
Majority of U.S. consumers still download zero apps per month, says comScore - mcone
https://techcrunch.com/2017/08/25/majority-of-u-s-consumers-still-download-zero-apps-per-month-says-comscore/
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kimi
It may be just me, but every time I download an app I have a feeling that I'm
signing in into something that will do whatever it wants on my phone -
geolocation, read address book, access the internet? for what?

And then, you know, there are these things called "websites" that you access
using a single app called "browser" that end up being pretty useful even on
your phone.

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us0r
This is exactly why I don't download apps. I proxied my phone one day and
almost fell out of my chair. I'm shocked Google and Apple allow this to go on.

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mayank
I was under the impression that mitmproxy is no longer effective with iOS's
mandatory pinned certificates. How did you manage to intercept traffic?

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mhils
iOS' App Transport Security is friendly to researchers that install their own
CA.

Android Nougat is much worse in this regard: Apps disrespect any user-added
CAs, which really doesn't contribute to Android's security level but makes
checking what your apps send home a huge PITA.

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kerkeslager
I download zero apps per month because existing apps have trained me to
believe that most "free" apps are actually user-hostile scams trying to trick
you into spending far more on in-app purchases than you ever would on an app,
and most paid apps still contain ads (or worse, requests that I advertise the
app to my friends).

But hey, that's the best way to drive up short-term profits.

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rchaud
This isn't 2010, when US smartphone adoption was growing exponentially and the
"app economy" was in full swing. The majority of smartphone owners have had
phones for a few years now and know exactly which apps they need on a daily
basis, be it messaging, social media, games, note-taking, nutrition,
transportation, etc.

For everything else mobile websites are more than good enough to cover their
needs I imagine.

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taylodl
_" The data almost makes it seem like there’s not much point in trying to
build new apps for anyone but millennials, as they’re the only group showing
serious interest in downloading more, a willingness to pay, and the ability to
adopt a new app at scale."_

Or perhaps since it's ofentimes millennials who are building the apps they
don't understand the needs and desires of older users and as such are missing
a huge opportunity.

~~~
devmunchies
anecdotal experience with my parents is that they don't tend to download new
apps unless their children or grandchildren convince them to. that and they
don't just browse the app store anyway.

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spondyl
anecdotal experience with my parents is that they're not really sure what apps
they would want, if any.

Hell, neither do I. I essentially have every app I "need". A browser, a music
player, a podcast player, some IM clients, a train notifier and banking apps.

Why would I ever need anything else except like, games or something but I have
0 patience for them on mobile unless you can get in and out fast.

~~~
KGIII
I am old but quite computer literate. I've done the whole app thing. However,
for the past few years, I've installed no apps. The only apps installed are
those that are default.

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iammiles
Beside my banking apps and Alaska Airlines, I don't have any other apps that
didn't otherwise come with my phone. I just don't have a need, and I think
there are quite a few other people who use their phone in a similar way.

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spoiledtechie
I work for comScore, on one of their major applications with this data and
others.

We are always hiring and need many more engineers. Most of the work is .NET,
but 30-40% is other languages. As you can tell, we have large data teams,
dealing in a multiple of quadrillion records. Free snacks, nice open floor
plan and good benefits.

Our President is also doing good things to move the company forward and being
very open with his employees.

~~~
eip
>Free snacks, nice open floor plan

Why do companies think either of these things are a selling point?

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smegel
Why would you once have all the apps you need?

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zzleeper
Also, my idiotic 16gb Android phone is almost always full (thanks to the OS
keeping loads of garbage and leftovers from previous versions, according to
google searches). On top of that, every time I plug in the phone on WiFi, all
these apps start their regular updates (how often do they need to be
updated??).

Thus, I need to be very careful with what apps I have, and constantly trim
them. I guess that with a new phone this wouldn't be the case, but heck mine
is less than 2yrs old and runs fine.

~~~
mrighele
Let's not forget the apps that store locally hundreds of megabytes of cached
data (one of the reasons I removed the Facebook app) and those that refuse to
store images and videos on an external SD card (WhatsApp)

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tehlike
SDCard has security implications (you cannot currently protect them with
permissions, for example), which means that any other app could read it.

But then there's encryption... so not sure why they wouldn't do it

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rdiddly
Furthermore I rarely use most of the apps I do have. I update them even more
rarely, after more than one experience of being burned by the developer
breaking things that were good. (Add new things that suck all you want, but
don't break existing things that are good!)

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bmcusick
I've reached app saturation. I already have apps to do all the things I use my
phone for. Really new use cases don't come around often.

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gozur88
Apps to do what? How many people do more with their phone than make calls and
check social networks?

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intopieces
Every time I see the badge on iOS that tells me how many apps need to be
updated, I delete apps I haven't used recently. All my apps on my phone fit on
one page, no folders.

