This story was delivered to BI Intelligence Apps and Platforms Briefingsubscribers. To learn more and subscribe, please click here.Overall app usage could be reaching its cap, according to new data from Flurry Analytics.Although overall usage is still showing signs of growthit grew 11% year-over-year (YoY) in 2016it appears that individual categories are beginning to eat into the share of time users spend in other apps.Flurry defines app usage as a user opening an app and logging a "session," as well as the amount of time spent in-app, which grew 69% YoY.Here are the key takeaways from the report:Social and chat apps continue to devour time spent.Time spent in social and messaging apps grew a 394% YoY in 2016. This is likely a result of consumers increasingly using these apps to make video and voice calls. At the same time, slow growth of news and media apps (up 5% YoY) and music, media, and entertainment apps (up 1% YoY), is largely a result of users instead opting for social apps to ingest live-streaming and new content.Capturing daily habits drive app stickiness.Apps that are tied to daily habits and rely on real-time data, such as Business and Finance (up 43% YoY) and Sports (up 25% YoY), are largely immune to growth decay, Flurry notes. Moreover, it's likely that these categories will see even further growth as consumers continue shifting away from TV and PC and toward mobile.Mobile gaming usage is declining, but people are spending more in-app.Time spent in gaming apps declined 4% YoY. Nevertheless, users are becoming increasingly willing to spend money through either in-app purchases or up front; the gaming app industry continues to report strong YoY revenue growth. The deceleration of app usage growth doesn't mean that usage will decline, but that users will spend more of their mobile time within certain apps. This is primarily driven by the growing trend in apps' sharing functionality. For example, popular Chinese chat app WeChat recently unveiled Mini Programs, which supports mini app experiences from within the chat app interface, without needing to download and launch a separate app. And Apple opened up iMessage to developers, enabling them to add small, stripped-down versions of their apps within conversations with friends.App developers long considered the "pay once and play" modelin which users pay up front an app and aren't prompted to make in-app purchasesthe best way to generate revenue. But as more "free-to-download" apps entered the market, users increasingly opted for these experiences.These apps offer microtransactions for in-app goods and services, and in-app ads.As the app ecosystem expands further, it will become increasingly challenging for developers to compete in a crowded market.Overall, global gross app revenuewill double to reach $102 billion by 2020, accordingto recent projections by App Annie.As a result, app monetization strategies need to shift at least as quickly as consumer trends and preferences in order for developers to capture a piece of this growing market.Laurie Beaver, research analyst for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on app monetization that explores the top app monetization strategies under user- and advertising-paid approaches, and the growing combination of both. We will also look at emerging trends that could help developers navigate the fiercely competitive app ecosystem, and address the potential barriers that developers will have to overcome to reap the benefits of the multi-billion dollar market.Here are some of the key takeaways:The app ecosystem is expanding quickly, and it's becoming increasingly challenging for app developers to compete in a crowded market.To capture a piece of the growing market, app developers must adapt their strategies at least as quickly as consumer trends and preferences change.Developers can choose a user-paid or an advertising-paid approach to monetizing their apps. Different monetization strategies work best with different apps.There are a number of widespread challenges that developers must contend with both before and after they enter the app market.In full, the report:Provides key factors driving the expected growth of global app revenueEvaluates the top app monetization strategiesLooks at emerging trends to help developers navigate the app ecosystemExplains the challenges that developers face to compete in the app marketAnd much moreInterested in getting the full report' Here are twoways to access it:Subscribe to anAll-Accesspass to BI Intelligence and gain immediate access to this report and over 100 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensureyou stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally.START A MEMBERSHIPPurchase & download the full report fromour research store.Purchase & Download NowJoin the conversation about this story
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