road to explore business models, or by the giant takeover, this is the best but the end. Is there a possible combination of many businesses (advertisers), app resources, through the way of advertising to achieve business, app owners, users benefit, not only to ensure the advertising effect of businesses, but also to ensure the benefits of the app, but also to attract users?

This is certainly possible, because of the poor experience of mobile advertising, many applications are trying to ensure the interests of advertisers and platforms in a way that brings benefits to users. For example, users in some news clients click ads can get gold coins, some lock screen applications and even directly with the user to share cash, but also some platform integration of many businesses and app developer Resources, the business ads to each app, developers again with the revenue temptation to drive the user's click, The increase in clicks also guarantees the interests of the app owner and the business, which is beneficial to the three parties. This is a good profit model for mobile applications that lack liquidity.

The recent calendar application Sunrise to 100 million U.S. dollars to sell to Microsoft, once triggered people's lack of profit model mobile application fate of the sad, although said by the giant acquisition is also a way to prove their own value, but presumably most developers are not the original intention. Survival or death is a problem for app projects that are still struggling with idealism, and the answer lies in finding a clear profit model early on.