Apps on the Rise

Since COVID-19 we have seen an immeasurable social media shift with so many people across the globe staying home. This has drastically impacted ecommerce and their shopping in general. Due to these changes, spending and investing in apps has significantly increased.

According to AppAnnie,“Global spend on apps surged by 40% in a year, with $32 billion spent on in-app purchases across iOS and Google Play globally in Q1 2021. It’s the biggest quarter since records began – and the figure is 40% up on the same quarter for 2020.”

This trend will continue, adapting to consumer behaviors within the market. So, what does this mean for you as an investigator? You are going to want to stay up to date on apps that are beginning to trend and the shift in consumer behavior will be a good cross reference for this.

So, what are some apps that are taking off you ask? Let’s unpack the significance of a few of them.

Clubhouse & It’s New Rival, Live Audio Rooms

While TikTok still reigns supreme in top downloadable apps, Clubhouse is taking the world by storm with over 6 million active users to date. At first, this unique platform was being used by developers in Silicon Valley, then inevitably hit mainstream. Clubhouse is an audio-based concept with no video or text present. Someone can host a chat in a room with a few individuals to thousands of people. The catch? You must be invited by someone to join in all the Clubhouse fun. Currently, you can sign up on a wait list for Clubhouse access. Exclusivity is playing a big part in all the hype over this app. So much so that Mark Zuckerberg has decided to compete.

Live Audio Rooms is launching this summer and Mark Zuckerberg’s company announced products that will have an emphasis on voice content over images, video, and texts. This will start off with only a few individuals allowed in, another example of exclusivity, and then will release to everyone a few months after. Eventually this summer we should see this open to the public and through Messenger.

The Competition Gets Even More Real

If you thought Mark Zuckerberg was just feeling competitive by adding Live Audio Rooms, think again. He is not only taking on this endeavor but a few other apps that have the same audio-chat feature. Creating audio suites is what he believes is the future of virtual networking. 

“We think that audio is […] going to be a first-class medium and there are all these difference products to be built across the whole spectrum,” Zuckerberg in an audio interview with tech journalist Casey Newton on Discord.

What’s Coming

Soundbites:

A social audio app that’s entire emphasis is on adding tone to a quote, poem, or joke that you have posted. Writing something out is not enough when it comes to communicating online. Soundbites was created because you can miss sarcasm and inflection just by writing something. Being able to add your tone and voice allows the reader to understand you fully.

Facebook Podcasts:

According to Facebook’s post, more than 170 million Facebook users already follow and interact with podcast pages and groups on the platform. Therefore, there is no denying an investment into a more streamline podcast interaction is in Facebook’s future. They are working on allowing podcasts to be streamed directly from their platform. Allowing users to not only listen to their favorite podcast more easily, but to also like, engage, and comment with podcast creators.

Hotline:

Although considered another competitor to Clubhouse this app is slightly different. Also, slightly different than Live Audio Rooms. Hotline is aimed at “knowledge experts”, according to a Facebook spokeswoman. Experts in their field such as healthcare, or finance. Users will be able to engage and chat with these specialists. Hosting an event through Hotline can be recorded and currently there is not an audience size limit. More development is in progress with this app. As to how hosts would make money off this has yet to be determined.

Audio Creation:

Facebook is even more inventive with new concepts like voice morphing technologies, noise cancellation features, and speech-to-text concepts that will allow users to build upon their creativity when posting text. According to laptopmag.com, if you are on a busy street corner recording yourself, a noise cancellation feature will allow you to come across clearly to your audience and cancel that background noise for you.

Sound Collection:

This is a collection of sound effects and song clips that a user can scroll through that will take their content to the next level. Allowing users to layer their content with new features is the goal of this new concept.

Is There an End in Sight?

Unfortunately, the answer to this is no, but the good news is we are here to stay up on all these changes for you. With our research background, it is in our nature to constantly be on the lookout for what is up and coming. To test out and find new OSINT skills to tackle these new technology advances. Sign up for your Newsletter for all the exclusive details.