What spikes up, falls back down — 4 insights on what’s Pokémon Go’s shelf life could mean for health apps

Many in the medical community were praising Pokémon Go for getting Americans off the couch and moving. But the craze may be short-lived, which may also shed light into the future of health apps, according to Healthcare IT News.

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Here are four insights:

1. In mid-July, nearly 45 million people were using the app. That number is falling, with the app currently engaging 30 million users.

2. Boston-based Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health researchers applauded the app after its July launch, saying the app had significant potential for both preventing and treating chronic conditions through promoting physical activity.

3. However, Pokémon Go’s decrease in users falls in line with other health apps’ popularity. For instance, a 2015 IMS Health study of mHelath tools found of the 26,684 apps in the Google Play for Android and Apple iTunes stores, users have downloaded 40 percent of the apps less than 5,000 times. The report cites the surplus of app options for the decrease.

4. Pokémon Go still has 30 million users, but it is unsure at this point whether the app will suffer a similar fate to countless other apps. The app’s sudden popularity and decline does raise valid questions as to whether apps and devices are effective in engaging patients, according to Healthcare IT News.

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