Two Apps Working As One

5 to 10 years back, when you searched for some algebra, Google brought you the links of the website which probably had the answer. And that’s the job of a search engine. To connect the knowledge seeking with the knowledge provider.

But then they improved. And when you type, ‘5+2’ on Google, it showed you the answer as ‘7’. Which Google got the answer from either sourcing it from the website or simply acting itself as the knowledge giver.

And that is a moral dilemma. By doing this, Google made such sites which relied on providing this information obsolete.

People won’t click on these websites. And all the ad revenue was gulped by Google. So in a way, it manipulated the promise it made earlier.

The History Is Repeating

I have 2 apps on my phone for different purposes. One is where I can check the bus timings and route. And other is Google maps where I can check for directions.

Recently, Google maps started providing bus timings and route on the map app. So for me, it made the other map obsolete.

At the expense of the indie app maker, Google provided customer convenience. And it is paying very well because this feature fits seamless.

The Future

The smartphone and the app is the future we are living in. And most people don’t download more than 100 apps. So in an essence, it will happen that many apps will provide services in a bundle.

But if that bundle is provided by a single company then there lies a problem of it becoming a monopoly.

If most of your data come from one single app, then over time all other competitor apps would shut down and you will be forced to pay a premium as the owner of that monopolized app likes.

So it is evident that no single app owner should provide bundled service which is in direct competition to other apps.

The Solution

The bundling of app services will happen. But that bundled app should be semi-owned by the different owners. And that bundling should be consumer dependent.

So that any new player can come and there would no distribution problem. For example, everyone would release their app as a standalone.

And as a consumer, I should be able to connect 2, 3 or 5 apps functionality into less number of apps. Thus there would be no monopoly and fair distribution, opportunity and reward.

So web developers get this going and make something to bring alive a customer-centric bundling feature. This seems like a logical path to progress in these days and age of apps, smartphone and internet accessibility.