How many apps do you have installed on your Smartphone? According to Apple, for every iPhone sold, about 119 apps have been downloaded. Yet fewer than a quarter of those apps are actually used in any given month.
There are all sorts of tips and tricks for managing apps on your Smartphone. Here are a few of the top recommendations to get you going:
- Put the 4 or 5 apps you use the most on your main page (not including anything in the persistent dock at the bottom of the screen)
- Arrange the second page with your next most used apps, but no more than 10 or 12. Otherwise, arrange them in folders
- If you’re a true app addict, you can create a third page or more
- Once a month, go through all your apps and delete any apps you haven’t used
If you still feel you’re on app overload, take heart – there are many new ideas out there on how to disrupt the proliferation of so many apps. This includes the lowly chat app, which is turning out (in many countries) to be used for much more than just chat, and far from lowly.
Chat Away
In Asia, the dominance of WeChat has exploded, as it’s grown to support everything from hailing a cab to paying for retail services to booking appointments. These once-simple messaging apps are starting to become the “one place to go” on the user’s Smartphone, reducing the need for multiple different apps.
Experts are starting to think of WeChat, and other similar apps coming onto the market, as actually more of a portal or a platform. Their goal is to focus on building and maintaining a mobile-first lifestyle, way beyond just social.
Chat Puts on a Suit and Tie
In the business world, we’re seeing the same approach. Mobility has become synonymous with business cloud communications, as most workers are away from their desks 50-60% of the time. The ability to combine email, instant messaging, voice and video into a single Unified Communications platform, which can be accessed by a single app, is very appealing.
These new communication apps, which can work across laptops, tablets and Smartphones, can also integrate with other business apps and tools which are scattered across the organization. This might include the company’s CRM such as salesforce.com, HR systems such as workday.com, to cloud storage and project management tools.
Is One App to Rule All a Fantasy?
Perhaps, but we are certainly moving in that direction with new Unified Communications solutions that will make our already complicated lives just a bit simpler.
Sources: Broadsoft, Nielsen
