If you opened up your mobile phone right now, how many apps would you have downloaded? I’ve just done this little test myself, and I have 24 apps downloaded onto my device. Out of these, I would say I use at least 8 absolutely every day, and the rest at least once a month. My phone probably has around 10 applications running at any one time, and I’d be lying if I said my life didn’t revolve around them. I know I am not alone, and in fact, I know some people that are even more invested in their mobile apps than I am!

In the last decade or so, mobile app development has boomed, now dominating the tech world. Companies all over the world spend months and even years developing the perfect app to draw in new customers from all over the world.

You can now literally find an app for everything, and they are used by everyone. But what makes them so popular? We know that they’re so easy to use, affordable and just make simple things in life much easier, so here are a few of the main reasons why apps are taking over the mobile world…

They Make Our Lives Easier!

Most likely the best thing about apps, and the sole reason really that they exist is that they make the little things in our lives so much easier. While they are used a lot for entertainment, work or social media, it perhaps the everyday things that they really make a difference.

For example, if you’re going on a run, just open the app and it tracks everything for you! Or if you wanted to count your calories that day, just scan your food and it’ll tell you what you need more of, as well as monitoring sleep, banking, making lists and time management. The list is endless, so no matter what you are looking to gain from an app, it is guaranteed you will find it.

They’re cheap!

Thanks to the world of online advertising, a lot of the apps we use day to day are totally free to download which is a major point of attraction for many users. Even if an app does have a price tag, it is rare that is is anything more than £5, so users never have to part with too much money to enjoy an app.

Admittedly, if you want an updated version of an app, there may be a fee to update, but this is only ever a small amount and will depend on what you want to get from it. For most people, the basic versions have everything they need.

As a business owner, you can develop an app that will not only pay for itself via marketing and advertising but could even drive in income. If you allow affiliates to use your app as a marketing platform and buy ad space, it can be quite a lucrative field.

They’re user-friendly!

Apps are super easy to use and are made with the user in mind. Modern technology means that downloading an app takes just seconds, and are developed in a way that makes sure the actual use of the app is just as quick. People are not prepared to be waiting around to get things done and this is reflected in the speed of apps.

For example, if you want to order food, you could have a three-course meal at your door within half an hour. Need to get somewhere quick? An uber is just two minutes away!

Apps have many purposes, but one of the most important for users is that it’s easy to use which is what makes it so popular universally.

You can actually make money out of using mobile apps!

Mobile gaming has started to become more and more popular nowadays. Is this a good reason for many web developers to build mobile apps tailored to gamers and enthusiasts. A mobile app allows people who fall into these categories to stay in the action and take the benefits wherever they may go. Beyond the plethora of advantages for gamers, several apps allow users to actually make money out of using such apps. Two monetization models count among the most popular strategies:

• in-app purchases – the app offers a set of basic features, but in order to access premium features, the user must pay a monthly or a one-time fee.
• in-app advertising – based on traditional advertising methods such as PPC, PPA, etc., this type of monetization is pretty much limited to the size an attractiveness of the ads being served throughout the application.

We are phone addicts

This is arguably the main reason that apps are so popular – is because we are simply spending so long on our phones. It seems to be now that whatever we’re doing, whether it be waiting in a cue, in a lift, sitting in a cafe or just have nothing to do the first thing we do is reach for our phone. Research says that we spend on average over four hours a day on our phones, and so obviously we want to be able to do things on there!

Due to this we constantly look for new apps to keep us interested, so the market is providing this for us and we download them. Although this is put in simple terms, it’s what happens and is a very valid explanation of why apps are taking over.

Should you get an app for your Business?

While it may seem that the obvious answer to this is yes, there is no magic formula to app success. Just because the world is ap obsessed, doesn’t mean that yours will be a success. If you do decide to go down the app route, you will need a good – if not totally unique – idea to make the hundreds of millions of smartphone owners take notice. Also, you may want to considermobile automation testing services in order to make sure the application lives upon the highest standards in terms of usability and efficiency.

Having a good understanding of what users will expect from an app from your company is paramount. The app market is still surprisingly young, despite it’s instant and booming success. To be honest, this could be said for smartphones in general – as new technologies make their way into mobile phones and into our pockets, the scope of what apps will be able to achieve in the near future is mind-blowing.