Mobile apps: what works in India and how to build one that could go viral

One of the first questions that piqued my interest on moving back to India was understanding what it takes to build successful products for Indian consumers. While needs transcend continents – like the need for communication, information or entertainment – the differences in culture, connectivity infrastructure (devices, internet speeds etc.) and the physical “offline” world, mean successful products often need to be localized to reflect these realities.

While there are many approaches to this question, one objective way to understand the Indian mobile user is through a study of the most populars apps. A look through the top lists of the Play Store suggests the tremendous popularity of utility apps in the country. Of the fifty most popular apps in India, more than twenty are utility apps. This user pull for utility apps is in stark contrast to the gaming-dominated lists of the US and other Western markets.

What makes the success of these apps remarkable and representative of user needs is that the popularity of many of these has come in the absence of large marketing spends. These apps have grown either due to user need or word of mouth, both exceptionally potent drivers of growth and retention.

The apps that constitute the top lists are an eclectic bunch, and while they offer different functionality, they broadly gratify one of four basic user needs :

Privacy:

Apps like Truecaller and Applock help users feel safer while using their phones. These apps protect users from getting disturbed by unknown callers or ensure discretion by keeping certain content private.

Storage reduction:

With the average price point of an Indian smartphone at around US$150, on-device storage is a limited commodity with as-much- as 50 percent of space taken away by firmware and pre-burned apps. Apps that help users conserve space like Cleanmaster or help them actively manage device storage like ES File Explorer are therefore very popular.

Data minimization:

Data costs in India, when measured as a percentage of per capita income, are amongst the highest in the world. Most users have limited data to consume on the go, which drives popularity of an app like UC Browser that has features to minimize data usage.

Offline access:

Unlike in the West where data consumption is almost all on demand, a lot of content consumption by the Indian user is premeditated. Users will seek to actively get content on their smartphones from friends via Bluetooth transfers or download when access to WiFi is available, making gateway apps like MX player, Adobe Acrobat, or Samsung Video, and content sharing apps like SHAREit or Xender popular.

Playing well despite constraints