For several years, Apple has been striving to enhance its ecosystem with new applications through updates. From Journal to Sports to Freeform and Apple Music Classical, four applications have arrived in three years. However, these new features do not seem to be popular with the public, far from it. But then, why are the latest applications from Cupertino struggling so much to establish themselves?
An ecosystem enrichment strategy that struggles to convince
While the arrival of these new applications demonstrates Apple’s desire to enrich its ecosystem, it is clear that this strategy is currently struggling to bear fruit. Despite the significant resources invested in their development and promotion, these apps are struggling to find their audience and to establish themselves against well-established competitors.
The problem does not seem to come so much from the intrinsic quality of these applications, generally well designed and offering interesting features. It is rather their positioning and their added value that are questionable. With Journal, Sports, Freeform or Apple Music Classical, Apple is investing in already well-occupied markets where it is difficult to make a place for oneself.
Apps that sometimes lack differentiation and originality
Take Journal, for example, the advanced notebook launched with iOS 17. On paper, the app has solid arguments, but in reality, it struggles to really stand out from the many solutions already on the market. The biggest limitation of the Journal app is that it is only available on iOS. It is impossible to enhance your personal journal on iPad or Mac, or to consult it on the Watch. It is a shame, because Journal is well thought out in itself and perfectly integrated into the ecosystem by taking advantage of Photos, Calendar or Maps. The application does not seem quite finished, and there is no doubt that it will evolve in a few years, but it will probably already be too late.
The same goes for Sports, which is arriving very late on the field of live sports results compared to Flashscore, which is the market reference. The latter offers all sports, all leagues and enriched information such as team lineups and sports news. Why did Apple want to rush into this sector? Unfortunately, Sports does not provide any added value and is incomplete.
Freeform, for its part, is an intriguing concept of a collaborative whiteboard. But again, it’s hard to see what the app brings more than tools like Miro or Microsoft Whiteboard. Freeform being the latest arrival while limiting itself to the Apple ecosystem, it’s very difficult to hope to penetrate this market sustainably. A company, which necessarily has staff on Windows and Android, cannot afford to switch entirely to Freeform without taking the risk of leaving employees by the wayside. This is one of the limits of Cupertino’s closed philosophy.
As for Apple Music Classical, it suffers from a very niche positioning that necessarily limits its potential. Above all, the choice to make it a separate application from Apple Music is incomprehensible since it is exactly the same service. The interface is identical, the subscription is the same… only the catalog differs. If there is an application where it is difficult to follow Apple, it is Music Classical.
As a result, despite Apple’s firepower, these new applications are currently struggling to really reach their audience. Usage figures remain modest and we are far from a massive craze. Proof that even for Apple, launching an app is not enough to make it essential. The strategy largely focused on services may see here again one of its limits.
An uncertain future for these new Apple apps
Given these timid beginnings, the future of these new applications made in Cupertino seems uncertain. Apple will have to redouble its efforts to improve them and better position them if it wants to give them a chance to establish themselves. This will undoubtedly involve adding exclusive and differentiating features, but also through better integration into the ecosystem.
Because that may be where the apps’ greatest asset lies: their ability to seamlessly interconnect with Apple hardware and services. By playing this integration card to the fullest, Journal, Sports, Freeform, and Apple Music Classical could end up finding their audience, especially among users who are most invested in the Apple universe.
But this will require time and continued effort. Apple will have to be persistent and not hesitate to make these apps evolve in depth if necessary. A major challenge for Tim Cook’s firm, which will also have to manage its application portfolio carefully, otherwise it will become counterproductively cumbersome. Now that Apple Intelligence weighs heavily in the balance since it is Apple’s priority today, it is unlikely that the other services will evolve significantly in the near future. When we see how long it took Apple to evolve Mail or develop a calculator on the iPad, perhaps it would be better to improve existing applications before creating new ones. The future will tell us if the bet on these new apps was the right one, but it all seems to be off to a bad start.