As we can’t predict the consequences of this COVID pandemic, many businesses are getting ready for this new normal period. Companies that are flexible and innovative will grow stronger than others.
Some industries, like hospitality and retail, still take time to adapt to the new normal. However, for others like video streamers and work-from-home employees, the new normal is already making them thrive. This is why it is important that apps are becoming important.
Mobile apps are making it possible for all of us to thrive in the face of COVID. They help many of us remain efficient while maintaining physical distancing. Trying to live in a COVID world is unimaginable.
Here are app categories that will thrive in a post-COVID world.
Healthcare Apps
Healthcare apps are in high demand as we care about our health more and more. These apps may instruct how to do basic yoga or meditation at home, what’s an appropriate diet, the types of exercise you should be doing, and give instructions for medical testing. These apps also allow on-demand doctor consultations over the phone or with your tablet or computer, which is a great relief to those who cannot financially afford to go to a doctor’s office.
Grocery and Online Shopping Apps
Grocery and online shopping apps have seen success during the pandemic. Many people are worried about getting infected with the virus making these grocery apps very important in maintaining out households.
Many people are also finding it more convenient to do their shopping online. They save time and gas money while shopping at home.
FinTech Apps
Also known as financial technology, it is another category that is experiencing popularity and high demand. The uncertainty with the economic system together with the failure to go to banks has caused many of us to use apps when dealing with money.
According to App Annie, says that during Q1 2020, time spent in fintech increased to 55%. Growth was even greater at 90% and 85% respectively in South Korea and Japan. In April 2020, a FinTech app named Robinhood ranked #1 on app with a 260% boost in use.
From essentials like paying bills, the use of fintech has also seen a boost in other finance related use such as fund transferring, inventory monitoring, trading, investing, and private finance management. Customers look for user-friendly, trustworthy, and stable apps, to clear up all financial issues.
Dating Apps
Dating apps saw a huge surge during the worldwide lockdown. The category saw a low increase of only 5.3% growth in 201p. However, during the pandemic apps like Hinge, Bumble, and Tinder enjoyed a huge increase in downloads since face-to face meet-ups were prohibited.
In 2019, it was already forecasted that more and more people would meet their partners online by 2035. On 29th March 2020, Tinder users worldwide swiped through 3 billion probable matches. And this was a record-breaking incident.
Entertainment Apps
During this pandemic, leisure apps like Scrabble GO, IMDb, Snapchat, Google Play Music, Spotify, YouTube, HBO Now, Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc. have encountered a extraordinary surge to ward off the boredom of lockdown. Kids are downloading games for fun and entertainment.
Adults also are engaged in news apps in order to stay in touch with what’s happening around the world. Apps like Google News, BBC News, CNN, etc. have become popular as people want to know what’s happening in other places.
News apps are also a good source of precautionary measures and advice on how to combat COVID and how other countries are coping with the disease. Most importantly, they want to know how the healthcare system is faring and how it will affect them should they contract the virus.
E-Learning Apps
Many students were unable to physically join their classmates due to the lockdown. Academic year 2020-2021 saw a massive digitalization of education. COVID stretched the abilities of educators and students in order to accommodate teaching and learning.
For example, language apps like Duolingo experienced a 148% increase in enrolees during March 2020 in the US. Likewise, Udemy also encountered a 425% increase in enrolments in late March.
The increase was due to the sudden need for people to learn new skills to pass time during the lockdown. Many of them saw this period as an ideal time to improve their abilities. However, e-learning apps are still enjoying poplarity as more people see them as a convenient way of pursuing hobbies and self-improvement while at home.
Social Media Apps
Social media apps play an important part during the time of social distancing as it is a means of communicating with family and friends around the world.
Due to social distancing, social media apps have become more popular. Famous social media apps like Tumblr, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, WhatsApp, and Reddit have enjoyed massive downloads.
Aside from staying in touch, people also use social media as an outlet for their creativity. For instance, there were a lot of funny and creative videos on TikTok and many beautiful pictures of landscape and scenery in Instagram.
Food Delivery Apps
Many restaurants and cafes struggled during the pandemic. With social distancing measures in place, many restaurants had to limit the number of patrons eating inside while others were forced to close due to slow sales.
Fortunately, delivery apps made it possible for other restaurants and cafes to proseper and thrive. In order to conform with social distancing measures, many patrons turned to food delivery so that they can still enjoy their favorite food or beverage without having to go out of their homes.
DIY and Home Improvement Apps
Since we all had to spend more time at home, DIY has strongly emerged as one of the best ways to stave off boredom. Homeowners stuck at home suddenly got inspired and were finally able to start or restart projects they have on the backburner.
Apps like Lowe`s and Home Depot noticed a 205% and 195% hike of their app downloads respectively. Wayfair, the virtual-first homeware store additionally skilled an 85% boom in its app downloads.
Edtech or Online Education Apps
Many students were unable to attend classes during the pandemic. Even this year, there are still students learning online. This has led to a massive digitalization of education.
Edtech apps like ClassDojo, Remind: Safe Classroom, and Google Classroom encountered a 565%, 290%, and 580% boom respectively from January 2020 to March 2020.
After many years, these digital education apps finally saw scope in this crisis period. Byju’s that was working great as a Freemium subscription model, grew a bit and started providing free online classes, experiencing a 150% hike in the number of users.
Bottom Line
Users are spending more time using apps. From buying groceries to online learning, it is easy to see how these apps are making our lives easier during COVID and in our post-COVID world.
If you have an app idea, now is the perfect time to try new ideas and concepts.
