Category: Apps

The Facebook messenger mobile app is more popular than the flagship

| July 21, 2015

Since the social network split its applications into smaller, specific offerings, some interesting trends have developed.

When it comes to the Facebook mobile app, there are actually quite a few from which to choose, and what is interesting about the download stats is that it is the Messenger application that is proving to be the most popular, even over the main flagship offering from the company.

The two social apps have been available since 2012 and the Messenger offering is notably more popular.

In fact, from 2012 through the first six months of 2015, the Messenger mobile app from Facebook has managed to bring in over 646.6 million downloads throughout that time. This, according to the app analytics from the Sensor Tower firm. Throughout that same span of time, the flagship Facebook social media app was able to achieve an impressive but notably lower 568 million downloads.

Aside from those two Facebook mobile apps, none of the brand’s other applications even come close.

Mobile App - FacebookFacebook has a range of different applications available for various purposes, but aside from those top two options, none of the other options are nearly as popular. To put it in perspective, all of the other Facebook apps, combined (aside from the flagship and Messenger options) have accumulated a total of 637.5 million downloads, total. That is about 9 million downloads fewer than Messenger’s total, all on its own.

What should be noted is that a number of the Facebook applications are from the company’s Creative Labs division. The purpose of that team is not necessarily the generation of the largest number of downloads. Instead, it is to use its app offerings to better understand the overall Facebook usage experience so that the primary apps can be enhanced to fit the wants and expectations of the users.

For example, the company learned a great deal its mobile apps such as Paper, so that it would be able to better design its instant articles feature, which makes it possible for news organizations to make social network posts of their articles directly onto Facebook. In the case of Messenger, though, the application has managed to hold the first position at both the Google Play and App Store ranks for quite some time.

Canadian banks rush ahead with mobile payments, leaving consumers behind

| July 20, 2015

Despite the fact that people residing in Canada are slow to accept the tech, banks are still diving in.

In Canada, the major banks are working hard to implement the technology that is required to allow consumers to be able to adopt mobile payments, but at the same time, less than a quarter of the adults in the country can actually use it.

A recent whitepaper has stated that the largest six banks in the country are pouring their efforts into a small market.

The banks are highly enthusiastic about creating mobile payments apps and services that will allow people to use their smartphones instead of debit and credit cards when they make a purchase in a store. That said, the whitepaper pointed out that only under 25 percent of consumers in Canada actually have all of the requirements that are needed to actually use that technology.

This implies that Canadian banks are moving ahead with mobile payments much more quickly than consumers can actually keep up.

Canada Mobile PaymentsFinancial institutions in the country consider mobile wallets that will be used for smaller purchases – particularly when it comes to those developed through the use of NFC technology – to be a key component of their development over coming years. They believe that this will be integral to being able to satisfy what they think is a powerful consumer demand. They also feel that it is vital to take on a technologically-forward position, said the whitepaper, which was created in conjunction with the big six banks in Canada.

Some of the large banks view the creation of their own mobile wallet app as a vital component in defending themselves against the intrusion of technology giants such as Google and Apple, which are already moving into this space as financial players. They are hoping to be able to establish themselves as the natural choice for consumers, early on, before the technology giants have the opportunity to sink their claws into this marketplace and draw consumers away from the banks.

So far, services such Google Wallet and Apple Pay have been launching in a slowly growing number of countries, with the iOS version being seen as the primary threat. Apple’s mobile payments platform has already launched in the United States and it has just stepped into the United Kingdom. Many feel that it will make its way into Canada before the end of the year.