The question of single super app (like The New York Times recently launched) or multiple apps is a question posed by one of the INMA Product & Tech advisory council that sparked an excellent debate.

It actually started as a question around discovery and the cost of acquisition, which is notoriously high. Combined with the time it takes to build habit, do we really want to repeat this process for multiple apps? 

It could also be asked whether having multiple apps in a store is confusing for readers. Some media organisations find users download the wrong thing and are then annoyed they don’t get access to what they pay for. Or think they have paid for one thing when in fact they have paid for another. A single app may solve for this. 

During the discussion, I noted down the following, which could support either based on your specific objectives. 

Realistically, there are many questions that need to be answered before making a decision and will depend very much on the organisation and (potential) user base. 

• What is the main purpose of the core app? 
• Is format a self selector for consumers when making a consumption decision? For example, when people get in a car or walk the dog, they likely go straight to an audio specific app, not a content specific app. 
• How much do you want to drive format verticals (audio, video, games) vs. content verticals? 

Clearly there is no single answer, but this does seem to be top of mine for a few organisations. The New York Times appears to be trialing both approaches, so it will be interesting to see where they land and whether they continue to support multiple apps as well as a super app. Maybe this is the test case we all need to watch carefully.

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