6 Global Trends in Mobile Development

The mobile application industry has been altering businesses in every field for more than a decade now. The app era has made its way through simple PDAs and the glorious mobile game Snake on Nokia 6110 made its appearance in 1997. Eleven years later, the App Store was launched with 500+ apps. Having started as a form of entertainment, mobile applications are now an essential component of every business. With nearly $152 billion in revenue in 2015, the mobile app industry profitability will grow to an estimated $935 billion by 2023.

The appearance of anytime-anywhere available mobile Internet and smartphones have made it easier for companies to reach their consumers and improve customer experience with massive volumes of real-time data. At the same time, hybrid monetization models with in-app advertising and purchasing are driving this growth even further. So, how about AI, 5G, global migration to cloud, and chatbots? With 3.5 billion smartphone users worldwide, businesses invest a lot of money and effort to implement these advanced technologies in application development.

These are top 6 global trends in mobile development that have been already conquering the market:

• Artificial Intelligence
• 5G technology
• IoT integration
• VR/AR
• On-demand apps
• Chatbots

Let’s take a closer look at them one by one.

1. The Omnipresence of Artificial Intelligence

AI has been topping technology charts for the past few years. According to the 2019 Gartner CIO Survey, the number of companies adopting Artificial Intelligence has increased by 270%. The abundance of data and learning models has allowed for the unprecedented growth of the technology, penetrating every industry. When it comes to mobile development, AI is literally helping apps to become ‘smarter’.

We are all familiar with the technology of text, image, and face recognition that we use while texting or logging into our mobile banking accounts. However, AI has a lot to offer to the mobile app industry:

• User engagement (AI analyzes user behaviors and makes suggestions about improvements)
• Improved decision-making (AI analyzes large volumes of feedback and provides valuable insights)
• Personalization (individual suggestions are made based on user activities and behaviors)

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2. The Rise of 5G Technology

After the initial launch in November 2019, 5G technology offers a glimpse into the future as it will introduce a new era of mobile internet connectivity with the super-fast download speed of 1Gbps and a more reliable connection for smartphones. The main advantage of the new network lies in its adaptability, meaning, 5G can be built right on 4G LTE networks. Faster downloads will be pushing the data-intensive processing to the cloud, while at the same time unlocking opportunities for more advanced graphics and virtual reality in apps. 5G technology is also estimated to stimulate the boom of IoT (Internet of Things) by creating a new infrastructure for the modern interconnected environment.

3. The Interconnection of Everything with IoT

IoT is another trending high-tech innovation that is steadily gaining momentum in the times of automatization. According to IDC forecasts, IoT spending will surpass $1 trillion in 2022 with more than 32 billion IoT devices in use.

‘Smart homes’ and ‘smart cities’ with energy, water, and mobility management are the most popular options of the consumer market. However, IoT has far more reaching benefits not just for the technology sector, but anything from manufacturing to transportation to healthcare. Nowadays, not just industries, but companies are looking for ways to leverage the power of interconnected devices as well.

“While organizations are investing in hardware, software, and services to support their IoT initiatives, their next challenge is finding solutions that help them to manage, process, and analyze the data being generated from all these connected things,” noted Carrie MacGillivray, IDC vice president.

In terms of IoT software, vertical industry IoT platforms (customized for each industry) and cloud-based deployments are the hottest trends right now. Once again pointing at the direction of a cloud computing takeover as the business ecosystem of the future.

4. Hyperreality with VR/AR

Virtual and augmented reality has long expanded its application beyond the entertainment domain, revolutionizing the space industry, healthcare, real estate, marketing, and many more. The prospect of building interactive workspaces and visualizing complex data with AI and machine learning algorithms made the technology an appealing investment opportunity for large corporations and SMEs. The reсord high sum of $5.4 billion was invested in AR/VR development in 2019 (Digi-Capital’s AR/VR Analytics Platform).

What’s more, the focus from virtual reality hardware has shifted towards software, opening the gate to various applications that can be accessed through smartphones. AR adaptation is a huge app trend right now, the main aim of which is to enhance user experience through boosting retention (AR in marketing and advertising) or boosting productivity (AR in healthcare and manufacturing).

5. On-demand and Enterprise Apps

With pace of life getting faster, new places, services, and products are emerging every day in a non-stop fashion. Having a website is becoming a thing of the past that we take for granted today, because smart businesses have already migrated to apps. It is an entry point where they can instantly connect with their customer and deliver services in no time, allowing the user to control the process with order management, tracking, and instant payments.

Uber and Netflix, as the two unofficial founders of the first on-demand mobile apps, have ignited the emergence of the whole market with various segments: video, food delivery, transportation, health and beauty, maintenance, and everything that can be sold as a service or product.

Users spend $57.6 billion every year on on-demand services, feeding the only growing appetite of the on-demand mobile app economy (National Technology Readiness Survey (NTRS). Enterprise applications are another branch of this market, rising in popularity as companies are seeking new ways to optimize and automate workflow and business processes. CRM, email marketing systems, call center, automated billing systems, business continuity planning are the common types of enterprise apps.

6. Chatbots to Your Service

Chatbots have been here for quite a while, for more than a decade, actually. From being clumsy and inaccurate, these conversational agents evolved into advanced helpers driven by AI. Nowadays, chatbots represent one of the customer service pillars, taking on routine tasks previously performed by humans. The numbers support that claim with Business Insider Research estimating the chatbot market to reach $9.4 billion globally by 2024.

With a booming number of websites and businesses online, chatbots are becoming an integral part of the optimization and cost reduction strategies. Now, 57% of businesses agree that chatbots deliver large ROI with minimal effort (Accenture Digital). In most cases, consumers turn to chatbots for help when a site is hard to navigate or they cannot find answers to simple questions. However, these virtual assistants are slowly migrating into different service areas: from being a companion chatbot for the elderly to assigning leads via social media and to powering smart speakers as voice-activated personal assistants.

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Final Thoughts

In a customer-centric economy, where businesses compete to provide users with a seamless 24/7 digital experience, mobile development trends change in the blink of an eye. However, there are technologies that have already become the staples of the mobile app industry. AI, machine learning, cloud platforms, high speed of LTE, which will soon be replaced by the ultrafast speeds of the upcoming 5G – these are the trends that are here to stay.

To give your business a competitive edge, you do not have to implement all of the new trendy technologies in your apps. But you do need a comprehensive understanding of the market situation and business opportunities to excel in your niche.

If you need a strong digital partner to help you with the digital transformation of your business and mobile app development, contact our experts to get a free consultation on the matter.