As users, we may feel like our expectations from a mobile application do not change much. Let’s see and share photos on Instagram, take a look at the agenda on Twitter, let our mobile banking application perform the EFT process properly, Getir handles our grocery shopping is enough.
But although we may feel that way individually, we have noticed that every mobile application we use is starting to offer us more and more. Behind this is the concept of ‘Super App’, which has been on the rise in recent years. Let’s see what is this Super App that shows us that Instagram will never be the same again, why it is on the rise and which apps are on the way to becoming a Super App…
Super App is not a new concept after all.
Super App is a phrase first used by BlackBerry founder Mike Lazaridis in 2010. At that time, it was spoken as an idea rather than a technology concept with examples.
Lazaridis, on the other hand, defined this concept as a closed ecosystem of applications where users can do many things at the same time and can work in integration with third-party applications. In other words, mini applications working integrated for multiple services would be together in a super app, or that single super app would contain more than one service at the same time. Thus, users would do all their work in a single application and would not have to navigate between applications.
Super App idea on the rise with WeChat in China
If you do a little search for Super App, you will see that the name that comes up the most is WeChat. This is because WeChat is the first and largest example of a super app.
WeChat was originally launched as a messaging and calling app similar to WhatsApp. However, the super app policy followed over the years has made the app the number one application in China and turned it into a platform where billions of dollars of trade revolve.
Developers were given permission to develop mini-apps that can be used within WeChat, and over time, more than three million apps that can be used only by entering WeChat and that offer services in every area you can think of were included on the platform.
Thus, besides talking with friends over WeChat, it has become possible to read news, rent a car, order a meal or apply for a passport. This made WeChat an example of a successful super app.
WeChat, the number one application in China, is such a common application that you can even pay for a ‘street flavor’ you buy from a vendor while walking on a street, by scanning a QR code via WeChat in seconds. In short, this super app is used everywhere in China and in all aspects of life.
Reaching more and more users in Asia, super apps are also on the rise in Africa. The reason is ‘cheap and low-end phones’
Although super apps started in Asia, many local super apps have been on the rise in Africa in recent years. The biggest reason for this is the intensity of low-level phone use across Africa.
In low-end phones that cannot provide a perfect experience to the user, users have turned to super apps that solve everything with a single application. There are many super apps that are popular across Africa, and with these apps, it’s possible to do a lot of things in one place.
It is stated that a similar situation is valid in many Middle Eastern countries. More and more applications are being developed in the field of super app, which is directed by local technology companies.
What does this have to do with Instagram and Twitter?
We talked roughly about the applications that were developed as a super app or that have turned into a super app over the years with the innovations. So what does all this have to do with apps like Instagram, Twitter, TikTok?
In fact, the answer to this question is hidden in our daily social media experience. You must have come across it, the ‘Make Instagram Instagram again’ campaign was launched in the past weeks. In this campaign, which included many Instagram celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, it was criticized that Instagram is increasingly similar to TikTok, and it was reminded that it is a photography application.
Similar situations have recently been discussed for applications such as Twitter and TikTok. For example, we always heard the same voices when Twitter added voice chat rooms feature or TikTok included shopping features. “What’s going on with these apps?”
The answer is simple; They are on their way to becoming a super app. For example, when the news that Elon Musk would buy Twitter first broke out, he mentioned that he wanted to make Twitter a super app. Adam Mosseri, who sits at the top of Instagram, clearly stated in a statement he made almost a year ago that ‘Instagram is no longer a photo sharing application’… Many innovations, from the development of search features in the application to the store and shopping features, supported these statements.
So even though we, as users, don’t understand the math behind it and think it worsens our experience, teams of all major apps continue to incorporate more and more features into their apps to become a super app. Even though we say we don’t like it at the beginning, we accept and use all innovations over time.
It should also be noted that major applications such as Instagram, Twitter and TikTok are not yet fully ‘super apps’. However, the policy they follow clearly shows us that this is their goal.
It actually sounds quite logical, so why are we bothered by these innovations and keep ‘wanting the old Instagram’?
Despite all the practicality it provides, it may not be easy to figure out why users don’t like the fact that more and more features are coming to Instagram and the app is turning into something completely different. But it is understandable…
Because with every innovation, our behavior about using the application also needs to change. Sometimes a feature we love gets left behind and we don’t like it. Sometimes, due to new features coming in, we can feel like we are more passive consumers on the platform, who now exist only to ‘look, watch or listen’. After all, taking a photo of a cat and sharing it is not the same as producing reels…
But in the end, most of the time we adopt these features and let it become our new normal after a while. For example, reels sounded meaningless at first, we couldn’t get used to it. But statistics show that reels are at the top of the places where the most time is spent on Instagram.
We’re talking Instagram here as the most popular example, but a similar logic applies to all apps. All the changes Twitter went through at the end of its journey as a ‘microblog’ received similar comments from its users.
Why are applications such as Instagram and Twitter so insistent on turning into a super app, even though users say they don’t want it?
The examples we’ve given so far of super apps are that these apps do nothing but make users’ lives easier. After all, it doesn’t sound bad to be able to order food from the same application, read a few news without having to switch to any other application, suddenly remember the thing we need and then shop and pay bills from the same application.
E application developers are obviously doing this for our benefit… Isn’t it? Of course not… Increasing the screen time for a particular application by improving the user experience is of course one of the goals of the developers of that application. Super apps are also mutually beneficial in this sense, as they increase this screen time and usage rates, it’s true. However, this is not the only reason.
We are aware of the difficulties experienced by companies such as Meta, which have grown based on advertising revenues, in collecting and using data in recent years. With each passing day, more and more obstacles appear in front of them. Collecting and using data from third-party apps and websites is becoming increasingly impossible for tech giants.
Apple has severely limited its ability to collect and use data for third-party apps from their devices. This issue, which deepened with privacy and security awareness and sanctions from countries, pushed Google to produce similar policies for Android. However, this has made it very difficult for companies like Meta.
What if they could use the data they collected from users who already took every step on a single application for that single application?
This is one of the facts that make technology giants so insistent on super apps. On the one hand, the opportunity to collect unlimited data from millions of people using that application all day long with a single application permission, on the other hand, the opportunity to use this data for seamlessly integrated applications and advertisements…
What other apps are taking steps to become super apps these days?
In this regard, we can present Trendyol and Getir as current examples.
Getir has started to turn into a super app with the steps it has taken in the last months. Getir, which started out as an application where we could create grocery orders, then allowed us to place food orders. Then we saw that with many innovations such as Getirİş and GetirArac, there were many service areas at the same time, from job postings to car rentals.
Trendyol followed a similar line. Trendyol, which was an e-commerce platform where we could shop first, then turned into a platform where we could also place grocery and food orders. Improvements were also made in payment with in-app features such as Trendyol Wallet. In addition, steps have been taken for a platform where time will be spent and content will be consumed at the same time with the video content and collections within the application. It is possible to encounter similar scenarios in financial technology applications. We wouldn’t be wrong if we say that their numbers will increase in the future.
Sources: The Wall Street Journal, World Economic Forum, The Verge, Forbes
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