Top 7 Mobile App Development Trends a Techie Shouldn’t Miss

Smartphones have become an essential part of an individual’s daily life. For every task and activity, we have a quick solution in the palm of our hand with the help of mobile apps. The boom in the demand of smartphones has to lead to a surge in the number of mobile apps. The app development sector is committed to enhancing the experience of their users by maintaining the standards of highly advanced technologies.

The mobile is not just a device for calls and messaging anymore; it has become a mainstream tool, where businesses from all industries are using their best technology to boost their revenues by developing a highly functional app to meet consumer demand. Therefore, apps are in high demand which has to lead to the rise in user expectations.

Here is a list of current mobile app development trends which should be kept in mind while designing an app.

Mobile App Development Trends to Enhance the Users' Experience

#1. Augmented Reality

Augmented reality is the technology used in mobile apps, which combines virtual reality with the real world. It is in the form of live video imagery which is digitally enhanced with computer generated graphics. AR has become a key form of technology in mobile phones. Many growing businesses are considering the implementation of AR.

AR apps are constantly evolving. A lot of different things work together to generate an AR app. Therefore, the cost to develop these apps is higher in comparison to others.

The most famous example of augmented reality in an app is Pokemon Go. Though AR is deemed to be the future of mobile technology, it is still in its experimental phase.

#2. Internet of Things and Wearable Devices

A lot of mobile apps are leveraging on IoT these days. Apps, smart watches, belts and more are being upgraded to utilize IoT.

The virtual and real world is merging to the point where objects from different worlds can interact with each other. For example, smart watches and mobile apps.

A wearable device is a part of the Internet of Things. With the help of Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connectivity, devices can interact and transfer data between them.

Health and fitness-oriented wearable devices offer biometric measurements like perspiration levels, heart rate and oxygen concentration in the bloodstream. Technological advancements in apps can show the alcohol level or other similar data that can be measured via a wearable device in the future. Tracking body temperature might provide an early indication of a cold or the flu, which is made possible with the help of IoT and wearable devices.

#3. M-Commerce

The number of smartphone users is rising in this digital era, and businesses are taking advantage of this by shifting to M-Commerce Apps.

Mobile commerce took off in 2015, thanks to converging advances in retail mobile apps, smartphone capabilities, personalization technologies and mobile payment solutions.

Instead of using debit or credit cards, customers these days prefer to make their purchase through their e-wallets. M-Commerce companies like Paytm have attained enormous success during demonetization in India, when everyone from street vendors to citizens shifted from cash to Paytm wallet to pay for or purchase any item.

#4. Machine Learning Apps

Machine learning is a branch of Artificial Intelligence which has the biggest spotlight in business. Progressive companies are paying a lot of attention on machine learning apps and AI since it’s inevitable that industries like healthcare, finance, banking, retail will be relying on machine learning apps in the future.

Machine learning is a multidisciplinary field and can find its implementation at the intersection of various sectors like technology, science, and business.

These apps will help in predicting outcomes, big data analysis and improving customer service without any human intervention.

#5. Security Feature

Mobile apps available through Apple Store or Google Play have become a dominant way to distribute qualitative value to users around the world. Organisations have upgraded their mobile apps to improve user productivity and align with their mobile lifestyle. However, experts are raising questions like – are these apps secured and protected from hackers?

As per the reports of Gartner, 75% of mobile apps fail to pass the security test. This failure can lead to the theft of confidential and sensitive data. In order to combat this, web companies like Google are making automatic security updates for their apps and other granular app permissions model to secure apps and build trust between users and apps.

#6. Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)

AMP is a Google-backed project intended to open standard for any publisher to load pages quickly on mobile devices.

With the help of AMP, news, articles, top stories, highlights and more – according to the interest of the users – will load instantly on one page. You don't need to type and search for genres you’re interested in on Google; it will automatically update you through its analysis.

AMP personalises the topics every individual is interested in, and reflects a similar experience on apps, helping them attract more traffic and generate more leads.

#7. Big Data Applications

Customer expectations in the current scenario are an all-time high, and competition is always increasing. The digital era has empowered business to gather all the information of their customer's journey. This information includes their mobile app usage, digital clicks, interactions on social media and more. This data gives businesses a competitive advantage in analysing where the improvements are needed to fill the potential gaps in the market. Therefore, big data analytics has become one of the most valuable tools across the organisations.

Businesses are investing more in big data start-ups to get information of their users. The focus of the companies will be on refining the core big data capabilities by improving the functionality of big data apps.