Some time 9 years ago, Apple came up with a phrase, “There’s an application for that!”. In June 2020, the phrase saw itself getting tweaked – ‘There’s an application for that, but you don’t necessarily have to install it’.
At WWDC 2020, Apple launched App Clips. It is the first sign of the app revolution that we have come across ever since the App Store was launched in 2007. App Clips, in addition to putting a restriction on IDFA are Apple’s new efforts in the direction of bettering app experience for the users through iOS 14. For the first time, the tech giant took user experience outside of application install.
While the primary beneficiary of the launch is in fact the users who get to keep their home screen empty, Apple being one of the most developer-friendly platforms (as validated by the App Store 2018-19 stats) offers a huge advantage to business as well. The benefit which enables businesses to make their application performance visible first-hand in front of the million-apps crowded App Store.
In the article, we are going to dig deep in how apple clips app helps in acquiring more customers through the help of high visibility. We will also look into the role that your iOS app development company would play in expanding your iOS application to App Clips.
Table Of Content
- What are App Clips and How App Clips Work?
- How Are App Clips Made Discoverable?
- How Can App Clips Help You Acquire New Customers?
- Imagining App Clips Use Cases Across Industries
- Looking for Expansion Into App Clips? Here’s How We can Help
What are App Clips and How App Clips Work?
The app clips are a small portion of your application which is discoverable when needed. The clips are designed to be lightweight and fast so that the users can open them expeditiously. From ordering a take-out to renting a scooter, users will be able to begin and complete the required task inside the app within seconds.
App Clips offer your users two functionalities: to use a small part of your application and download the full application.
Use the sub-part of your application – Under this capacity, users only function around that part of your application which they require to perform an event. This functionality is based on a specific feature or feature set of your application.
Download the full application – For making it easier for your customers to access the entire application, you can give them the option to download the app from within the app clip.
How Are App Clips Made Discoverable?
The USP of the whole app clips experience is how they are discovered by the users.
Here are the textual descriptions of how users discover your app clip on their devices. These will give you a picture of the extent of your app discovery when you use Apple clips app.
App Clip Codes – By 2020 end, Apple will offer the tools needed for creating the app clip codes. But it doesn’t mean we cannot appreciate what is to come. The app clip code would have an encoded URL and an NFC tag, which would enable the code to eb tapped and scanned by the iPhone camera.
NFC Tags – The users would be able to tap NFC tags – which you would have placed at specific locations – on their iPhone to launch an app clip. They will be able to perform the task even through a lock screen!
QR Codes – You can place QR codes in specific locations for enabling users to launch the app clip by scanning the code through their camera app or barcode reader.
Safari App Banner – Users would be able to tap your web page configured with Smart App Banner to open the Apple clips app.
Links in Message – By enabling sharing inside your app clip, users would be able to send it via iMessage to their acquaintances. The receiver, on the other side, will be able to open it straight from their messages.
Cards in Maps – If your app clip is linked to a particular location, you can register it to appear on a place card in Maps, which users will be able to directly open.
New App Library – App clips are devised to stop home screen clutter. However, the recently used Apple clips app can be found and launched from the Recents section in the new App Library.
How Can App Clips Help You Acquire New Customers?
There’s a long line at your grocery store, which is making people leave the store? No problem, customers can launch your app clip and pay, saving the wait time. Want to increase orders in your take-away coffee shop? Enable your customers to app clip trigger through NFC or QR code and order on the move.
The examples that you read above are a clear sign of why companies should create app clips.
What is in it for you is that you get to present a quick in and out experience to customers. With app clips, the focus is never on superficial things like app spend time but on elements that matter – app discovery and app revenue. What’s more exciting is that with the close integration of Apple Pay, you don’t have to worry about saving payment information as long as your application supports “Sign in with Apple”.
App Clips come as a way to help your application stand out in the entire world. They are one of prime functionalities that can help you offer a truly omnichannel retail experience or for that matter any industry’s omnichannel experience.
App discovery continues to be a prime issue for brands. Although there’s an app for everything, everyone who owns an app knows how difficult it is to convince the users to install the application – especially when they are concentrated on a few favorites. App Clips offers a workaround of this conundrum by enabling brands to showcase only the relevant information to their customers exactly when they need it, in a non-fussy manner.
The support for offline applications through QR scan and NFC tags makes it a great way for the brick-and-mortar business owners to acquire customers. All they have to do is integrate the functionality of app clips in their business’s iPhone application.
App Clips are a great way to get your business in front of the customers exactly when they need it – thus increasing not just your business visibility and revenue but also the value of application performance. What is the best part about it all is that with the already available robust discoverability architecture and the direct link with Apple Pay preserving privacy, there’s very less left for you to work on on a technical level.
If you look at the present contactless-inclined business processes, App Clips here too plays a crucial role in ensuring that your business remains unaffected when we read into the impact of coronavirus on industries. App Clips will enable your business to connect with your customers in a contactless manner – since all the stages of making transactions, straight from discovering your app to inputting payment information, will now happen on their individual smartphones.
Imagining App Clips Use Cases Across Industries
- Financial Services – Apple, through Apple Cards is already benefiting small businesses to a great extent. Through App Clips, financial service businesses can offer their users quick in and out tasks without them having to install the application.
- Entertainment & Media Companies – Through App Clips, M&E companies can offer their customers a host of services like – purchasing tickets, joining a loyalty program, etc. All with the help of a NFC tag or QR code placed in their kiosk or through Smart App Banner integration on their website.
- Digital Workplaces – Using the app clip, employees would be able to put in their clock in and out time on the move – while keeping their device storage space unaffected.
- Museums or Historical Architectures – A museum can enable visitors to scan the visual codes placed next to displayed work. Visitors can then launch the app clip to view AR content or listen to audio comments.
- On-demand rental vehicle – A rental vehicle business can come with NFC tags which people can scan to then launch an app clip that would enable them to rent the vehicle straight from the stand.
App Clips, as you must have gathered up until this point in the article, are a sure shot way to get your application in front of customers when they need it the most. However, there’s a catch.
The efforts put in by your partnered iPhone application development company behind creating an app clip would decide its success.
Even though the users will be interacting with a portion of your application, it doesn’t mean that you can put user interface and user experience on the back seat. After all, if for any reason, your application fails to meet the quick in and out requirements at a time when your customers need you, your reputation will get harmed.
Looking for Expansion Into App Clips? Here’s How We can Help
We are known in the industry as an iOS application development company which is the torchbearer of new technologies. Between the first announcement of App Clip and now, we have already studied its technicalities and have devised different use cases.
We have already created successful prototypes of App Clips by following the App Clip design guidelines and development guide. And while they have helped us understand the prerequisites of designing and developing app clips, we have also identified ways to take your iPhone application a step ahead from those who simply use app clips.
The ways are:
- Deep Linking – Although not necessary, we recommend having a deep linking practice in place to give users a seamless experience. In the absence of deep linking, when the users open the app clip, they will be taken to the initial app screen. However, when you use deep linking, the users would be able to open the screen which you invoked with the App Clip.
- Siri Integration – We can integrate your application into Siri to widen its visibility among the users. Imagine the effect of Siri showing your application as the outcome of users’ queries on your app revenue. Cool isn’t it?
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