The Age of Apps BringsBoth Convenience and Headaches

As developers scramble to anticipate users’ needs，

many apps get left behind

On 6：33 a.m.， Li Ting is awoken by her smartphone’s alarm clock， the time for which was set via an app called Biqi Alarm. As a busy white-collar worker in her early 30’s， even a single extra minute of sleep is a luxury. Her alarm clock app， meanwhile， ensures she must get up by not allowing her to shut off the alarm until she has actually risen from her bed. Therefore， an instant after the sound of the alarm blaring fills her bedroom， she jumps from her bed to get dressed. A few minutes later， she grabs her phone and hails a cab via Didi， China’s largest ride-hailing service. A driver arrives and takes her to the nearest subway station.

Typical of China’s young professionals， Li’s professional life also revolves around apps. Rishiqing helps her keep track of meetings she needs to attend as well as documents she needs to complete and submit. Meituan， a group buying platform providing food delivery service， helps her save money， time and energy during a scorching summer in Beijing.

Li says that such apps save her time， money and effort. However， they can lead to frustration as well.

Major Concerns： Homogenization and Security

“There are too many apps with very similar functions，” Li explains. “Judged based upon their app descriptions and user comments， all such apps work well， but due to lack of phone storage I need to choose one of each type of app. It can be hard to decide. Also， security is a concern. To access an increased amount of functions， I have to register with individual information such as my name and mobile phone number. I’m afraid that such information could be leaked or hacked into.”

Li is not alone. Zhao Ying， another member of China’s much sought after demographic of consumers born in the 1980’s， says that because apps are updated frequently， people recommend new apps all the time. In order to keep up with her friends， and to access the same discounts and coupons her colleagues find， Zhao is forced to constantly replace old apps with new ones， finding herself in a continuous loop of “l(fā)ogout， uninstall， re-download”.

Such frequent app turnover leads to tricky problems for app developers as well. Problems encountered by users cannot always be solved quickly， and developers find it difficult to keep up with changing tastes and preferences among users.

According to an app development manager at a major Chinese media firm， in the information age， due to comparatively low development costs and the pressure of industrial transformation， it is common practice for companies of all kinds to develop their own apps. Developers， meanwhile， face threats from hackers as well as rogue developers who steal their ideas and call it “micro-innovation”.

According to tech research firm iiMedia Research， just over 2 million apps were removed from Apple’s App Store in 2016， while 2.3 million were removed from Google Play， the largest Android App Store. Difficulties in differentiating their apps from others， as well as promoting them， have held back many developers.

Individualization Is the Future

“In my opinion， the demarcation， clean-up and reshuffle of the app market is a good idea，” explains a major tech executive. “Cleaning up the industry will help users feel more at ease as well.”

Meanwhile， China’s app market remains well-regulated， while also allowing developers enough freedom to innovate. Developers can individualize products， and by cooperating with lawmakers and technology regulators， security for both end users and major companies is continuously enhanced.

Yao Jianfang， an analyst with the Department of Legal Services at the China E-Commerce Research Center， said that all apps should be developed with enhancing the end user experience in mind. As internet products include inherent risks， developing a completely secure app is impossible. For developers， it is advisable to implement quick response capabilities and allow users to completely log out and remove their user information from any given app. Developers should do their utmost to avoid binding users to their apps， which is certain to harm their reputation and may even be a breach of the law， Yao said.

“Recently， a greater number of Chinese app developers have begun to focus on intellectual property protection， becoming aware that they need to properly register for such protection，” Yao added. “Laws relating to intellectual property protection in China are also certain to be improved.”

Shi Hongbin， a product manager at the Hangzhou Dianyun Technology Company， said the aim of his company is to optimize apps in accordance with user feedback. They also work to guide users on how to use new features. According to Shi， a high-quality product makes a breakthrough when its individualization based on users’ needs is optimized. This means that developers should be in constant contact with end users in an effort to truly understand user experience.

Many app developers agree with Shi’s thought. For example， various large logistics firms including China’s YTO Express are working to provide improved specialized and professional services by upgrading real-time information and communication between couriers and customers.