Look up super-app in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
A super-app (also spelled superapp), or everything-app, is a mobile or web application that can provide multiple services including payment and instant messaging services, effectively becoming an all-encompassing, self-contained, commerce and communication online platform that embraces many aspects of personal and commercial life. Notable examples of super-apps include Tencent's WeChat in China, Tata Neu in India, and Grab in Southeast Asia.
For end users, a super-app is an application that provides a set of core features while also giving access to independently developed miniapps. For app developers, a super-app is an application integrated with the capabilities of platforms and ecosystems that allows third-parties to develop and publish miniapps.[1]
History
The super-app term was first used to describe WeChat[2] when it combined the instant messaging service with the digital wallet function.[3][4][promotional source?] Recognition of WeChat as a super-app stems from its combination of messaging, payments, e-commerce, and much more within a single application, making it indispensable for many users. WeChat's establishment of the super-app model has led companies like Meta to try to build similar applications outside of China.[5][6]
In Southeast Asia, Grab and Gojek lay claim to the super-app classification despite lacking many of the features offered by WeChat.[11] Accordingly, growth-stage companies like Shopee, Traveloka, and AirAsia have also expanded the range of services offered by their respective applications.[11]
Gojek is an Indonesian on-demand multiservice digital platform and fintech payment super-app. Established in Jakarta in 2010, as a call center to connect consumers to courier delivery and two-wheeled ride-hailing services, it launched its mobile app in 2015 with four services: GoRide, GoSend, GoShop, and GoFood, which has since expanded to offer over 20 services. In 2021, it merged with another Indonesian unicorn, Tokopedia, forming the decacorn GoTo Gojek Tokopedia.[15]
Grab
Grab is a Southeast Asian technology company headquartered in Singapore and Indonesia. Founded in 2012 as the MyTeksi app in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, it expanded the following year as GrabTaxi, before moving its headquarters to Singapore in 2014 and rebranding officially as Grab. In addition to ride-hailing and transportation services, the company's mobile app also offers food delivery and digital payment services.[16][promotional source?]
Tata Neu
Tata Neu is a multipurpose super-app, developed in India by the Tata Group. It is the country's first super-app. The app was launched to coincide with the start of a 2022 Indian Premier League cricket match.
WeChat
WeChat is a Chinese multipurpose instant messaging, social media and mobile payment app. First released in 2011, it became the world's largest standalone mobile app in 2018, with over 1 billion monthly active users. WeChat provides text messaging, hold-to-talk voice messaging, broadcast (one-to-many) messaging, video conferencing, video games, the sharing of photographs and videos and location sharing.[17]
Max
Max is a messenger from the Russian company VK, positioned as a super-app. The application combines messaging, calls, and channels features with the integration of additional services: payments, miniapps, taxi ordering, deliveries, and other everyday services are available within a single interface. The goal is to unite communication and routine tasks in a unified ecosystem.[18][19][20]
Criticism
Although apps that fit the super-app classification can offer users a wider variety of services in comparison to single-purpose alternatives, internet regulators in regions such as the US and Europe have become more concerned about the overall power of the technology industry and have become more critical of companies developing such apps. In China, WeChat and other local firms have been ordered to open up their platforms to rivals by local regulators.[21]
There are also reports that suggest it might be difficult to replicate WeChat's super-app model. This stems partly from the peaking of smartphone penetration rates in many regions worldwide, which has led to overcrowded app stores and tighter restrictions on targeted advertising as regulators assert more control over the companies. From a technical viewpoint, single-purpose apps are comparatively faster, more responsive and easier to navigate than super-apps, which helps improve the overall user experience.[22] Super-apps are also likelier to store larger amounts of personal data to facilitate the delivery of their services, so users run a greater risk of becoming victims of severe data breaches. In 2020, this unfolded with Tokopedia, which had the data of 91 million of its users stolen and shared by crackers.[11]
It has also been noted that a user who loses access to their account or is banned from a super-app generally loses access to multiple real-life services and digital applications; the Chinese government has used this approach to penalize people who shared the photos of the Sitong Bridge protest.[23]
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