We’ve spent the last 15 years treating apps like permanent fixtures. Download. Update. Forget your password. Update again. And somewhere along the way, our phones became cluttered museums of half-used utilities we might need “someday.”
What if most software is about to become as casual—and disposable—as a sticky note?
It made me think that the App Store could become an empty store one day. Ephemeral apps ( or throwaway apps, one prompters, … ) could be: tiny, single-purpose bits of software created on demand, used for a moment, and then maybe even thrown away because it has served its purpose.
So What happens to an app marketplace when anyone can create an app from a prompt in 30 seconds?
Most apps people download get used once (or never) and then just sit there.
Our behavior hints at something:
We don’t want more apps.
We want outcomes.
And we want them now.
So what could a throwaway app be then?
Single-purpose (solves one problem)
Short-lived (minutes, hours, or as long as the incumbents have use for it)
Cheap to create (often automatically)
Low commitment (often not even an install but in-browser, no account, no updates)
Contextual (built for you, right now)
Can you give me a few clear examples that proves this point?
“Make me a one-time wedding seating planner for 120 guests”
“Spin up a quick budget tracker for this trip and share it with my partner”
“I need a form for collecting RSVPs for this event only”
“Give me a little dashboard to compare three suppliers until I choose one”
“Build me a secret santa app to share with my family”
“Make me a quick comparison of all sushi restaurants in an area within 10km’
Will software be unbundled into moments then?
Not all of course. Traditional apps will coexist (think banking, mobility, government, … ) but for many businesses or appbuilders it could turn revenue models upside down where revenue follows moments.
We could get:
micro-payments for “an outcome”
usage-based billing for generated tools
…
You’ll stream many apps, not download, buy them or subscribe to them. Software becomes a verb. You’ll ask yourself ‘can I app a solution for that?’
Forms, dashboards, mini-workflows, decision aids—spinning up around us when needed, disappearing when done. The future would not be “one app for every job”,
It could be one prompt for many moment.