A new study from Quixey sheds some light on US consumers’ attitudes to apps and the mobile web. Quixey commissioned SHIFT Communications to survey US online consumers about their mobile preferences. The survey was shown to 2,133 people aged 18 and over between 7 and 8 December 2015, with 1,059 responses.

12 per cent of respondents said that they would still prefer to download an app, even if they could get all the features and functionality of an app without having to download it. Meanwhile, 50 per cent of respondents said they dislike using mobile apps for two primary reasons: they chew up device storage (26 per cent) or they are slow and have inconsistent performance (23 per cent). 34 per cent of respondents cited ‘features and functionalities’ as the primary reason they prefer mobile apps over mobile web, with ‘user experience’ not far behind at 28 per cent.

On the other hand, 33 per cent of respondents said they prefer to use the mobile web because they have access to all content in a single place, while 23 per cent like it because they don’t need to install anything new, and 10.6 per cent because they don’t need to flip between multiple apps.

Ad blocking on the rise
The study also questioned respondents about their use of ad blockers, and found that this is on the rise. 84 per cent of millennials (aged 18-34) use some form of an ad blocker, compared to just 17 per cent of people aged 45-64.
When asked why they use an ad blocker, 30 per cent of those who do said it was because it has an impact om their experience; 15 per cent because the ads slow down their experience; and 10 per cent because the ads they see are not relevant to them.

Quixey’s conclusion from the survey findings is that the mobile experience today is broken. Consumers care most about being able to use their phone to do what they want while on the go regardless of whether it’s from the mobile web or a mobile app. Mobile web provides a wealth of information, but it doesn’t provide all the functions of apps, which deliver a superior user experience. Conversely, apps today are siloed pieces of software that don’t work together seamlessly. As phones become the primary tool for consumers to get information and complete tasks, the company says, it will become increasingly important to be able to find a way to offer all the functions that exist within apps and make them accessible to consumers without the app itself. What’s needed is an ecosystem that is not so severely tied to the app, but tied to the dynamic, real-time information people rely on to get tasks done.