Good User Experience Is the Key

Political tensions at the LAC (Line of Actual Control) with China made the Indian Govt. take an unprecedented step and ban 59 apps in the country. This has opened up innumerable opportunities for the homegrown apps and players to step up their game. They will have to ensure that they provide the users with good user experience and engagement to be successful.

A lot of homegrown apps have come to surface since the ban was announced last month. Apps like Chingari, Roposo, along with others have seen a multifold increase in the number of downloads of their apps. The usage growth spurt has been so much that some of the companies have had to ramp up their employee base along with their server capacity.

Tarun Pathak, Counterpoint Research Associate Director, said “We think that the app ban has opened up opportunities for the homegrown app and players. However, it won’t be a cakewalk. The users coming to these platforms will, first of all, come with a trial mode mentality. He further added that the apps will have an initial rise but the UI (User Interface) will make a difference. The features and the stickiness of the app and the kind of experience it gives to the user, whether it is better than the apps that are banned or not, will be the real challenge for these homegrown apps.

It is also a fact that the success of an app is determined not by the number of downloads that it has but also the number of active users that engage on the platform which make the app a success. The apps should hold onto the influencers and celebrities that are currently on the app can be used as a pull for the platform especially in the short video format. Instagram has also launched a short video format platform recently, called ‘Reels’. This will further intensify the competition.