In 2016 Google announced about Instant App feature in the I/O event and since then people are waiting for that. And the reason for that was the idea behind the instant app was very appealing. With the instant app, it was possible to find the app in your search result and just after tapping on a button you can start using it instantly, much like you use a web page. They are real apps with components installed in your system and not like existing apps that live in the cloud. The advantage for app developers is obvious. This would allow them to put their native app in front of millions of people. They won’t have to leave their existing interface and go to Playstore to download the app. So if you want to shop instantly, you can do it. This is a revolutionary concept in itself. The concept was in the testing phase while people were just speculating about it. Now we are very close to see the reality.
Here is how you can do it:
- Open your settings and find Google Settings.
- Find the Instant Apps setting and tap the switch to enable it.
- Read the terms and agree.
In case you’re looking for something you might see a search result for an Instant App version. On opening, you’ll be able to install a tiny part of the app and jump right in. Shopping sites and news websites will benefit from this the most. This will allow businesses to leverage its power as the process of installing the app will become much more difficult. The idea is pretty cool, and we’re excited to see how companies use it to lure us to them. As of now, there’s only one application that supports Instant Apps. So, this feature is not so much useful for now. But, it’s a great one to have around.
This is, however, not clear which specific users will be able to access Instant Apps. Chances are that it will be installed on two Google Pixels running Android 7.1.2 and a Nexus 6P running 7.1.1. Users of these phones would be able to check if their phones would have access to Instant Apps in the settings menu by tapping on Google under the Personal category.
Google had previously announced that the first instant app would be a part of the small Instant Apps test and it would be launched on BuzzFeed, Wish, Periscope, and Viki. It seems that the majority of people online who vouched for this test are activating the Wish app. Keeping this in mind Google has selected a few apps. We will likely see the company expand this test to more phones and apps in the coming weeks and months.