Until relatively recently, if you spoke of mobile apps you were usually referring to games and other entertainment, but during the last couple of years business has really seen the benefit of working on the go to the point that more than half (58 per cent) of all business owners now work via mobile apps for up to 90 minutes per day. That’s an increase of 35 per cent in the three years between 2014 and 2017.
This new data comes from research conducted by specialist web design and marketing agency, Digimax, who also reveals that it is entrepreneurs aged between 18 and 24 who spend the most time using apps for work, and that on average men spend 20 minutes more working on business mobile apps each day than women.
While email remains the most widely used app, of the 2.2 million Apple apps and 2.8 million Google Play applications, five new contenders for the business crown have emerged in recent years:
- Google Drive – for file storage, sharing and device synchronisation
- Skype – for video conferencing and collaborative working
- Slack – for team messaging, text, voice and video
- Business banking – for obvious reasons!
- LinkedIn – for building a business network and promotions
While the mobile isn’t yet ready to overtake the laptop and PC for business use, each of these apps have become an integral part of the working day for professionals in all sectors, enabling genuine working on the go. In fact apps have become such a widely accepted business tool that more than half (57 per cent) of business owners say that they are currently looking into developing an app of their own.
Related: 10 apps that will optimise your working life
Shaz Memon creative director at Digimax comments, ‘The app is becoming an increasingly important tool for business people, allowing them access to a comprehensive range of business tools while away from the office.
‘There is still a little way to go, but if technology continues to develop at the rate that it has been – and I can see no reason why it would not – apps will soon allow the smartphone to take the place of the computer and become the primary business tool of professionals.
‘It took business a short while to switch on to the potential of the app, but with big names, such as Google, investing heavily in business app development advances are now coming thick and fast.’
Further reading on using an app
