How Frequently Have Communication Apps Been Used During the COVID-19 Pandemic?

It didn't come as much of a surprise to most people as communication tools, like Zoom and Microsoft Teams had significant popularity amongst users as communicating via video became the new standard during the lockdown.

4D Data Centres collected 2020 App Store data on 4 of these communication apps, namely; Cisco Webex, Microsoft Teams, Zoom & Google Hangouts to assess the impact COVID-19 had on demand for their services.

They found that overall Zoom won in the battle of demand to be crowned the most popular video calling software among its peers, with their online reviews increasing by 474%. But, with such high volumes of demand in a short space of time, they did see their average rating drop to 3.88 compared to 4.35 in 2019.

As full lockdown extended in April, Cisco and Zoom hit peak demand as the public adapted to a new way of communicating while Microsoft Teams saw their highest demand for the service in June. Despite Google Hangouts rivalling Zoom with numbers of participants allowed, their numbers remained steady through the months of lockdown.

Elsewhere, in other news, to pass information to residents, the government of different nations have been utilizing communication applications like WhatsApp to communicate with residents.

Concerning social media application usage; new information from consulting firm Kantar uncovers precisely how much some applications are profiting. As indicated by the study of more than 25,000 purchasers in 30 business sectors conducted between March 14 and 24, WhatsApp experienced the largest increases due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

Moreover, Facebook-owned WhatsApp saw a 40% expansion in utilization from an underlying 27% bump the previous days of lockdown to 41% in the mid-phase. For nations that are in the later period of the pandemic, WhatsApp use hopped by 51%.

WhatsApp usage during the pandemic has been the biggest among users between the age of 18 and 34, the research additionally found. Likewise, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram experienced a 40%+ increment in usage from this same age group.

Facebook recently released its data, stating that messaging on its systems was up by over half over a month ago. This would incorporate combining Facebook Messenger, I.G. and WhatsApp all together. It likewise guaranteed that time spent on overall applications since the pandemic had increased 70%, too, and time in group calls (at least three members) was up by over 1,000% during the lockdown. Facebook's stats affirm Kantar's report of critical development during March too.

It’s clear that societal shifts in communication led to both businesses and social engagements shifting online. As businesses were forced to adapt to a culture of remote working, Governments were forced to quickly adapt to utilizing the same technology to inform their residents of updates and progress in handling the COVID-19 outbreak. 3 of the 4 communication apps reviewed by 4D Data Centres could not handle the demand placed on their services so, although Zoom won the battle in the short-term, the long-term winners are likely to be those that can offer a consistent service.