Ask HN: What Happened to Apple App Clips?

12 days ago

Apple introduced App Clips in iOS 14 as a way to instantly use small parts of an app without installing the full application. The idea seemed compelling: low friction, fast launch, contextual entry points (QR, NFC, links).

Five years later, I almost never encounter App Clips in the wild and Google killed Instant Apps already.

- Are there notable apps or companies where App Clips are a meaningful acquisition or engagement channel?

- Did you already decide to remove your App Clip to reduce maintainability?

9 comments

tomtec

Reply
al_borland  11 days ago

I can think of two reasons.

1. It seems move companies want to be on people’s phones. App Clip is for those one time use things, where people don’t want to install an app. Companies seem to hope you’ll install an app for a once time use, then leave it there forever, so they can brag about install numbers or send notifications.

2. Personally, I don’t trust random QR codes. I’ve been at several gas stations where they have stickers for Apple and Android with QR codes to scan and pay. They seem like an App Clip thing… but they are also haphazardly slapped on to the pump, nowhere near the payment stuff, and not even lined up or straight. I can only assume it’s a scam and someone is hoping a naive person scans the sticker and pays them $50.

When it was first announced I thought it sounded great, as I don’t want to install random apps to be a customer at a store. But between companies wanting app installs, and people who shouldn’t trust random QR codes, it kind of seems destine to fail.

mattmark  12 days ago

Follow up question: did anyone here implement app clips and saw any benefits for their app?

armchairhacker  12 days ago

Is there any advantage over a small normal app?

There’s already a flow to download an app from a link or QR code, apps can be configured so they’re not added to the home screen, and apps are automatically deleted (“offloaded”) on low storage.

gloxkiqcza  12 days ago

I think most use cases for App Clips are better served by simple web apps, which is why App Clips never really took off.

zeristor  12 days ago

I was wondering about this too, early on I was looking to try out in apps but couldn’t find many.

drcongo  11 days ago

I've come across quite a few of them, especially for ordering food / drinks in "restaurants", theatres, sports venues etc. In that setting, they're superb.