Why is Minimal Internet Usage Important for Guest Digital Compendiums?
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6min read
When it comes to doing anything online from watching videos, to streaming music, to viewing webpages like this, there are always two main factors that determine how quickly it downloads to your device.
Download Speed
This is largely dependent on the type of internet connection you have which is any one of:
- Wi-Fi,
- Ethernet (cable), or
- Cellular/Mobile Data.
Wi-Fi connections in most cases have a slower speed than a cable-based connection, due to factors such as:
- Number of Devices in Close Proximity of Each Other,
- Distance Between Wi-Fi Router and Device Used and
- Number of Walls between the router and each device.
4G cellular connections available through networks like AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Telstra, Optus, Vodafone etc. has a much faster connection, unless you are in very crowded environments, such as a football stadium. These scenarios will be even less of an issue after 5G internet gets mass adoption, which every major phone network in the world has already begun rolling out.
Your internet speed is defined as megabits per second or Mbps for short. The higher this number is, the faster the internet is. To put it simply, a 50Mbps connection is 2 times faster than a 25Mbps.
Here are the quick statistics for maximum theoretical speed and real-world speed via each connection type, that your guests are to likely use during their stay.
| Connection Type | Wi-Fi (802.11ac) | 4G LTE Cellular | 5G Cellular |
| Maximum Theoretical | 1,300Mbps | 150Mbps | 4,200Mbps (mmWave 5G) |
| Real-World Speeds | Up to 200Mbps | 20Mbps | 100-600Mbps on Telstra 5G in Sydney, Australia. |
These real-world speeds are dependent on having no obstructions or heavy traffic in your area. For Wi-Fi real world speeds, it also depends on your internet service provider's (ISP) speed that you are paying for.
Download Size
The size of what you are downloading is largely dependent on the type of files you are downloading and how detailed they are.
For example, the download size of a 2-megapixel image is nothing compared to a 1080p video, as the image is a still shot, whereas videos have anywhere from 24 to 60 frames per second (FPS), which acts as images per second.
For our Hinfo Guest Digital Compendium, we have some control on the amount of download that is required from your guests end.
We are always striving to make our service more efficient, which makes everything download faster on your guests own devices, regardless of the type of internet connection they are using.
Since launch, we have been aiming to reduce the download required by guests for the following scenarios, without compromising the guest experience:
- The app download from the Apple App Store and Google Play,
- The app updates from the Apple App Store and Google Play,
- Download required for text and images etc. after guests select your property and
- Download required after entering your property on our Hinfo service.
App Downloads Comparison
Here is a comparison for how our little download our Hinfo app uses, compared to other popular apps the majority of people use regularly.
Only the app downloads are listed and does not include any internet data usage when using them.
Apple does not list the download size on the App Store, but rather the amount of storage it takes up on people's devices.
| App | iPhone and iPad (Install Size) | Android (Download Size) |
| Hinfo | 18.2MB (Up to 9.3MB to download) | 5.19MB |
| 274.2MB | 63.10MB | |
| 166.5MB | 35.32MB | |
| 189MB | 37.36MB | |
| YouTube | 243.9MB | 36.5MB |
| TikTok | 257.6MB | 61.43MB |
| Facebook Messenger | 76.7MB | 46.63MB |
| 116.2MB | 31.88MB | |
| Snapchat | 229.1MB | 68.24MB |
| Zoom Cloud Meetings | 99.2MB | 46.47MB |
| Netflix | 100.6MB | 18.62MB |
| Disney+ | 118.5MB | 17.47MB |
| Spotify | 153.6MB | 27.14MB |
| Uber | 347.2MB | 64.33MB |
| Uber Eats | 283.9MB | 53.10MB |
| DoorDash | 235MB | 33.00MB |
| eBay | 121.7MB | 43.99MB |
| 246.2MB | 71.47MB | |
| MyFitnessPal | 106.8MB | 37.4MB |
| Commbank (Australian Bank) | 157.5MB | 57.29MB |
| Google Maps | 216.7MB | 27.34MB |
| My Telstra (Australian Phone Network) | 175.9MB | 54.94MB |
| Service Victoria (VIC Australia Contact Tracing) | 46.9MB | 21.14MB |
All figures are as of mid December 2021.
The iPhone install sizes are based on an iPhone X running iOS 15.2. Newer models of iPhone will have smaller app downloads, due to only the latest versions of iOS being supported on that device.
The Android download sizes are based on a Pixel 4a running Android 12.0. For the majority of Android devices out there, there is very little difference in download between each type of device.
Any app updates provided on Apple devices have to be downloaded in full (at the time of writing), but Android only downloads the changes made, since the version you have currently installed.
We encourage properties to recommend their guests to keep the Hinfo app on their devices, since it takes up so little space. This will allow guests to be ready for the next property they stay at, to only need to look up the property they are staying at, without needing to go through the extra steps redownloading the app.
This process is done the same way as for example, keeping the Uber app on their smartphone for when they next need a ride.
For guests using the app, after download Hinfo typically requires anywhere between 1-30MB to download your property's details offline. During any guests stay, depending on the duration, the data they could use depending on the amount of data for viewing webpages and videos in the app.
App Download Times
As explained at the top of the blog post, one of the big factors of how long it takes to download content from the internet, is how fast the download speed is.
When you combine the download speed and download size together, it will help you get a more thorough idea as to how long it would take to download.
If we take the app downloads from earlier, we can get a more thorough idea how long it will take to download. The basis of all figures below is on a 10Mbps download speed that does not vary during the process.
| App | iPhone and iPad (Install Size) | Android (Download Size) |
| Hinfo | 7.4 seconds (based on our download size) |
4 seconds |
| 3mins 39 seconds | 50 seconds | |
| 2min 13 seconds | 28 seconds | |
| 2mins 31 seconds | 30 seconds | |
| YouTube | 3mins 15 seconds | 29 seconds |
| TikTok | 3mins 26 seconds | 49 seconds |
| Facebook Messenger | 61 seconds | 37 seconds |
| 1min 33 seconds | 26 seconds | |
| Snapchat | 3mins 3 seconds | 55 seconds |
| Zoom Cloud Meetings | 1min 19 seconds | 37 seconds |
| Netflix | 1min 20 seconds | 15 seconds |
| Disney+ | 1min 35 seconds | 14 seconds |
| Spotify | 2mins 3 seconds | 22 seconds |
| Uber | 4mins 38 seconds | 43 seconds |
| Uber Eats | 3mins 47 seconds | 42 seconds |
| DoorDash | 3min 8 seconds | 26 seconds |
| eBay | 1mins 37 seconds | 35 seconds |
| 3mins 17 seconds | 57 seconds | |
| MyFitnessPal | 1min 25 seconds | 30 seconds |
| Commbank (Australian Bank) | 2mins 6 seconds | 46 seconds |
| Google Maps | 2mins 53 seconds | 22 seconds |
| My Telstra (Australian Phone Network) | 2mins 21 seconds | 44 seconds |
| Service Victoria (VIC Australia Contact Tracing) | 38 seconds | 17 seconds |
All calculations are completed here. https://downloadtimecalculator.com
Please note the app download sizes are smaller than the install sizes listed in the original table, but all calculations are treated as though that's the app download size for consistency reasons, since the iPhone app download sizes are not public listed on the App Store.
The Digital and Contactless Step
We recognize that the difference between our solution and others on the market, is that there is an additional step on the guest's part, before accessing the details.
This step is necessary, when providing a fully contactless solution to your guests and you would want this process, to be as quick as possible.
The longest components of this process relate to the time to download our app or visit Hinfo.com and then the time to download the property details.
By minimizing the amount of download required for each of these steps, will make this process faster for all guests, regardless of the internet speeds available to them at the premises.
To see how fast the internet speed is for you, in your area, via any type of internet connection, we recommend using the Speedtest website or the Speedtest app.
In this increasingly digital world, every piece of software, document and multimedia file should always be striving to be as efficient as possible. This will make the internet faster for everyone, regardless of the type of connection they have, while also reducing the amount of traffic on the network leading to a more reliable network.
We are doing our part with the Hinfo service, so you can have the peace of mind that the extra step on the guest's part, to receive all of the benefits of our service, is as minimal as possible.
To get started with our easily accessible Hinfo Guest Digital Compendium, please send us an enquiry via the form below.
