as users Our expectations of the mobile application do not change much. We may feel that Let’s view and share photos on Instagram, take a look at the calendar on Twitter, have our mobile banking application run the EFT process properly, Getir takes care of our groceries is enough.

But although we may feel this way individually, every mobile app starts to offer us more and more you noticed. Behind this is the increase in recent years ‘Super app’ understand. Come and show us that Instagram will never be the same again. What is SuperApp, Let’s see why it’s on the rise and which apps are on their way to becoming Super Apps…

After all, Super App is not a new concept.

Super App was first introduced in 2010. Used by BlackBerry founder Mike Lazaridis an expression. At the time, it was talked about as an idea rather than a technological concept with examples.

Lazaridis used this concept. Users can do many things at once and can work integrated with third-party applications. It was described as a closed ecosystem of applications. In other words, mini-applications that work integrated across multiple services will come together in a super-app, or one super app would host multiple services at the same time. This would allow users to do all their work in one application and not have to navigate between applications.

Super App idea on the rise with WeChat in China

If you do a little search on Super App, you will find the name that comes up the most. WeChat you see that it is. This is because WeChat is the first and largest example of a super app.

WeChat, originally As a messaging and calling application similar to WhatsApp made available. However, the super app policies that have been followed over the years have made the app the number one application in China and turned it into a multi-billion dollar trading platform.

Developers are allowed to develop mini-apps that can only be used in WeChat, and only over time More than three million applications that can be used by entering WeChat and offering services in every area you can think of included in the platform.

So besides talking to friends via WeChat Read newsrent a car, dine or apply for a passport became possible. This made WeChat an example of a successful super app.

China’s number one app, WeChat, is so common that you buy it from a seller while walking down the street. You can even pay for the street flavor in seconds by scanning a QR code via WeChat. you can. Basically, this super app is used all over China and in all aspects of life.

Reaching more and more users in Asia, super apps are also emerging in Africa. The reason is ‘cheap and low-end phones’

Although super apps started in Asia, the past few years Many local super apps are also emerging in Africa. The main reason for this is the intensity of low-level phone use across Africa.

Unable to provide the user with a seamless experience on low-end phonesObviously, users have moved to super apps that solve everything with one application. There are many super apps that are popular all over Africa, and with these apps it is possible to do many things in one place.

a similar situation valid in many countries in the Middle East. has been expressed. More and more applications are being developed in the field of super app, which is driven by local technology companies.

What does this have to do with Instagram and Twitter?

We were talking roughly about the applications that have been developed as a super-app or that have grown into a super-app with the innovations over the years. Now all this What does it have to do with apps like Instagram, Twitter, TikTok?

In fact, the answer to this question is hidden in our everyday social media experience. You’ve probably come across it, the ‘Make Instagram Instagram again’ campaign has been launched in recent weeks. In this campaign, which involves many Instagram celebrities such as Kim Kardashian, Instagram is becoming more and more common Criticized for being similar to TikTok, It was reminded that it is a photo application.

Similar situations have been discussed recently for applications like Twitter and TikTok. For example, we always heard the same voices when Twitter added the voice chat room feature or TikTok added shopping features. ”What’s going on with these apps?”

The answer is simple; They are on their way to becoming a super app. When the news first broke that Elon Musk would buy Twitter, He said he wanted to make Twitter a super app. eg Adam Mosseri, who is at the top of Instagram, 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 functions in the application to the store and store functions, supported these statements.

So while we, as users, don’t understand the math behind it and think it degrades our experience, teams from 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 first, accept all innovations over time we use.

It should also be noted that large applications such as Instagram, Twitter and TikTok are not yet fully ‘super apps’. However, the policies they follow clearly show us that this is their goal.

It actually sounds pretty logical, so why are we bothered by these innovations and continue to “want the old Instagram”?

Why are users on Instagram, despite all the practicalities? More and more features are comingn and it may not be so easy to figure out that you don’t like the application becoming something completely different. But it’s understandable…

Because with every innovation, our behavior about using the application must also change. Sometimes a feature we love is left behind and we don’t like it. Sometimes, due to the arrival of new features, there is no longer a platform that only exists to ‘watch, watch or listen’. that we are more passive consumers we can feel. After all, taking a picture of a cat and sharing it is not the same as making roles…

But eventually, we usually adopt these features and let it become our new norm after a while. Reels sounded meaningless in the beginning, we just couldn’t get used to it. But statistics show that now Roles are one of the places where people spend the most time on Instagram.

We’re talking Instagram as the most popular example here, but a similar logic applies to all apps. Twitter’s journey as a ‘microblog’ At the end, all the changes he went through received similar comments from his users…

Why are applications like Instagram and Twitter so insisting on becoming a super app, even though users say they don’t want to?

The examples we have given so far related to super apps are: to make users’ lives easier that he did nothing else. After all, it doesn’t sound bad to be able to order food from the same application, read a few news stories without having to switch to another application, suddenly remember what we need and then shop and pay bills from the same application.

E-application developers are clearly doing this to our advantage… Isn’t it? Of course not… Screen time by improving user experience boosting for a particular application 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 is true. However, this is not the only reason.

In recent years, companies that have grown from ad revenue, such as Meta about data collection and use We know the hardships they went through. 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 restricted the ability to collect and use data for third-party apps from their devices. Confidentiality and security awareness and with sanctions from countries This deepening problem forced Google to produce similar policies for Android. However, this has made it very difficult for companies like Meta.

what’s up? What if they could use the data they collected from users who took every step on a single application for that one application?

This is one of the facts that tech giants insist on super apps. On the one hand, the possibility to collect unlimited data with one application permission from millions of people who use that application all day long, on the other hand the possibility 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 Trendyol and Bring We can present it as a current example.

Getir has started to turn into a super app with the steps it has taken in recent months. Getir, which started as an application that allowed us to order groceries, then allowed us to place food orders. Then we looked With many innovations such as Getirİş, GetirArac From job openings to car rental, there are too many service areas at once.

Trendyol followed a similar line. Trendyol, an e-commerce platform where we could first shop, then turned into a platform where we could also order groceries and food. With in-app features like Trendyol Wallet Payment improvements have also been made. In addition, steps have been taken towards a platform where time is spent and content is consumed at the same time as the video content and collections within the application. It is possible to encounter similar scenarios in financial technology applications. We would not be wrong to say that their numbers will increase in the future.

Sources: The Wall Street Journal, World Economic Forum, The Verge, Forbes