What makes super apps so super, and do they have a future in the West?

Super apps give the impression that existing apps are redundant. But the more functions they offer, the more personal data is collected by the providers.

A post by Katharina and Martin Ille

Wednesday, 26 May 2021

First things first: Defining Super Apps

Back in 2010, BlackBerry founder Mike Lazaridis defined Super Apps as “a closed ecosystem of many apps” that people would use every day because they offer such a seamless, integrated, contextualised and efficient experience.

Nowadays, there are several Super Apps that not only allow users to chat, post pictures and videos, but also to send money and pay for services, order and pay for a taxi or meals, and even arrange a doctor’s appointment – all this and much more can be done conveniently, quickly and in one place via a Super App.

WeChat – China’s app for everything

Let’s take a closer look at the most famous Super App, WeChat, which was initially launched as a messaging app by one of China’s largest technology companies, “Tencent”, in 2011. Nearly a decade later, the unassuming app has evolved into a Super App, with 1,225 billion monthly active users (in the fourth quarter of 2020) and more than 1 million additional ‘mini-programmes’ that can be used straight away without downloading. The Super App also features a digital wallet system called “WeChat Pay” for online transactions and mobile payments. WeChat has become a market-leading Super App that has transformed users’ daily lives in many ways.

Asia leads the way – will the West follow suit?

Since WeChat established itself in China several years ago, Super Apps have been slowly but surely developing outside the country as well. The Russian-Dutch company Yandex, which operates the search engine of the same name, offers a variety of services alongside its Google counterpart. These include, for example, public transport timetables and the booking of taxis. The company is combining these services into a single app. Users of“Yandex Go – Taxi and Delivery”can expect a comprehensive range of services, including taxi booking, courier services for all types of deliveries, and timetables for public transport.

Danill Shuleyko, CEO of Yandex.Taxi, describes the app as follows: “Yandex Go will enable people to tackle any task involving getting around the city quickly and on time. […] We are harnessing our technology and bringing together our existing Yandex platforms within a single super app to simplify everyday tasks, making multitasking easy for everyone.”

It remains unclear to what extent the app will expand into other parts of Europe. However, it should be noted that the new super app is already available in 12 of the 15 post-Soviet states and Serbia.

In contrast to Yandex Go, which focuses on transport, is the South American super app Rappi. Available in nine Latin American countries, the app is primarily designed for consumer services and offers a range of functions. Users of the app can easily arrange express deliveries, purchase pharmaceutical products 24/7 or order from supermarkets. The app also integrates a payment service provider, a digital travel agency and a courier service.

The high cost of convenient Super Apps

When using WeChat, there is no need to download additional apps or log in again, as everything is in one place – it saves time and makes everyday life seem easier – but this convenience comes at a price.

It is important to bear in mind that when using WeChat in China, users’ real identities can be traced back to people, as they are registered with a mobile phone number, which is linked to the national ID in China. It should also be noted that the data is used by WeChat’s algorithms to send targeted adverts to users for commercial purposes.

Apart from that, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior has issued a warning against Chinese payment apps in its 2019 report on the protection of the constitution with regard to political espionage. According to the report, Chinese citizens, as well as German citizens living in Germany, can use payment systems from Chinese companies such as Tencent (WeChat Pay) and Alibaba (Alipay). “Their data servers are located in China, so Chinese state authorities may have access to them,” writes the Office for the Protection of the Constitution.

The Eastern European ‘Yandex Go’ and the Latin American super app ‘Rappi’ should also be treated with caution. This is because it is easy for companies to create detailed user profiles. The greatest danger here is that a provider gains extensive data on people. Specifically, this means that Yandex Go can not only aggregate data on a user’s movements, but also record when they move and how long they use a particular mode of transport. Combined with data from the in-house search engine – to which a user is ideally logged in – a highly detailed user profile can be built up after only a short time.

Unlike Yandex Go, Rappi cannot access additional data such as that from a search engine, but the Super App can nevertheless obtain just as much sensitive data. Even an analysis of the products ordered at the supermarket provides information about how people live or eat. By combining payments made via the company’s own financial service provider with the record of pharmaceutical products ordered, the user profile can easily be expanded to include people’s financial and health status.

To sum up

The examples given here show very clearly how easy it is for operators of Super Apps to create detailed user profiles, which could potentially be used to predict a person’s next actions. Furthermore, there is a risk that personal data could be sold to third parties. Given the volume of sensitive data held on a single person, the databases of Super Apps are particularly attractive to criminals.

If you are concerned about ‘losing your privacy’ or do not want to leave too many unnecessary digital traces on such Super Apps, we recommend not downloading them. Apps should be fun and leave users feeling good at the end of the day. Ultimately, one should always ask how useful an app is in relation to the amount of personal data that has to be handed over in order to use it.

The following sources were used for this article:

Chen, Z. T.; Cheung, M. (2018), ‘Privacy perception and protection on Chinese social media: a case study of WeChat’, Ethics and Information Technology (2018) 20:281–284

Chozan (2021), All You Need to Know About WeChat Mini Programs, https://chozan.co/all-you-need-know-wechat-mini-programs/#8_How_many_WeChat_mini-programs_are_there

Fehr, M. (2020), ‘Stay away from Chinese apps Alipay and WeChat’, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. https://www.faz.net/aktuell/finanzen/verfassungsschutz-warnt-vorsicht-vor-china-apps-alipay-und-wechat-16862155.html

Mast, S. (2020), ‘Are Digital Ecosystems The Secret To Building And Growing A Strong Economy?’, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/08/20/are-digital-ecosystems-the-secret-to-building-and-growing-a-strong-economy/?sh=e808fce2526d

Rappi Inc (2021), Rappi – Food delivery and more, https://apps.apple.com/us/app/rappi-food-delivery-and-more/id984044296

Rappi Inc (2021), Website, https://www.rappi.com/

Ta, K. (2020), Top 8 Successful Super Apps Examples In The World 2021, https://agiletech.vn/super-apps-examples-review-2021/

Tencent (2021), website – Milestones, https://www.tencent.com/en-us/about.html#about-con-3

Tencent (2021), 2020 Fourth Quarter and Annual Results, https://static.www.tencent.com/uploads/2021/03/24/b83f5784d0579b51cf8515cf560b4256.pdf

Yandex Apps (2021), Yandex Go — taxi and delivery, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.yandex.taxi&hl=de&gl=US

Photo by: Rami Al-zayat on Unsplash