The mobile phone industry in India has seen an unprecedented rise with the country becoming the fastest growing app marketing over the last few years. Two things have contributed the success – internet penetration and declining prices of smartphones.
To clarify the latter point, while Apple products are fairly expensive, the proliferation of Chinese brands has made it possible for the common man in India to experience the power of a smartphone. These phones allow them to access the wifi and also download apps that are being enjoyed by the more expensive Apple users.
Most Popular Apps In India
Mobile app developers have also followed India’s trajectory and have positioned themselves to provide apps that cater to the latest trends. In this article, we take a look at some of the more popular apps that are now available in India.
For the purpose of this article, the apps that are listed in each category are not based on the number of downloads but the average rating on the respective play store.
Entertainment
Gaana
The Indian version of Spotify, Gaana is the largest streaming service available for commercial music with a library of over 3 million songs. The songs are spread across several genres and is available to users all over the globe.
At the time of writing this article, the app has amassed over 150 million users which is an extremely impressive feat.
Wynk Music
Hot on the heels of Gaana comes another music streaming service by the name of Wynk music. While the library of songs is half of what its nearest competitor has to offer, the unique selling point or should we say download point of this app is the ability to check lyrics while a song is being played.
Hotstar
A household name in India, Hotstar is one of the most popular brands allowing users to watch TV-shows, movies, news and even sporting events all on their mobile devices.
Bookmyshow
Moving away from entertainment and venturing into the booking industry, BookMyShow as the name suggests allows you to search for movies, plays and other events near you.
The easy to use interface allows you to find the event of your choice and also watch trailers and read reviews before you make your final decision.
Online Marketplace
Flipkart
No list can be complete without mentioning FlipKart. Established little over a decade ago, FlipKart has catapulted its way to the top e commerce app in India. Whatever you need is available to search on this app including clothes, electronics, home appliances, furniture and jewellery to name but a few.
It mimics and in some cases provides a better user experience compared to Amazon and allows the user to compare products side by side and also read reviews before finalising their purchase.
Myntra
Myntra is another e-commerce app that focusses on clothing and fashion accessories only. The many filters available allows you to narrow your search to the item that you are looking for.
Snapdeal
India’s answer to Groupon, SnapDeal was set up by two colleagues who were impressed by group buying model. They created a localised site to cater to the Indian audience and provide deals and discounts that would appeal to the masses.
The site has managed to maintain a commanding position in the marketplace due to their impeccable balance between quality and value products.
Bigbasket
An online supermarket in India, BigBasket has grown year on year and now houses close to 15000 products from over 11000 brands. As a consumer you can buy fruits, vegetables, groceries and even pet related products all with a click of a button on your smartphone.
Betting Apps
Betway
Online cricket betting has exploded in India. More and more international operators that would focus their efforts on acquiring customers from UK or Sweden have now turned their attention towards India. With a population of a billion plus people, the market is highly lucrative for the likes of Betway.
As one of India’s premier online cricket betting apps, Betway offer the latest odds in cricket betting. They have hired the likes of Kevin Pietersen and Nargis Fakhri as brand ambassadors and are keen on increasing their pool Indian punters.
10Cric
A relatively new name compared to Betway, 10Cric have been making waves in the online gaming world with their aggressive approach to user acquisition using not only online marketing but also the use of offline sponsorships.
They were one of the first operators to sponsor the Caribbean Premier League and have now enlisted the services of West Indian batsman, Chris Gayle to act as the brand ambassador.
Online Food
Swiggy
Food delivery apps have become even more prominent in light of the pandemic. Swiggy has positioned itself as one of the largest ordering and delivering platforms.
The scale of operations is immense with the online delivery app racking up 1.5 million daily food orders in the country as of last year. With the app, you can order food from numerous restaurants in your city with the app also providing real time updates on the meal ordered.
Transportation
RedBus
It was only a matter of time before a reliable transportation app was made available to the Indians. RedBus serves as the largest online bus ticketing app in India allows users to book tickets with a click of a button.
The app connects over 2500 bus operators across the country and allows users to find the exact bus stop they are meant to be on with the help of real-time location.
Jugnoo Autos
Taking inspiration from RedBus, Jungoo Autos allows users to search for nearby autorickshaws and book it with a single tap.
Zoomcar
Similar to ZipCar in the UK, ZoomCar allows users to search for vehicles nearby and book them. The catch being that you are not required to go to a car rental company for paper work. The app finalises your booking and also acts as a key, allowing you to unlock and drive the car. Once done, you can drop-off the car from you had picked it up from.
Ola Cabs
While Uber maybe the dominant taxi service in the world, Ola Cabs has a done great job of capturing the Indian market. It is the biggest online taxi and car aggregator and offers services including taxi service, food delivery and peer to peer ride sharing.
Ola Cabs is the biggest online taxi and car aggregator in India today offering services that range from peer-to-peer ridesharing, ride service hailing, taxi and food delivery.
Other Utilities
Paytm
Unless you have been living under a rock, you will be well aware of the brand PayTm. It is a widely used e-commerce system that allows users to shop online, transfer money and also recharge their mobile credit.
At the time of writing, the app has been downloaded over 350 million times and is often found sponsoring mega cricket events in India.
These are the top mobile apps currently available to users in India. There is no denying that mobile apps play an important role in our everyday lives be it ordering food and groceries to booking our next ride home or even placing cricket bets on our favourite matches.
