[vc_row][vc_column][blog_single_full_content]What’s on your mind? What’s in your conversation? What do you fear the most these days? The answer to all these questions is “CoronaVirus”. It started in Wuhan, China and now spreading all across the globe. The entire world and humankind are in grave danger due to this unknown virus. Things are bit shaken upside down, countries, states, and cities are on lockdown, people are on quarantine. Businesses are also shaken from their core. However, some businesses have received a great boost due to this outbreak.
Say, for example, mobile application development company have their work at their peak. It’s like a new opportunity for them. Staying at home for these many days, avoiding social contact is not something people are used to. They need things to keep them occupied and pass their time while they are indoors. Mobile apps seem to be a perfect fit for it. Also, people don’t step out of their homes even to buy groceries and other necessities. They prefer to order everything online and get them delivered to their homes. This is why the IT industry hasn’t experienced that of a meltdown.
IT industry and mobile app developers are holding up quite well, during the corona pandemic. However, the virus, deaths, increasing cases and ongoing lockdown has definitely affected the software development. A major tech giant got a hit and has to delay or digitalize their annual events. Apple canceled its WWDC and Google canceled its Google I/O their annual meetings because of the Corona outbreak. Let’s take a look at which categories of apps are doing well and which of them are sinking during Corona Outbreak.
1) Travel App is going to Doom
Obviously, travel is not among the app categories that are doing well. With lockdown all around the world, there is no way anyone can travel. Even after the lockdown, people might want to avoid planning holidays, going to public places, and exposing themselves to the threat of getting infected.
2) Taxi Booking Apps are Devastated
Taxi booking apps have the same reason as travel apps to go down. As people refrain from going outside and quarantine themselves, they no longer need to book a cab. Taxi booking apps like Ola and Uber are having lower download rates. Uber was among the 1st and 2nd ranks in a travel category but now it has dropped to 80s in the ranking. There is an evident drop in the ranking due to the pandemic.
3) Shopping Apps are on the Rise
Lockdown has made people stay indoors but this doesn’t mean they have stocked up their supplies for these many days. Even though they have stocked certain things, milk, vegetables, and certain things are necessities needed on a regular basis. People are using grocery shopping apps to fulfill their regular needs. We know how it is these days. People are fighting for toilet paper, the last bottle of sanitizer. But now, nobody is willing to step out and they turn to apps to order things and get them delivered.
One of the most popular shopping apps in the entire US is Walmart. The ranking of this shopping app was somewhere around 27th in the shopping category on 5th March. The climbed up to 3rd on 17th March. It is quite evident that these apps are on the boom. Although shopping apps, in general, do maintain high ranks at this time of crisis, these apps are like a blessing in disguise.
4) Education Apps are Doing Quite Well
With the pandemic all across the world, the government has either postponed or canceled the exams. All the students gets promoted to their next class. Students are at their happiest by not having to study any further. However, either some students or their parents are willing to prepare themselves or their children for the upcoming class. This is where education apps come in handy. Also, schools and coaching classes are providing online classes to keep educating their children. They provide the online assignment to the kids to complete. This keeps them engaged with studies even during this lockdown.
More and more people are downloading and using education apps to cope with their studies. Google classroom is one of the top-ranking apps in the education domain. It was somewhere 314th rank and has climbed to 5th in the past few days. The shift has been drastic and unbelievable. But everything around at the moment is unbelievable. Who would have thought that something like Corona will take the world for a troll, force government to lockdown and people to isolate?
Thanks to the mobile application development company to keep working and providing us with digital solutions to stay connected and get what we want with some clicks and swipes. The growth of these apps is evident in countries affected heavily by the COVID-19 like Italy, the US, South Korea, and such others.
5) Social Networking Apps are Favorite these Days
This is not much of a shocker, with people stuck in their homes with nothing much to do, social networking apps will rise. Take an example of one of the popular apps Houseparty. It was ranking somewhere 1492 in the ranks of social networking in Italy. Well after the outbreak, the app has shown tremendous growth and now ranking at 1st position in these quarantine days in Italy. Even Skype is ranking high these days after the pandemic. Now that meeting people is not possible; people are going bonkers on social media apps to meet their friends and relatives. New social games and challenges keep on coming on social media apps to keep people engaged and entertained.
6) Business Apps are Doing Nice Business
Since the lockdown, there are several businesses are totally closed while some of them can still do their work sitting from their homes. The meetings and conference calls is not possible in person. But, there have to be substitute ways to make that happen to carry on work from home. There are also apps that track employee’s performance, their timings, and other things. This has hyped business apps to a great extent. Employers are willing to pay to buy these apps to keep their work running. There are business apps that allow video conferencing and group calls. It also allows sharing screen with your co-workers to ease work things. The hype in demand has increased the number of installs and made this category one of the top-ranking ones.
7) Video Streaming Apps
Video streaming apps are the best things for people to pass their idle time while they are stuck indoors. Video streaming apps were already popular category but now with people not having anything to do or anywhere to go, video streaming apps are the easiest way to keep them engaged. Here is the list of top 10 trending video streaming apps people are going bonkers for.
- YouTube
- Netflix
- Hulu
- Amazon Prime Video
- Twitch
- MX Player
- Disney Plus
- Roku
- Pluto.tv
- Tubi TV
So, which is the app that you are using the most? I am sure your device is full of these apps to entertain yourself while you have to stay indoors.
8) Online Gaming Apps have changed the Game
This is one of those categories which have received a great response from people. Apart from sports, social media, and video streaming, plenty of people have turned to game apps during their quarantine time. From February to March, the visit to online gaming websites or games has increased by 24%. The engagement level and time spent on gaming apps by the users have increased by 21% during the same time period.
9) No Booking through Hotel Booking Apps
It is but obvious since the travel is devastated, hotel booking will experience a similar thing. Since the whole world is under lockdown, no one can travel. This means they no longer need to book a hotel for their stay. This has made hotel booking mobile app development to doom. The hope for this sector to rise soon is very less. The visits of hotel booking sites and apps went down by 66% between February and March.
10) Sports apps aren’t that Sporty
Every sports event is either canceled or delayed and this has shown a huge impact on the sports apps. There is a significant reflection in the visits by the users to these apps. The visits to these apps have decreased by 76% and the total minutes spent on these apps have decreased by 87%. The app has faced a severe setback because of the pandemic. The mobile app design company is no longer getting projects to develop a sports app.
11) Government Sites are being Highly Gazed
People stay constantly tuned to official government sites and apps. They are constantly looking for data about COVID-19, number of affected cases, number of positive cases, guidelines to follow, and such other updates. This has increased traffic to a great extent. Engagement hand visits to government apps and sites have increased by 39% and time spent on these apps has increased by 27%.
12) Healthcare Apps are Getting Healthy Visits
People are looking to seek information about this Novel Coronavirus. It leads them straight to health apps. The mobile app design company is constantly looking to design, develop, and maintain healthcare applications. Visits to this segment of apps have increased by 25%. With the increasing impact of this outbreak, people are getting more hooked to the healthcare sector. The retail sector is having an evident increase these days. Visits to healthcare retail sites have increased by a whopping 146% from February to March.
13) Flight Booking Apps are in Funny Position
Just like every other travel apps, the flight booking apps experienced a fall in Feb. People were reconsidering their travel plans at that phase. It declined by 53% during the end of Feb. However, the visits increased by 69% in March. This may be due to the cancellation of flights due to lockdown.
14) Finance Apps are Fluctuating
The position of financial apps is quite fluctuating. The engagement of digital content has increased because of the news update of the pandemic. The business news category is quite in demand. Unique visitors have increased while some regular ones have also left the apps. So, it is in a stable position.
Wrapping Up
The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the mobile app development industry a lot, some for good and some for worse. But, unlike other businesses, it is not entirely shut down or has experienced a massive setback. It is holding up for now but for how long it will manage is a question in itself. Stay at home, stay safe, and keep using mobile apps to help pass your time and keep yourself engaged and entertained.[/blog_single_full_content][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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