As a feature that was announced in 2016 and made available for developers in 2017, Instant Apps have been familiar to Android developers for quite some time now. If the main concept had to be described in one sentence it would be: “Experience the app without the need to install it”. Looking a bit deeper into this idea, and considering the benefits it gets to the overall user experience, the following uses come to mind:

• Experiencing the native app when deciding whether to download it or not
• Promoting instant experience on a website, or sharing in various ways, which can lead to many users installing the app
• Accomplishing simple tasks, such as paying a bill at the restaurant, renting an e-scooter, paying for a parking spot, etc.

Try the app before downloading

With instant apps, the quality of user experience while browsing for the ideal app is enhanced dramatically. It gives users the ability to take a closer look into the app they are interested in, just like they would grab an item from the store shelf and get a nice close look at it.

Before Instant Apps, there were not many ways for users to get a decent first impression of the app, all they could do is look through a couple of screenshots, maybe a short video and the list ends there. Based on that impression they had to decide if they wanted to download the app or not.

Instant Apps are a way for users to experience the part of the app in all of its native glory. The experience will be the same as if they have downloaded the app. This, in fact, is what actually happens with the Instant Apps, but this time only the part of the app gets downloaded, so the whole operation can be done very quickly.

How it works - Google Play Instant

Note: Instant apps are only available for Android 5.0 (API level 21) or higher.

There are a couple of ways for users to experience Instant apps. It can be done from both the Play Store and the Google Play Games app. Users can choose the “Try Now” and “Try” options respectively.

An app can have multiple Instant App entry points. This means that one app can provide multiple Instant App experiences. For example, a restaurant app can have an instant mode for simple bill paying, users would usually access it with the QR code given on the bill. Additionally, it can have a different instant experience where users may scan a different QR code, which will give them a nice list of all articles on the menu, and maybe they can make an order from there. For all of these to work, different entry points need to be defined, one for each instant experience the app provides.

There is a limit to which permissions an Instant App can use. The ones available should satisfy most apps since the idea is to have something quick and lightweight, and not overwhelm users with a bunch of features and permissions. All the most common permissions are available, such as the internet, location, camera, vibration, etc. Developers should also be aware that an Instant App won’t be able to use the background services, and can’t send notifications while in the background.

To get a clear vision of what Instant Apps are capable of, we had to try them out, and that’s how the Splitbilly POC came to life.

Please check out our Splitbilly Instant App - Proof of Concept blog post to get a better understanding of the whole concept.