There’s hardly a person alive nowadays who hasn’t heard of apps. We have them for food delivery, ridesharing, banking, and more. But what if you could have all of those services combined into one program? Enter super apps, the future of…well, everything. 

Super Apps vs Mini Programs

Super apps are basically apps on steroids. They provide a variety of seemingly unrelated services in a single mobile interface, according to Make Use Of. Imagine combining Uber, Grubhub, WhatsApp, your bank, Amazon, and more all in one place. No more opening multiple apps for different functions and draining your battery life or storage space—super apps do it all. 

Within each super app are a host of mini programs. These are the networks responsible for solving the individual problems a user has. Need a ride? There’s a mini program in the super app for that. Need to schedule a reservation? Another mini program in the same super app can solve it without you navigating to a new platform. 

It takes more than a few mini programs for an app to become super, however. Super apps must contain at least one of the following mini programs: a social platform, eCommerce services, transportation services, financial services (like digital wallets), food delivery, bills and utility payment options, and health and insurance programs. 

From Past to Future

Though super apps are relatively unknown in Western countries, they’ve already taken over most of Asia. WeChat, Baidu, and Alipay are just a few super apps dominating the eastern hemisphere. These super apps are the internet, knitting together “a critical mass of services [that] makes them addictively easy to toggle among” all in one place (New York Magazine). You can find a date, hail a cab, and even get divorced—all in one app. 

In an age where convenience is becoming more valuable than currency, it’s more than likely that super apps will become our future, and probably for the better. They offer the benefit of a one-stop-shop for anything you could want to do online. It’s so much easier to open one super app than a dozen apps. So long as customers have confidence in the app, it makes for a seamless experience. And the more often that customers use it, the greater their benefits will be in this digital interface.

Facebook (now rebranded Meta) and Amazon are both hopping on the bandwagon in a race to become the greatest super app. Facebook’s Metaverse could be bigger than any super app with a complete universe for people to enjoy everything from virtual concerts to payments. Amazon hopes to create an Alexa-based version of a super app that’s voice-activated from anywhere. You could even ask your car to schedule a ride to the airport. The future of super apps is quickly coming to us.

Start Your Future With Pockyt

Another amazing benefit of super apps is how they are improving customer experiences in purchasing and interacting with businesses. Super apps integrate financial services from banks to digital wallets across international banks and currencies. It makes for a smooth transaction uninhibited by high fees, allowing more customers to interact with you and grow your business.
Get in touch with Pockyt today to learn how we can help you integrate our tool and launch your business into the future of super apps.