Super apps

Wildly popular in Asia, these single apps do the jobs of hundreds, and will soon change daily lives across the globe.

One piece of technology was hailed as Asia’s “defining innovation” at Bloomberg’s New Economy Forum in Singapore last November. No, it wasn’t gene-editing Crispr or fake meat that fights climate change: it was an app. We’re not talking any app – we’re talking super apps, which do the job of hundreds of apps in one. You can call a taxi, buy movie tickets, send messages, make payments, scroll through social media, read the news and more. It’s incredibly useful – but somewhat concerning.

The biggest example is WeChat, China’s “one-stop shop” app, which has over a billion users. Then there’s Singapore’s Grab, which started as a ride-hailing app, but has added services like food delivery and cashless payments; it’s forecast to double revenue this year. Centralising all your daily activities is convenient – but is giving that much information and control to a single company wise? (Critics point out that the Chinese government uses WeChat to spy on citizens.)

While super apps have yet to fully infiltrate the West, they’re tightening their grip on Asia. For example, Go-Jek, an Indian super app with over 100 million downloads, is opening in Vietnam, Singapore and Thailand, targeting the region’s rapidly growing middle class.

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Image credit: Piero Zagami and Michela Nicchiotti.