This may not be what HN readers want to hear, but users, not developers, have the primary influence over what the market is.
is the market still apps? I don't work on mobile, so I guess I wouldn't know, but my feeling was that people install way fewer apps than they used to
As a mobile developer, I can confirm this. They mostly just install all their social networks and a couple of games, but there's still demand from businesses who want their own apps.
But the market conditions are what's holding us in place.