The 2020 year has shown a wave of darkness in the world of economy. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, many organizations have changed the way they used to function. They have shifted their paradigm to online where they could easily maintain their sustainability and connect with their consumers.
And the app industry has been playing an important role in this pandemic in many different ways. With infection being a social concern as well as a health one, healthcare app development has become a top priority for many large developer firms, in order to provide key services to a wide number of people in need during this trying time. In order for companies to remain relevant, the app industry is continuously evolving and stays up to date with the latest technological trends. Application development is the process of creating a program that automates the business process and produces an effective outcome.
Additionally, mobile app development is one of the hottest trends among all the industries irrespective of its size and verticals. Every organization is rushing towards this trend to capitalize on it.
However, it’s not that easy to stay ahead of the competitors and up to date while there are plenty of new technology trends coming up every day. But everyone wants to take their business to the next level.
Every app-building process follows the same steps:
- Requirements gathering
- Prototype designing
- Implementation
- Integration
- App testing
App development is primarily done for running the applications on mobile devices and the most common software being Android and iOS.
If you are planning to develop an app, there are certain parameters that you have to consider such as screen size, software version, hardware specifications, and configuration, due to the tough competition between various software.
Let’s take an example, if your application is working flawlessly on every device and has a good user experience, then the consumer is more likely to use the app instead of a laggy and unresponsive app. You will find numerous advantages of having a mobile app for your business.
What is The Need for App development?
If you own any type of business then application development is the best solution to reach out to your customers. This means you can directly interact with your customers without any physical meeting which results in enhanced productivity.
Here are several factors that every business owner should think of mobile app development for their business.
- Increases Brand Visibility: This means it keeps the users engaged with your app as much as possible. However, you can come up with promotional offers and discounts to get more attention and engage with your apps as well.
- Establishes Brand Value: To establish your brand value in the market, your need to stay connected with your customers. And a mobile app fulfills all such requirements. To make your app more user-friendly, you must keep on adding useful and customer-oriented features.
- Increases Sales: Apps are considered the best platform to increase sales as you connect your business with customers. If your app is user-friendly, it will automatically generate user traffic.
- Customer Loyalty: Through the app, you can offer various bonus offers, discounts, promotions to regular customers. Moreover, you can also send them personalized messages and recommendations based on their preferences and history.
- Competitive Edge: A well-designed mobile app gives you an edge over your competitors who haven’t developed or designed an app yet.
- Consumer Analysis: By analyzing the customer data, you can fetch information about customers such as average time spent, most purchased/viewed product, traffic on the app, and many other factors. This will help you do some changes and increase your productivity.
Now, we have discussed the benefits of healthcare. It’s time to proceed further and look at the important technology trends that are evolving app development in 2020.
App Development Trends
- Internet of Things (IoT) App Integration
The increasing demand for integrating smart things in an app is resulting in the need for IoT app development. The rise in mobile technologies across various industries and categories has created endless opportunities for the Internet of Things.
IoT is a network of internet-connected things that gather and exchange information; the demand for IoT integration is noticed in both iOS and Android app development trends so far.
The emerging IoT-enabled technology is leaving its imprint on healthcare, automobiles, smart homes, and others. It provides convenience and automated control to customers. Smart home technology is a perfect example of the rise in IoT and android app development.
As per Global Data, the Internet of Things market is expected to reach $318 billion in 2023, out of which, $143 billion will come from software like mobile apps.
As you can see in the above graph, the IoT is poised for steady growth in the coming years with software leading the way.
As per Statista, the revenue from technology associated with the Internet of Things will eclipse 1.6 trillion by 2025.
Trends of IoT:
- Smart homes & smart areas
- Routers equipped with more securities
- Self-driving cars
- IoT in healthcare
- Building Apps For Foldable
Which cell phone was your first one? Don’t remember. Doesn’t matter!
Mobile phones have clearly changed over the last decade. Touch screens with one or no buttons have taken over the market.
But from the last couple of years, touch screens with foldable devices have made their comeback in the market. Last year, Samsung had launched its foldable device named Samsung Galaxy Fold. Moreover, Huawei Mate X and Motorola Razr also became foldable devices.
These foldable devices fold to compress or expand the screen size based on user performance. For example, a user might make or attend a call with the device closed, but watch a video on a larger screen by unfolding the device.
Hence, a developer and content creators need to keep these factors in mind while developing or updating an app for foldable devices.
The main focus is that an app should seamlessly adjust its display as the screen folds or unfolds.
However, as per the survey by USA Today, 17% and 19% of iPhone and Android users respectively are excited about using a foldable design phone.
As per Statista, approximately 3.2 million foldable phones were shipped in 2019. That number is forecast to grow to 50.1 million units by 2022. That means, 2020 will be a big year for foldable, which means app developers must plan accordingly.
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are trending in mobile app development. The technology has come out as the most emerging technology in mobile apps. With the integration of ML into a mobile app, you can easily make your product smarter.
AI has made itself manifest in the form of chatbots, while Siri, the combination of machine learning as well as AI is now a very much part of mobile app innovations.
Many organizations have already started implementing AI app development to grow profitability as well as decrease operational costs in various forms.
As per the report by Leftronic, by 2025, the AI market will generate a revenue of $118.6 billion. With a great combination of AI and ML, it has also increased the demand for eCommerce applications. The technology will recommend products to customers based on their purchase history and behavior.
Future trends of AI & ML:
- AI automated DevOps through AIOps
- AI-enabled chips
- Automated machine learning
- Interoperability among neural networks
- Rise of Beacon Technology
Beacon technology is one of the emerging trends in application development, used by various industries such as hotels, museums, healthcare, retail outlets, and others. Integrated location-based service applications like Apple’s iBeacons and Google Beacon have gained popularity among organizations.
This easy-to-use technology grabs the attention of users instantly that use Bluetooth to send signals. The major factor beacon technology should be in top mobile app development trends is its major benefit, i.e. proximity marketing.
Here’s how a beacon works:
This technology gives a major scope to personalized app marketing and is expected to reach $56.6 billion by 2026, considering one of the major mobile app trends.
Future trends for beacon technology:
- Mobile payments beacons
- AI-enabled chips
- Automated machine learning
- Beacon treasure hunting
- Cloud-integrated Mobile Apps
Cloud technology plays an important role in mobile app development for businesses. Cloud integration with mobile apps will make your app function seamlessly across multiple platforms. This technology also helps mobile apps store a huge amount of data and efficiently carry out complex tasks.
At the end of 2020, 83% of enterprise workloads will be cloud-based. So, if you are planning to develop an app for your business, you need to consider cloud computing technology.
Cloud computing trends:
- Quantum computing
- Hybrid cloud solutions
- Evolution of cloud services and solutions
- Rise of Chatbots
Chatbot deployment will be one of the most important app development trends in 2021 due to its interactive conversational experience.
The integration of chatbots in your mobile app can help your business grow and retain customers. It also helps users to respond promptly to their real-time problems.
As per the report by Business Insider, the global chatbot market is increasing by 24% every year and will reach $9.4 billion by 2024 at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 29%.
In a nutshell, AI-driven technology, chatbots in mobile apps is one crucial mobile app development trend that will dominate 2021.
- Blockchain Development
The blockchain mobile app development trend is gaining the attention of many users, industries including banks, finance, insurance, health, and others. Blockchain integration has boosted many organizations.
Many blockchain technology trends such as BAAS (blockchain-as-a-services), asset tokenization, trading on a cryptocurrency exchange, and more will help you in mobile app development.
- Instant Apps
A few years back, Android Instant Apps was launched and we will see a rise in usage in 2020.
Android Studio allows Android developers to develop instant app experiences to improve their app discovery. Here, users can utilize the app without being installed on their devices. What they have to do is to click on the “Try Now” button.
However, instant apps come up with size restrictions. So, it will not be a full version of the app, I suppose. But these limitations could be changed in the coming time.
It’s a great way to allow users to experience an app without downloading it.
Hollar, a mobile commerce app, was able to increase conversions by 20% by launching an instant app. Moreover, 30% of their entire traffic from Android phones comes from the instant app.
So, if you are planning to develop an Android app in 2021, you need to have an instant version as well.
Wrapping Up
The mobile app development trends keep on changing and looking at the growing demand, the competition among the app development industry will be more intense than ever in 2021.
If you own a mobile app that is not updated with the latest trends, then your business will not be able to survive anymore. It’s not important to implement all the above-mentioned trends in your app development, but you should be aware of which trend might help you grow your business. You must have a general understanding of how marketing is shifting so you can adapt accordingly.
So, based on my research, the top technology trends will keep you ahead and gain an edge in your space in 2021.
