The use of technology is increasing every day, we all depend on technology as we use various applications to satisfy specific needs in our lives. Now-a-days, technology is being implemented in almost every part of our personal and business lives and they impact our lives in different ways. As the world is really dynamic and challenging, technology must be embraced and learned in order to increase our efficiency in our day-to-day lives. Applications today has proved to be a friend and servant to fulfil our daily requirements. The world is totally mobile now. Mobile applications are now-a-days very popular with business, customers, education and in almost every sections of our lives as it gives us immense benefits.

The powerful applications of today’s era can do really amazing things like from giving weather information, social media connections , online ticketing, calculating, GPS location system to visualize routes on a map, entertainment and many more. Mobile apps are here and are becoming increasingly crucial element in the total marketing plan for businesses as customers are looking for convenience, ease and instant results while on the move in their busy lives.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY:

1. To determine the relationship between the age of the respondent and number of mobile applications used.

2. To determine the relationship between the annual income of the respondent and downloads of the applications (Free or paid).

3. To know the popular usage of the services using mobile applications.

4. To determine the factor that is considered before choosing mobile applications for your required service.

5. To what extent, mobile applications have made our life easier.

6. To determine the sources of information related to mobile applications.

7. To know the payment mode for the services using mobile applications.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY:

Design of the study:

A structured questionnaire was administered for the purpose of research on 150 respondents. It was divided into three sections:

Section A:

It dealt with demographical profile of the respondent having a nominal scale of measurement and using 4 categorical variables such as Gender, Age, Individual Annual Income and Occupation.

Section B:

It included some dichotomous questions in order to investigate that how mobile applications have made their life easy and to see their level of satisfaction.

Section C:

This section was prepared to understand what all services respondents use through mobile applications and what factors affect their usage. It also demanded some suggestions from the respondents through two open ended questions.

Data Collection:

Primary Data:

It was collected from structured questionnaire of 150 respondents.

Secondary Data:

Extensive data was collected from various books, published nationals and international journals, various websites, etc.

Statistical Tools:

For the findings of our study, non-parametric test i.e. Chi-Square test of Independence was applied using SPSS Software version 23.

LITERATURE REVIEW:

Sharples Beale, (2003); Joiner et al., (2006); Fallahkhair, (2007): Authors conducted several researches on ubiquitous mobility and found that it helps students to facilitate learning activity and help them to connect with their peers in the outside world and this makes mobile learning and use of mobile applications more effective.

Laudon and Traver, (2013): Authors in their research observed that cost efficiency and scalability are the two most important benefits of mobile services that drive development in the mobile technology and app development area.

Scupola, 2008(b); Johansson and Andersson (2013); Nikou and Mezei, (2013): These authors observed a huge shift in mobile technology paradigm. Mobile services’ innovation, development and maintenance have seen a major shift as now these services can be made available anytime and anywhere and therefore increases the effectiveness of mobile technology.

Johansson and Andersson (2013): Authors in their research stressed that mobile services must be made accessible regardless of their network or terminal. They listed four criteria for effectiveness of mobile e-services which are more important than network availability and they are full service mobility, increased functionality, cross- platform functionality and support for offline usage of mobile e-services.

Allison E. Doub, Aron Levin, Charles Edward Heath and Kristie LeVangie (2015): They conducted a research study on 615 totals of users and non-users of food related technology and mobile applications and described differences in their food related applications used. They found that younger adults were more likely to be engaged with mobile food technology than the older adults.

HOW MOBILE APPLICATIONS MADE OUR LIVES EASIER?

Mobile applications have affected so many different areas of our lives and have made them so easy .As mobile applications continues to become smarter and more convenient, mobile phones will continue to make a huge impact on people’s lives around the globe. From a fashion savvy adolescence to the super busy mom, mobile applications can make a lot of difference when confused and frustrated. Some of the advantages of mobile applications are:

· Convenience

· Time saving

· Operation efficiency and Effectiveness

· Greater personalization

· Provides new branding experience

· Allowed communication to reach a whole new level

· Much faster access to important information

· Easier to design.

· Makes financial and business tasks mobile friendly

· Reduces the hassles of storage of physical documents

· Entertainment and leisure made easy.

USE OF APPLICATIONS IN DIFFERENT SPHERES OF LIFE:

A) Online Cab Aggregator Services:

Companies such as Ola, Uber, Taxi For Sure and Meru are experiencing a great demand in India for their online cab aggregator services. An inclination of consumer habits towards convenience and on demand services, and, most importantly low prices have fuelled the boom. Ola and Uber have grown exponentially over the past years by offering cab rides at prices lower than the fares charged by auto rickshaws, they also provide their prime customers with various discounts and coupons which lowers the price further and satisfies the need of the consumers.

B) E-Payments services:

In this age of information technology, every business is getting online and one of the ways in creating a more convenient, faster and increased revenue business eco-system is to have an online payment. By offering consumers to pay online, you are helping to facilitate their needs and desires and provide them with speed and convenience. There is no need to produce paper invoices and it’s a step towards paperless economy. Many apps like Paytm, PhonePe, Mobikwik, Free charge, Bhim, PayU, Google Wallet App, Jio Money and many more paly a very important role in our day-to-day lives.

C) Shopping services:

We have changed the way we go shopping. In just a decade, online shopping has gone from being virtually non-existence to become worth billions of pounds each year. Online shopping offers immense choice. Books, Cds, electronics, clothes, we go shopping online for them all, without ever leaving our living rooms. We are already familiar with the amazing online market place but many mobile applications like Myntra, Jabong, Snapdeal, Flipkart, Shop clues, Amazon, Stalk buy love, Home shop18 etc. make shopping a cake walk. These applications help us in browsing through the extensive selection, communicating with shop owner and even tracking your order, all with these handy applications.

D) Restaurant search and food delivery services:

There is a great opportunity for restaurant and food businesses online as it will bring convenience and transparency for consumers and will give restaurants a cheaper and more targeted advertising medium. The food ordering and delivery market is India is huge-bigger than any other country, therefore the restaurant market is expanding and the delivery market is growing even faster. For these purposes, many apps like Zomato, Food Panda, Just Eat, Swiggyetc. comes to our rescue. Many companies like Dominos, Pizza Hut, KFC, McDonald’s, Subway etc. Also came out with their respective apps to give better access of their services to customers while on the go.

E) Social Media and Networking Services:

Popular social platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Whats App, Hike, You Tube, Snapchat, Instagram, Linked In and many more are today not only used for social media interacting but also have become marketing giants, offering businesses valuable data about their customer and a free way to reach them. We can also use these apps to share our content faster and in the most easiest way. The kind of social media dialogue between brands and customers is something traditional advertising cannot achieve.

F) Online fitness and nutrition services:

Today, technology plays a vital role in our lives; its everywhere we turn and involved in everything we do, even if it is as simple as using your mobile phones. It is really difficult to imagine lives without all our mod-con gadgets and several fitness applications for instance, Healthify ME, FITICKET, First Run, Calorie Tracker, Google Fit, 8Fit, Daily Yoga, Fooducate, etc. helps to keep us fit and healthy for longer. There are different apps catering to the needs of an individual, ranging from nutritional apps to exercises workouts and calorie counters. These apps can track our daily workout activities and suggests improvement and new exercise routes to take.

G) Entertainment Services:

Media and entertainment is such a crucial part of our lives that it becomes impossible to even live without it. Different entertainment apps like Hotstar, Book My Show, JioTv, Jio Cinema, Amazon Prime videos, Saavan, Hungama, Wynk Music , etc. enables people to access games , movies, TV series , Music , matches and content, while on the go. There is no longer any need to rush back home and get a glimpse of your favourite TV shows. Introduction of unique mobile applications has created new avenues of development for the entertainment and media industry. Entertainment mobile apps are there to access information anytime, anywhere.

H) Other services:

Smart phones and mobile applications have touched so many aspects of our lives and made our tasks easier .Mobile technology will continue to make a huge impact on lives across the world as now mobile applications are there for each and every service. Apart from the above services, mobile applications are also present in the below mentioned services. They are as follows:

· Online Travel and hotel booking services- Make My Trip, GoIbibo, Cleartrip, IRCTC, Oyo Rooms, Yatra, Trivago, Expedia, Red Bus,etc.

· House Essentials (Grocery) Industry-Grofers, BigBasket, PepperTap, Amazon Now, Humara Shop, Zop Now, Godrej Nature’s Basket, Aaram Shop, etc.

· Salon Services-UrbanClap, MyGlamm, Get Look Beauty, At Home Diva, Home Salon Service, Big Stylist, Vanity Cube, avante, etc.

· Online dating and matrimonial apps- Tinder, Badoo, Woo, Truly Madly, eHarmony, Happn, Shaadi.com, Bharat Matrimony.com, Zindagi Matrimony.com, Way To Nikah, Jeevansathi.com, etc.

FINDINGS AND INTERPRETATION:

We conducted a study on 150 respondents to understand how mobile applications are a boon to Human. Findings of the study are as follows:-

(A) In order to understand the relationship between Age of the respondent and the number of mobile application they use, we applied an independent test i.e. Chi-Square statistic.

The null hypothesis for this is:

H₀: Age of the respondent and the number of mobile applications they use are independent of each other.

While applying the test, the null hypothesis is that the two attributes i.e. age of the respondent and the number of mobile application they use are independent of each other.

As per Table A2, we observed that the calculated value of test statistic using Pearson Chi-Square is 25.460.Because the test statistic is based on a 4x4 contingency table, the degrees of freedom (df) for this is 9.The corresponding p value of the test statistic is p= 0.003 which is less than specified level of significance (α=0.05), therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected i.e. we conclude that there is an association between age of the respondent and the number of mobile applications.

(B) In order to understand the relationship between Annual Income of the respondent and downloads of free or paid mobile applications, we applied an independent test i.e. Chi-Square statistic.

The null hypothesis for this is:

H₀: Annual Income of the respondent and the downloads of free or paid mobile applications are independent of each other.

(Table A1) Cross Tabulation
			Number of Mobile Applications				Total
			Less than 5	5-10	11-20	More than 20	Total
AGE	15-24	Count	9	18	28	15	70
		Expected Count	18.7	17.7	20.1	13.5	70.0
		Residual	-9.7	.3	7.9	1.5
	25-34	Count	8	9	7	8	32
		Expected Count	8.5	8.1	9.2	6.2	32.0
		Residual	-.5	.9	-2.2	1.8
	35-44	Count	15	6	6	1	28
		Expected Count	7.5	7.1	8.0	5.4	28.0
		Residual	7.5	-1.1	-2.0	-4.4
	45 and above	Count	8	5	2	5	20
		Expected Count	5.3	5.1	5.7	3.9	20.0
		Residual	2.7	-.1	-3.7	1.1
Total		Count	40	38	43	29	150
Total		Expected Count	40.0	38.0	43.0	29.0	150.0

(Table A2) Chi-Square Tests
	Value	df	Asymptotic Significance (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square	25.460^a	9	.003
Likelihood Ratio	27.088	9	.001
Linear-by-Linear Association	5.016	1	.025
N of Valid Cases	150
a. 1 cells (6.3%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 3.87.

(Table B1) Cross Tabulation
			Annual income				Total
			Less than 5 lakhs	5 lakhs - 7.5 lakhs	7.5 lakhs - 10 lakhs	More than 10 lakhs	Total
Downloads of the applications	Yes - Free and paid	Count	14	3	17	7	41
		Expected Count	22.7	6.3	6.8	5.2	41.0
		Residual	-8.7	-3.3	10.2	1.8
	Yes- Always free	Count	69	20	8	12	109
		Expected Count	60.3	16.7	18.2	13.8	109.0
		Residual	8.7	3.3	-10.2	-1.8
Total		Count	83	23	25	19	150
Total		Expected Count	83.0	23.0	25.0	19.0	150.0

(Table B2) Chi-Square Tests
	Value	df	Asymptotic Significance (2-sided)
Pearson Chi-Square	28.622^a	3	.000
Likelihood Ratio	26.473	3	.000
Linear-by-Linear Association	.135	1	.713
N of Valid Cases	150
a. 0 cells (0.0%) have expected count less than 5. The minimum expected count is 5.19.

(D) The Figure 2 shows the factors that respondents considers while choosing a mobile application for a required service and we found that Facility provided by the app and the reviews of the app forms the most important factors of their consideration.

(E) 96% of the respondents said that mobile applications is a boon to them and made their life easy and 82% of the respondents are found to be satisfied by the usage of mobile applications to meet their daily needs.

(F) Respondents found to collect information related to these mobile applications mainly from the Internet (78%), Word of mouth (66%), Advertisements (70%), and other sources like catalogue, references, celebrity endorsements and promotional offers.

(G) Respondents use Credit/Debit Cards( 74%) most of the time to pay for the services using mobile applications and the other payment modes include E-Wallets(54%), Cash(46%)and Internet Banking (21%).

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS:

Smart phones have become a part and parcel of our lives, and that is something we cannot fail to accept. In order to unlock your phone’s full potential, we need to download some awesome applications that would make our life super easy.

The right mobile applications are indispensable for work and life of an individual.

As our research shows that, nowadays, there is an application for each and everything right under our nose. Whether it’s online shopping, checking weather forecast, restaurant search or salon services, there’s an app for it. With such wide availability of applications around, there seems hardly any need to use web browsers. Apps are better to use, tailored to mobile phones, easier to find-straight on our screen’s app list and our much faster to use.

So no wonder why people around the globe spend more time with their mobile than with their desktops. We found that respondents mostly like to use those apps that are free of costs and social media and networking applications are on the top of their priority list. Every age group from an adolescence to an aged person, everybody has some downloaded apps in their phones to fulfill their daily needs smoothly. Our study concluded that mobile applications are a boon to human, they are satisfied most of the time by the usage of mobile applications to meet their day to day needs.

In our short survey we asked respondents an open ended question about the apps that they would like to have and it does not exist yet and we got some interesting answers such as,

· An offline Assistant with Multilingual platform.

· An application that switches the phone profile automatically sensing the surroundings.

· An application that collectively presents details of colleges and universities in India.

· An application for online attendance of lectures.

· An application in which you can fill a goal or aim, and regularly monitor your progress.

Even Government of India in their initiative of “Digital India” has developed and introduced many applications that would be really beneficial for the citizens of India and will save their time for instance, BHIM app, Swachh Bharat Mission app, DigiLocker, etc.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST:

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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