Rant: Stop Putting Stories In Every App
Remember the good old days when it was just Snapchat that had the stories? Now suddenly Instagram, Facebook, and who knows what else have started implementing stories into their app functionality. This will be a short article, but check out what the best Calgary mobile app development team has to say about the overuse of stories and why apps are doing it:
Woah.. Hold up.. What’s a story?
Great question! “Stories” were started by Snapchat as a way to post pictures/videos to your friends feeds. This allowed everyone to check out your own personal feed and see what you were up to rather than you having to send your Snapchats to individual people. Later on, this very same idea was adopted by Instagram and Facebook (who are owned by the same people). Although Snapchat may not have the user base that Facebook or Instagram do, it’s still worth noting that the idea of “stories” came from them.
Why Are Other Apps Putting “Stories” Into Their App?
At first when I, the user, noticed Instagram’s knockoff of the Snapchat story, I laughed and doubted this would be a feature sticking around for long. However, I was shocked to learn that stories were incredibly popular, in fact it even caused some people to abandon Snapchat altogether. Instagram’s CEO Kevin Systrom said he doesn’t think of Instagram Stories as just cloning Snapchat Stories, but considers “Stories” to be a desirable form of storytelling. It’s exactly like messaging, tons of apps have messaging and it’s become a staple in many apps. Soon after Facebook and Instagram, WhatsApp got a very similar “status” section, followed by Facebook’s Messenger App adding a similar stories function.
The latest app to add this is Skype, who calls it “highlights”. As a Calgary App Development team, we understand this push to try and attract a younger crowd to Skype, however there should definitely be a line. Skype’s primary function is to be a voice and video chat service, so this introduction of stories or “highlights” is a bit of a stretch.
This makes us wonder what is next, is Twitter going to add stories? iTunes? Google Maps? The point here I’m trying to make is you need to establish what problem exactly does your app intend to solve. Does Skype’s “highlights” addition solve this? Maybe. Maybe not. When designing your app, you need to keep your app on the straight and narrow with what problem it solves and its primary functions. Jamming your app full of useless features that don’t make sense will serve to annoy your users rather than keep them using your app. A good Calgary App Developer will keep your app in check and help guide you through this process so you finish with a really strong app that does what it’s supposed to. If you are interested in creating an app or improving your existing app, please visit the Contact section of the website. Our team would love to chat and discuss how we can turn your app idea, into a reality!
References:
http://mashable.com/2017/06/05/facebook-stories-snapchat-stop/#RTJMd7pjamq2
