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Multi-app Strategy or Single Mobile App – Which way should you go?

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With rising digitization, many businesses have started implementing a multi-app strategy instead of offering a single app for all the services. It is a great idea to create different apps for the different services that you offer. Keep reading to find out how!

In this post, we have discussed both – Multi-app and Single-app strategy. It also includes the key benefits of a multi-app strategy and a comparison between both the strategies. We have also listed three major multi-app strategy examples to help you understand the concept more clearly. Let us start by learning what a multi-app strategy is.

What is Multi-App Strategy?

Multiple App Strategy can be referred to as using multiple focused applications with a specific set of functionalities. When a business introduces various applications with a single brand name, it turns into a multi-app strategy. Businesses implement this strategy to connect with the users more conveniently and to understand them better.

With this strategy, businesses can have various modules that work together sharing different business resources. Google is the best example of this strategy. They have Gmail for emails, Google Drive for docs, links, and video storage, Google Calendar for scheduling. You can access all these Google apps just by logging in to your Gmail account.

Key Benefits of Multi-App Strategy

There are many key benefits of implementing a multiple app strategy for your business. We at Appy Pie offers a wide range of app building services, suggest this strategy. However, we realize that this could be an expensive option for many small businesses.

Here are a few major benefits that you can get if you start using a multi-app strategy.

• Improved Brand Personality
• Simplified Performance Monitoring
• Focused Demographics Appeal
• Advertisement and Upselling
• Enhanced Data and Analytics
• Technology Development
• Focus on Customer Needs
• Shared Functionality
• Protection of the Main Brand
• Flexibility of Launching New Brands and Products

Now that you know what multiple apps strategy is and what are its benefits, let us go ahead and find out how multiple app strategy started and how it is different from a single app strategy.

How Multi-App Strategy Started?

Every business has different customers with different interests, lifestyles, and expectations. The biggest challenge for the businesses here is, how to make each customer happy.

Will you introduce a single app packed up with lots of features and functionalities? Or, will you introduce multiple individual apps each based on customer preferences? What would deliver a better user experience?

Well, we here at Appy Pie, would suggest using multiple app strategy. However, we realize that this could be an expensive option for many small businesses, but it can help you enhance your internal capacity of retaining and dealing with a huge number of customers. You just need the right development and marketing resources to maintain multiple apps.

In the initial stage, apps were light, fast, and very specific. It was very easy back then to make your customers happy and deliver an excellent user experience. However, these days when the marketplaces have been developed, businesses need to upgrade their apps. Trying to create a single app with all the functionalities that your business websites have can make you overload your app and make them unnecessarily complex.

So, it is critical that you find the key function that you need in your app and add it as a new feature and check if it is likely to achieve its core purpose. You need to go with multiple app strategy to get this done right. However, before you make that decision, let us check out how Multiple-app Strategy is better than Single-app Strategy.

Multi-App Strategy vs Single-App Strategy

Various industry experts, developers, system architects have been debating on which approach is the best in terms of creating apps for businesses. The primary point of discussion is whether it makes more sense to develop one multi-purpose app or to create multiple single-purpose apps.

Single App Strategy is surely good for various small businesses but when the time comes and your business grows, you need to create multiple apps to fulfill multiple purposes. Here are some points to help you understand which app strategy will be the best for your business.

User Experience

With a multiple app strategy, your customers can get a more focused user experience. You can increase user engagement with multiple apps and offer your customers an extended functionality. With a single app strategy, on the other hand, you can keep your users engaged on a single platform.

Light Applications

When you create multiple apps for a single brand, you have apps for everything based on your products. Your customers can install the one they need. With less storage consumption and removal of unwanted functionality, the apps will run faster. And, if you have a single app with all the functionalities, the app will take time to load and will be all slow and heavy.

Internal Capacity

If you have multiple apps for multiple products, you will have to manage all of them individually and that will be time-consuming. Here, in this case, when it comes to managing apps, a single app strategy is way better than that of multiple app one. You just need to manage a single app and you can use the rest of the time to focus on other business practices.

Marketing

Having multiple apps can make it easier for you to perform app analytics and understand user behavior. This will help you market your products as per your customers’ preferences. You can use these applications to identify individual trends and act accordingly. Another thing that you can do with a multiple app strategy is that you can offer different apps based on products available.

With the single app strategy, you can analyze the user behavior, but it will be all complicated as you would have all the products in the same app. I mean, how would you keep a check on which user wants to buy what? You would have a single database for all the user details and the analysis that you perform.

Speed of Development

You can update your single app more conveniently than a huge app with multiple functions. Apps with the less impact of heavier functionality run faster get developed easily.

Flexibility

With multiple apps, you have the flexibility to introduce new brands, however, if you have a single app, launching new brands can directly impact the main brand.

Study your user behavior, make a list of your app preferences, and check out which app strategy suits your business the best. The major challenge that you may face is the internal capacity. If you have strong app development resources to maintain your apps, you can go for a multiple app strategy. However, if you think you lack that, a single-app strategy would be a better choice.

Top 3 Multi-App Strategy Examples

Various companies that intend to offer multiple services with delightful user experience create multiple apps for multiple services. They don’t mix everything and create a mess for the users. They give users the control when it comes to installing an app for the type of service they want to use.

Here are the top 3 examples that may help you understand the fact that a multi-apps strategy is far better than a single-app strategy.

Facebook

Facebook is one of the best examples of a multi-app strategy. In the initial phase, Facebook had a standalone application that has all the features including the messaging service. The company decided to change the strategy after getting that they are losing users to more feature-rich messaging services and apps.

Facebook removed the messaging capabilities from the primary app and created a separate messaging brand named Facebook Messenger. The app offers various features including sending and receiving messages, making calls, sharing images and videos, and much more.



Here are all the apps that Facebook offers.

• Facebook and Facebook Lite – To interact with friends, see events, check notifications, watch videos, and to do all Facebook and regular social media stuff.
• Facebook Messenger, Messenger Kids, and Messenger Lite – To offer messaging services.
• Facebook Pages Manager – To manage and analyze Facebook Pages activities.
• Facebook Ads Manager – To track ads performance, manage ads expenditures, and to perform other related analytics.
• Facebook Analytics – To perform basic analytics for Facebook Page Manager and Facebook Ad Manager.
• Facebook Local – Recommends events, restaurants, guides around as per your interests.

YouTube

YouTube, the most-watched online video channel, has also implemented a multi-app strategy into its business. It has 5 different apps for different services – YouTube, YouTube Music, YouTube Kids, YouTube TV, and YouTube Studio.



• YouTube – To watch videos, manage subscriptions, create playlists, watch live streams, and much more.
• YouTube Music – To watch only music videos that you can create your playlists with. The app works like other music streaming apps like Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play Music, etc.
• YouTube Kids – Gaming app for Kids. It includes other kid-friendly content.
• YouTube TV – To watch live channels.
• YouTube Studio – To upload your videos and manage your channel.

Google

Google is another best example of a multi-app strategy. Google is a huge platform with most of the popular online services. With all the Google apps, users can install the ones they need. Here are the different apps for different services that the company offers.



• Google Maps – Used to get directions.
• Google+ Local – Used to locate shops, entertainment centers, eateries nearby.
• Google Now – Gives users the latest news.
• Google Play Books – To read books.
• Google Wallet – To save debit cards, credit cards, gift cards, loyalty cards on their phones to make online purchases.
• Google Voice – To get a Google Voice number that helps users make international calls, send free text messages, customize voicemail messages, and read voicemail transcripts.
• Google Search App – To make an online search using a desktop, laptop, or smartphone.
• Google Shopper – To compare products prices, read reviews, check ratings.
• Google Goggles – To generate information about the snapped photos.
• Google Chrome – Internet Browser.

Conclusion

That was all for today! I hope this article will help you figure out which app strategy you need to implement. We at Appy Pie would suggest a multi-app strategy as it helps you make it convenient for the users to avail of all your services.

You need not worry about managing and developing these apps. We are here for you with the best app building platform that not only helps you create codeless apps but also helps you develop them from scratch.

Go for Appy Pie’s App Makr and start creating apps for your business today!

Citations

Benefits – Degree53

Apps Details – YouTube, Facebook, Google