The clamour of modern urban life – in both the physical and digital worlds – can sometimes be overwhelming. In the first of a two-part report, Canvas8 looks at how complexion reduction is seeing apps redesigned with bold headers, simple icons and reduced colour for a unified mobile experience.

Shanghai has signed a historic agreement with media conglomerate Tencent, to turn the Chinese megapolis into a tech-enabled smart city. But within the futuristic plans is a familiar presence; the entire operation will run on China’s most popular social network, WeChat.

The Apple App Store houses over one million apps. Despite once trying to do everything, apps are now being split into single purpose platforms. But how do people actually use them? And which is more useful – the Swiss Army knife approach or a tailored, single purpose app?

The time people spend on smartphone apps is continuing to grow, with Americans devoting almost 70 hours on them in June 2015 alone. But with people’s attention concentrated on just three of the top App Store apps for 80% of this time, is marketing in the others worth it?