In the technological field, mobile development has undergone a remarkable evolution throughout history. From applications aimed at basic functions in the 90s, such as agendas, monochromatic games, contacts, among others, until today, where we find a wide variety of applications for different needs, such as streaming, transport, games and delivery, among others. Today, super apps have emerged as a revolutionary phenomenon in mobile development, and in this edition we will explore how these multifunctional platforms are transforming the way we interact with technology.

What are super apps and where did they come from?

Super apps are multifunctional platforms that bring together in a single application various functionalities or services that a user may need. What has caused this phenomenon is that individuals use only one application for different needs instead of having one for each service they require. These applications have certain essential features:

• - They offer a variety of services on a single platform.

• - They are constantly offering new services.

• - Only one account is needed to access different functionalities.

• - They provide simple alternatives to avoid installing different apps.

In addition to this, there are currently two types of super apps depending on the range of services they can offer:

• - Vertical Super Apps: They offer a variety of services within a specific sector (e.g. Neobanks).

• - Horizontal Super Apps: They offer a variety of services in different sectors (e.g. WeChat).

These platforms emerged in Asia in 2008, when the need for people to use applications for various uses and also access various digital services began to emerge. Therefore, different applications that focused on specific services such as delivery or payments, began to include other digital services required by users and to cover different fields. Some of the applications that boosted this phenomenon were super apps such as WeChat or Alipay.

Growth and impact on mobile development

According to research by Gartner, the super app market accounted for $61.3 billion in 2022 and is projected to have a growth rate of 28.8% through 2030. In addition, the 15 most popular Super Apps have been downloaded more than 4.6 billion times and 50% of the world’s population is expected to be active users of super apps by 2050. All this exponential growth and phenomenon of super apps has impacted the entire field of mobile applications and their development.

Effect on mobile development

The emergence of super apps as multifunctional platforms has impacted the mobile development sector in aspects such as:

• - Intensified competition: It has generated intense competition in the market as companies seek to expand their services through mobile apps or even create their own super apps.

• - Integration of services and tools: The emergence of super apps has led to a convergence of services on a single platform, creating the need to integrate not only services, but also tools.

• - Demand for cross-platform applications: Applications must be created that work optimally on various devices and operating systems, which has increased the demand for cross-platform application development skills, such as React Native, Flutter, and Xamarin.

• - Great focus on user experience: Increased competition and the need to bundle various services into a single application has led to greater investment in application design, usability and customization to ensure that applications are intuitive and attractive, differentiating themselves from others and attracting users.

• - Privacy and data security: A growing challenge arises in terms of privacy and data security due to the information that is collected from the user to offer various services, as well as the responsibility to handle all information securely.

• - No-Code/Low-Code Solutions: There has been a growth in the use of these solutions to facilitate the integration of third parties into the ecosystem of certain super apps.

• - Constant innovation and improvement: A successful super app generates the need to add new features and services frequently.

• - Scalability: There is a great need for applications to be scalable and able to handle a large flow of information, actions, and data that applications collect.

Challenges of creating or maintaining super apps

Creating a successful super app presents different challenges, both technological and strategic. Some of them are:

• - User Acquisition: Convincing users to adopt a new super app can be a challenge, especially if they are already using stand-alone apps for specific services. Therefore, it is important to offer great functionality, an optimal user experience and services that fit your needs.

• - Performance: A successful super app must be able to scale to handle a high volume of traffic, actions and transactions without compromising performance. This increases the importance of having a robust and scalable architecture, as well as performing constant application optimization.

• - Data management: It is crucial to create a comprehensive data management system to ensure the security and privacy of user data in all aspects of the application.

• - Consistent user experience: Maintaining a consistent user experience across a variety of services can be complicated. Users should feel that they are interacting with a single application, even when they are using different functions.

• - Creation and integration of services: Effectively integrating the wide range of services is critical. It is important to synchronize different systems and databases, as well as to ensure that all functions are consistent and well coordinated.

What super apps are currently available?

After reviewing what super apps are, their features and the impact they have had on the entire mobile development sector and companies, let’s look at some success stories of super apps worldwide:

• 1. WeChat: One of the pioneering super apps on the market. It started as a messaging service and now includes different services and functionalities such as chat, live streaming, delivery, travel booking, online shopping, etc. among others.

• 2. Rappi: One of the most well-known and established super apps in Latin America, it offers services such as delivery, financial products, flight purchases, insurance purchases, among others.

• 3. Gojek: It started as a delivery service but over time it has begun to include features such as transportation, payments, food delivery and logistics.

• 4. Grab: It started as a transportation service but now includes different functionalities such as Grabpay transaction portal, movie ticket purchase, delivery, commercial loans, among others.

• 5. Zalo: It started as a messaging app in Vietnam, but today it includes services such as paying bills, transferring money, gaming platform, grocery shopping, among others.

• 6. Revolut: Super app focused on the financial sector that has services such as international savings accounts, international transactions, pockets for savings, purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies, and more.

Which industries are making use of super apps?

As you can see, the use of super apps is unlimited and can be adapted to different industries that want to implement it. Here are some of the industries that have begun to make use of this emerging technology:

• - Technology/Messaging: Many of today's super apps started as messaging services, but have expanded their functionalities to include services such as delivery or even financial.

• - E-Commerce: Platforms such as Alibaba in China and MercadoLibre in Latin America are developing super apps to integrate services such as online shopping, mobile payments, financial services and more.

• - Logistics and transportation: Many apps have evolved into super apps that offer transportation services, mobile payments, travel bookings, and more.

• - Financial: It has been observed the emergence of a large number of super apps for services such as mobile payments, transactions, cryptocurrency purchase, loans, insurance, investment management and more.

What's in store for the future?

As we could see, super apps are still an emerging technology that is experiencing exponential growth in different regions. Therefore, in the future we will surely see a huge increase in the number of users and possibly new industries will add to the use of this emerging technology. For example, industries such as healthcare could experiment super apps with services such as online doctor consultations, health tracking, drug orders, appointment bookings; or the media and entertainment industry could explore apps for a variety of entertainment content, news, live events, ticket buying and more. Surely, many more use cases will emerge over time.

With the growth of super apps, we will also see an increase in the demand for low code/no code solutions that facilitate the integration of different tools, a greater need to design innovative and immersive user experiences, and a greater investment in architecture solutions that support this growth, among other aspects.