With England approaching the end of week one of ‘Lockdown 2’, we’re looking back at a few of the apps and technology that helped us through lockdown number one.
When lockdown began, a host of technologies helped us cope with the changes to the way we worked and socialised.
As such, while COVID-19 disrupted many industries, many thrived due to the ‘stay-at-home’ culture and the digital transformation of daily life.
Here’s some of the technology that helped us first time around…
Business Technology
For many of us, lockdown meant working from home and the adoption of remote working technologies.
Zoom saw its users jump from 10 million to 200 million per day as businesses communicated remotely. As for Microsoft Teams, their userbase more than doubled in the first 6 weeks of lockdown.
Tools including Slack, Asana and Trello made keeping on top of tasks through chat and project management that bit easier.
Social Technology
Who remembers Houseparty? The group video chat platform topped the App Store in 17 countries and was downloaded 2 million+ times in mid-March.
Pub quiz apps and virtual quiz nights hosted online kept people social from a distance, while Netflix Party allowed users to simultaneously (and remotely) stream a movie or series together. It felt like you were going to the movies or having a movie night at home with friends.
Speaking of Netflix, streaming services were adopted by an estimated 12 million UK adults. Launching on day one of lockdown, Disney+ attracted 16% of online adults by early July. It surpassed NOW TV (10%) to become the third most popular subscription streaming service behind Amazon Prime (39%) and Netflix (45%).
Fitness & Mental Health Technology
With all of us spending more time indoors, people started adopting technology as part of their wellness and self-care routines.
Downloads of fitness apps increased by 46% in early 2020, with myfitnesspal and Strava two of the most popular. For those taking care of their mental health, Calm and Headspace were the two most downloaded apps globally.
Education Technology
In schools around the world, technology was quickly utilised and adapted so teachers could communicate with entire classrooms virtually. Again, Zoom and Teams kept everyone connected along with tools such as Google Classroom and Canva.
Among the furloughed community and those with more time on their hands, there was a surge in online learning. LinkedIn Learning, Udemy and Google Garage were among the most used platforms by people looking to upskill and learn new things.
Ecommerce Technology
As local shops closed, and shoppers were forced online to satisfy their retail needs, Europe saw a 35% rise in ecommerce app installs during the peak of the coronavirus outbreak and Amazon was one of the big winners here.
Food delivery apps such as Deliveroo, Just Eat and Uber Eats enjoyed an increase in popularity, whilst demand for supermarket delivery services and food boxes such as HelloFresh and Gousto also increased as people steered clear of the supermarkets.
Any other technology that helped us through lockdown? What tech are you relying on this time around?
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