[ad_1]
Saidat Giwa Osagi* Ask “Is it time to ditch the app?”
Record number of app downloadsbut more and more innovators believe the world ahead is technology’s next frontier.
We are constantly going back and forth from one app to another to perform our daily tasks.
However, this can be tedious, device intensive, and time consuming.
It’s not uncommon to use multiple apps simultaneously to perform a single task.
Think about when you had to switch to email while using another app because you needed to check something in your inbox.
People spend an average of 4-5 hours on their mobile phones every day, which ends up wasting a lot of time and money.
A recent Harvard Business Review study found that employees switch between apps and websites 1,200 times a day, five weeks a year.
Think of it in conjunction with using your device outside of work.
Not only is it time consuming, but people lose energy and productivity due to a phenomenon known in neuroscience as ‘context switching’.
In less than 20 years, we wish there was an ‘app for that’, but now we have a lot of options.
At first glance, this may look like an advantage.
In practice, this points to an underlying problem in the app ecosystem. There are so many apps, but very few that actually do what we want them to do.
A leading voice in the tech community said the emergence of low-code and no-code tools coupled with unparalleled access to data in the cloud presents a golden opportunity to rethink how to build app-driven experiences. I’m here.
Since cloud platforms have become a staple for many apps, they already contain a set of data that can serve as building blocks for reorienting app development.
But what does this new paradigm look like? What does it take to make it happen? And will this be the end of apps as we know them?
From app-dominated to app-less
If you join the current conversation about the future of app development, you’ll hear two different perspectives.
Proponents of “super apps” believe that one overall app should perform the activities of multiple apps.
However, it is most likely built and run by a big tech company.
For example, WeChat allows users to not only chat, but also shop, pay bills, and access government services.
Meta’s move to allow users to use their Facebook accounts to sign in to multiple platforms, as well as shop directly on Instagram, could be seen as a precursor to this.
Web3 enthusiasts, on the other hand, believe that the future will be a decentralized app ecosystem and that user preferences, rather than board decisions, will drive the market forward.
The world will focus more on data privacy and try to fragment the impact Big Tech is having on the market today.
Both approaches are for different reasons, but basically indicate dissatisfaction with the current state of the app.
But should you choose between loss of privacy and an avalanche of new apps?
The challenge is that pre-built experiences are unlikely to meet unforeseen needs or innovations that don’t fit into broader corporate goals.
For example, the main purpose of a salon booking app is to allow clients to take and book appointments. This is directly related to the business goal of increasing revenue for app developers and their business customers.
But what if salon customers actually wanted an app that could show them what they would look like in different hairstyles or send in images of their desired “to do” before booking?
And what if the user wants to double-check the calendar to see if a particular time doesn’t overlap with another appointment, or to find out what the weather will be like for available dates?
Without a perspective that describes the end-to-end experience of hairstyling, it becomes difficult to uncover these untested needs beyond existing app functionality, missing opportunities to truly engage with users. There is a possibility.
Rather than relying on companies to create apps that can partially or partially solve their needs, we are moving beyond apps, where people can connect directly to the services they need in the cloud without apps working for them. Some people think they are transitioning. middleman.
No-code meets cloud
The emergence of low-code and no-code tools is key to democratizing development to the wider public.
The availability of low-code and no-code tools gives people the opportunity to express their needs through the technology they build without having the technical vocabulary to bring their ideas to life.
Similarly, engineering teams can benefit from these tools as they can quickly create applications and services without having to dig into many technical details.
But just being able to create tools is not enough.
Building truly personalized experiences requires data.
The app has been downloaded over 140 billion times and the use of technology has created a wealth of data across multiple apps.
Combined, each app represents a complete and unique profile of our identities and preferences.
Instead of shoving data into a single app using multiple APIs, tech innovators like Peter Levine, general partner of a16z, seamlessly combine data so users have a single source of truth. It is intended to allow requests to be queried from
The result is a service that allows users to connect directly to the cloud and access their own personalized information on demand.
As these trends converge, new technologies come to the fore.
Alongside these industry-led developments, one novel approach comes from GraphQL powerhouse Apollo Graph, Inc. This is enabling the tech industry to take an app-free approach through the development of new “supergraph” architectures.
Making Supergraph Simple for Everyone
Supergraph creates a network of enterprise data functions and microservices.
Teams can develop their own backends by combining data from multiple resources. There is no hassle or burden associated with creating custom charts.
Peggy Rayzis, senior director of developer experience at Apollo, told TNW that Supergraph lowers the barriers to app development.
“We will see more innovation in making it more approachable and reducing that time. Supergraph is so flexible that it can be used for any type of app.”
Rayzis says Supergraph has countless uses, but cites e-commerce and travel companies among others who are transforming their platforms with this new technology.
For example, you’re booking a trip and want to stay at a place that serves your favorite meal.
Instead of having to piece this information together yourself, platforms using Supergraph can search data from food delivery and takeout apps, along with flight search histories and previous hotel stays, to find out which destination you’re traveling to. or which hotel best suits your tastes.
The answer that emerges from each individual’s needs results in the provision of bespoke information.
This flexible, fluid design addresses each individual’s unique needs, with output centered on the individual who uses it.
Tools like Apollo’s Supergraph allow app developers to see the big picture about which combinations of data are most useful to their customers.
As a result, you can build an architecture around your users’ needs and intuitively help people answer their queries effectively and efficiently.
Rayzis said:
This is a great example of how Supergraph can make app development easier and more approachable via low-code tools. ”
Instead of a platform awkwardly connecting to multiple APIs, engineering teams can create a central source of truth that can seamlessly ingest data from disparate sources and create flexible, modular structures that are personalized.
Why you need to rethink your apps
In the same way that apps took a long time to become mainstream, this new approach to development could change the way people interact with technology.
Now that we’ve made the cloud a rich data source for countless apps, we can encapsulate all that data to improve individual user experience instead of obscuring it. .
Creating an architecture shaped by the user experience challenges the long-established norms to which we’ve grown accustomed, but represents a useful path forward for both engineering teams and users.
Making rigorous app development more flexible opens the door to new models and experiences that are a win-win for both parties.
*Saidat Giwa-Osagie Author of The Next Web.
This article first appeared on thenextweb.com
[ad_2]
Source link
