In what will probably shock no one, people are investing significantly more time making use of communication applications amid the Covid19 lockdowns across the globe.
Daily time spent in communication applications on Android expanded 20% year-over-year in Q1 2020. With users spending on iOS and Android applications, stores were additionally up 15% and 5% individually, establishing another precedent for in-application spending for the first quarter of 2020 at $23.4 billion around the world.
All communication applications have detailed expanded use and engagement – and once more, given that we were completely locked in our homes, and searching for a way to stay committed with the rest of the world that comes as expected.
Be that as it may, it’s intriguing to take note of this growth, and take a look at how isolation across the UK has changed the software habits of it’s new and existing users.
How the pandemic is changing communications
4D analysed nearly 30,000 GB app store reviews between January – July 2020 and 2019 for Zoom, Cisco Webex, MS Teams & Google Hangouts to gain an insight into the impact of COVID-19 on both demand and performance.
The study, which can be accessed at www.4d-dc.com/insight/communication-inflation/, shows that before the Covid-19 pandemic, many people were moving away from more conventional forms of communication – particularly landline calls and SMS text messages – and adopting newer methods. The epidemic appears to have accelerated the adoption of online services to keep in touch with friends and family.
In the research, they realised that as full lockdown extended in April, Cisco and Zoom hit peak demand as the public adapted their communication while Microsoft Teams saw their highest need in June. Despite Google Hangouts rivalling Zoom with numbers of participants allowed, their numbers remained steady through the months of lockdown.
However, greater demand did not always lead to more remarkable service. Microsoft Teams experienced technical issues during their busiest period while the software tried to cope with these new numbers and saw its average rating drop to 2.23, compared to 3.33 in 2019. Despite the growth of 15% in the last year, Microsoft Teams ended the study with the lowest rating of just 2.56.
However, Zoom saw their rating fall to 3.72 in June due to security breaches and technical issues, with worldwide press coverage of the affair leading to negative PR.
Overall, Zoom won in the battle to be crowned most popular video calling software, with their reviews increasing by 474%, but with such a demand and technology struggling to meet this, they did see their rating drop to 3.88 compared to 4.35.
However, there is no assurance that these numbers will continue to grow, even with its popularity after the pandemic. Be that as it may, there’s a big chance that tech giants and companies like Facebook, Microsoft and Google will work toward leveraging on this popularity while also creating a new application that will storm the market soon.
