The world of app development is undergoing a fascinating transformation, and it's time to explore the exciting rise of 'micro' apps. Imagine a future where non-developers, like you and me, can create apps tailored to our unique needs, without having to purchase them from the market. It's an intriguing concept, isn't it?
Meet Rebecca Yu, a pioneer in this new era. In just seven days, she developed a dining app to solve a common problem: decision fatigue when choosing a restaurant with friends. With the help of AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT, she built an app that recommends restaurants based on shared interests.
"When I heard about people without tech backgrounds building their own apps, I knew I had to try it," Yu shared with TechCrunch. And so, Where2Eat was born, a web app designed to simplify the dining experience for her and her friends.
Yu is part of a growing community empowered by AI advancements. Most are creating web applications, but an increasing number are also developing mobile apps for personal use. These 'micro' apps, sometimes called personal or fleeting apps, are designed for a specific purpose and a limited audience, often just the creator and a few select individuals.
For instance, Jordi Amat, a founder, created a web gaming app for his family to enjoy during the holidays. Once the vacation was over, the app was shut down. Similarly, Shamillah Bankiya, a partner at Dawn Capital, is building a podcast translation web app for her personal use, and Darrell Etherington, a former TechCrunch writer, is doing the same.
"It's fascinating to see how many people are using tools like Claude Code, Replit, Bolt, and Lovable to build apps for specific needs," Etherington remarked.
Even professional developers are joining the trend. James Waugh, a software engineer, created a web app planning tool to enhance his cooking hobby.
The rise of micro apps is a result of the early stages of AI-powered app development. Tools like Claude Code and Lovable make it possible for anyone to create functional apps without extensive coding knowledge. As Legand L. Burge III, a computer science professor at Howard University, puts it, these apps are "extremely context-specific, addressing niche needs, and then disappearing when the need is no longer present."
"It's like trends on social media," Burge III explains, "they appear and fade away. But now, it's software itself."
While web apps are relatively easy to create, mobile micro apps present a different challenge. The standard way to load an app on an iPhone is through the App Store, which requires a paid Apple Developer account. However, startups like Anything and VibeCode are emerging to simplify the process, making it easier for people to build mobile apps.
Christina Melas-Kyriazi, a partner at Bain Capital Ventures, compares this era to the rise of social media and Shopify, where content creation and online stores became accessible to all.
Despite the excitement, micro apps come with their own set of challenges. Building an app can still be tedious, and personal apps may have bugs or security flaws, limiting their wide distribution.
However, as AI and model reasoning advance, the potential for personal app building is immense. Software engineer Waugh developed an app for a friend with heart palpitations, allowing her to easily record and share her heart issues with her doctor.
"It's a great example of a personal software that helps track something important," Waugh said.
Nick Simpson, another founder, built an app to automatically pay parking tickets, a common issue in San Francisco. His app is currently in beta on TestFlight, but it's already gaining popularity among his friends.
Legand L. Burge III believes these apps open "exhilarating opportunities" for businesses and creators to offer "hyper-personalized situational experiences." Etherington adds that people may soon stop subscribing to apps with monthly fees and instead build their own personal apps.
Melas-Kyriazi predicts the use of personal, fleeting apps will fill the gap between spreadsheets like Google Sheets and full-fledged products.
Hollie Krause, a media strategist, took matters into her own hands when she didn't like the apps her doctor recommended. She built a web app to track her allergies, finishing it in the time it took her husband to go to dinner and back.
"I spun it up, hosted it on Tiiny.host, and popped it on our cellphones," Krause said. She believes vibe coding will bring innovation and problem-solving to communities that might not otherwise have access to such solutions.
"I truly think vibe coding means I can help people," she added.
The rise of micro apps is a game-changer, empowering individuals to create personalized solutions for their unique needs. It's an exciting development, and we can't wait to see what the future holds for app development.
