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Off-topic but, what has prevented "super apps" from becoming a thing in the West? Antitrust laws? Infrastructure? Or just cultural differences?

by wavemode 11mo ago

numpad0 11mo ago
IMO the superapp notion is a bit exaggerated. Lots of the Asian superapps superfeatures are just random buttons on random places created in decisions decentralized/scope creeping/workers overqualified/anemic management workplace that launch WebViews out of nowhere. The prerequisites are nonexistent leadership and smart yet business ignorant workers. If you fill a few urban core skyscrapers to the brim with bunch of STEM/CS/CE uni grad kids, they'll start stuffing anything they are allowed to touch with super futuristic string theory thing for absolutely no reason. Someone's going to implement crypto mining feature on the live app. Others start doing LLMs working together with image generation teams while the image creation team with a quirky boss will have their own. That's how superapp gets created. Also, Google is an American company, unless I'm grossly mistaken. You guys have a superapp and a superapp company already.
cyberrock 11mo ago
I think it's all due to Apple: * Apple developer program is $99/year everywhere and making iOS apps without a Mac used to be impossible and is still difficult, so naturally there's more demand for miniapp platforms like WeChat and LINE in countries with way lower purchasing parity. LINE miniapps are booming now that the yen is so weak. But the West doesn't have this issue. * Superapps typically grow out of chat and payment platforms and Apple owns such a massive share of that in the West. They're not going to build miniapps into Apple Messages or Apple Pay.
hakfoo 11mo ago
Isn't emacs the original super-app? :> I always wondered if mobile networks/tarriffs had a factor in it. If the super-app negotiates with the carrier to get zero-rated, it gains an immediate edge over other free-standing players.

Off-topic but, what has prevented "super apps" from becoming a thing in the West? Antitrust laws? Infrastructure? Or just cultural differences?

numpad0 11mo ago

IMO the superapp notion is a bit exaggerated. Lots of the Asian superapps superfeatures are just random buttons on random places created in decisions decentralized/scope creeping/workers overqualified/anemic management workplace that launch WebViews out of nowhere. The prerequisites are nonexistent leadership and smart yet business ignorant workers. If you fill a few urban core skyscrapers to the brim with bunch of STEM/CS/CE uni grad kids, they'll start stuffing anything they are allowed to touch with super futuristic string theory thing for absolutely no reason. Someone's going to implement crypto mining feature on the live app. Others start doing LLMs working together with image generation teams while the image creation team with a quirky boss will have their own. That's how superapp gets created. Also, Google is an American company, unless I'm grossly mistaken. You guys have a superapp and a superapp company already.

cyberrock 11mo ago

I think it's all due to Apple: * Apple developer program is $99/year everywhere and making iOS apps without a Mac used to be impossible and is still difficult, so naturally there's more demand for miniapp platforms like WeChat and LINE in countries with way lower purchasing parity. LINE miniapps are booming now that the yen is so weak. But the West doesn't have this issue. * Superapps typically grow out of chat and payment platforms and Apple owns such a massive share of that in the West. They're not going to build miniapps into Apple Messages or Apple Pay.

hakfoo 11mo ago

Isn't emacs the original super-app? :> I always wondered if mobile networks/tarriffs had a factor in it. If the super-app negotiates with the carrier to get zero-rated, it gains an immediate edge over other free-standing players.