In this Vergecast episode they keep saying Apple doesn’t allow super apps on iOS so they won’t have to concede the market to something like WeChat which made the hardware mostly irrelevant. They also said the banks are prevented from using the payment feature directly so they have to sign a deal with Apple to use Apple Pay.
I get that it’s an American perspective but don’t publish misinformation. China’s WeChat and Southeast Asian “super” apps like Grab, Gojek, and Air Asia all work on iPhones with no problems whatsoever. We use these apps daily to book a car, a bike, order food, arrange for courier deliveries, pay for stuff, etc.
Highlighting that last part, we use these apps to pay for things. The retail finance world in Southeast Asia is probably a world away from the American one. We don’t just use our bank accounts to make payments, we often send our money to multiple digital wallets and other finance-enabled apps allowing us to pay for utility bills, insurance, car registration, installments, paylaters, and many other payments, and earn ourselves points or cash back just like credit cards.
Our shopping apps are also payment apps. Imagine using your Amazon, Uber, or Temu app to pay for your city ordinance, cable, neighborhood services, and many other bills.
Most banks and digital wallets in Southeast Asia skip Apple, Android, or Samsung Pay altogether because Android is dominant so they all adopt QR payments in their respective markets.
Right now a common QR payment is being rolled out across almost all of Southeast Asia so whichever Southeast Asian bank or wallet you use you’ll be able to use your account to pay for almost anything anywhere in the region that accepts QR payments.
I regularly use my Singaporean UOB account to pay for things like groceries and gasoline in Jakarta by scanning the QR code on the merchant terminal and it’s as seamless as using your card. Sure it’s not as fancy as tapping your phone or watch to pay for stuff but in terms of financial inclusion, it’s so much wider since cheap Android phones are on board.
There’s also no good reason why Uber and Uber Eats have to be different apps! If anything Uber is one of the few American companies that know everything about super apps because they competed with Grab and Gojek in Southeast Asia before retreating and merging their local ops with Grab. They were also in China, the original super app market.
Apple is not preventing super apps from existing or working on your phones. Is anyone even trying it in the US? It’s not Apple who’s actively preventing it, it’s the “western” digital culture, the market, it’s Americans who don’t want them. What you might prefer to have instead in the US are integrated services or features around a specific theme or category.
Like Google Maps gives you direction but also information about venues and locations including place reviews, prices, photos, opening times, transit and traffic information, and so on.
Right now Spotify is trying to be some sort of a super app by offering not just songs and lyrics and information about musicians and bands but also music videos and podcasts, and now they’re trialing online education courses in the UK.
Who knows maybe Netflix will also add education courses or classes or live sports and events aside from streaming movies, series, documentaries, and games because those are things you do on your TV.
Think of what you can do in Fortnite or Roblox already and expand that outside the narrow boundaries. I mean Fortnite and Roblox already hosted concerts, Duolingo added maths and music courses.
See what I’m getting at? The category expansions app developers are trying in the “western” markets are not all encompassing like in Asia but they grow out of a central theme.
FWIW, you can lump Instagram into this category because it’s a photo and video sharing app that has direct and group messaging, audio and video calls, online shops, and gives you information about venues and locations. Who knows what else will Meta be adding to Instagram in the near future?
AuliaSays 