Mobile Apps – More Than Just Colorful Boxes/Logos on Screens!




The wide web of mobile applications never seems to end!
https://i.amz.mshcdn.com/N6abNLFP6YDSpqemLsbLDKL-UD4=/950x534/filters:quality(90)/2013%2F12%2F03%2Fc7%2FMobilePlatf.a9621.jpg
With most of the general population carrying a smartphone in their hand and/or pockets, it’s hard not to wonder about those fun and colorful little boxes that each person has on their screens. Enter mobile applications! Unique, mostly practical, and absolutely useful, mobile applications (or apps for short) are downloadable software programs created by developers for a variety of needs and desires. From games and tools to news and sports, fancy countdown clocks and more, there’s an app for practically everything! Among other things, it has been reported that the “mobile app economy was worth, $53 billion in 2012, and the forecast for 2016 is that it will grow to $143 billion,” (Zinevych, et al 2014).

With such a large market presence, the focus of our conversation here will be on media-based apps. Media-based apps have changed the way people consume news. No longer do folks have to wait until a certain hour to tune in to a televised news broadcast, the power is now in our hands as we have the ability to carry news organizations with us anytime and anywhere through apps. One of the most enticing and fascinating features of mobile apps is that of push notifications which enable smartphone users to receive direct and important updates on newsworthy events/happenings (see image below):

Push notifications typically appear on one’s home/lock screen whenever an important event has taken place that an app user needs to be aware of.
https://eladnava.com/content/images/2016/10/push.png

Ultimately news apps and push notifications both have and will continue to play an integral role in the way that news is consumed. As smartphones continue to evolve it will be interesting to see how apps evolve too!


References
Zinevych, S. (2014, Sept. 1). The Overview of Mobile Apps Market: Why You Should Enter Now.
          Business2Community.org. Retrieved October 21st, 2017 from
          http://www.business2community.com/mobile-apps/overview-mobile-apps-market-enter-
          now-0994728#yfWvUucS0KtFBMYg.97

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