Whether to call family or friends, check out the latest trends in the stock market, play games, or invest in Bitcoin, mobile app have become an indispensable part of our day-to-day activities. Because of the massive convenience they provide, they are equally significant for enterprises and offer great opportunities for growth and advancement for the corporate sector as well.
Statista shows us that by 2023, mobile apps will have generated an estimated USD 935 billion in revenues earned through paid downloads and in-app advertising.
Furthermore, many experts and doyens have already expressed their views that the mobile app development industry is the fastest emerging industry and shows absolutely no signs of stopping or even slowing down anytime in the near future or even a decade to come.
Studying the market trends versus needs and demands, we put together a list of the most trending mobile app development practices that will govern 2023 and even years ahead.
1. Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality
Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality technology have been around for some time. The smallest use of AR and VR can be seen implemented in our phone cameras, videos, as well as games. However, the future will see more of this technology with more use cases beyond simple gaming apps.
With Apple’s ARkit and Google’s ARcore around, gear up to witness the real magic of AR and VR. In fact, both Google and Apple are releasing the latest AR demos on their newest devices. We will be seeing AR & VR coupled with incredible features including motion tracking, people occlusion, etc.
Google has already announced the implementation of AR in its popular Maps app at its annual developers’ conference this year. This new feature will allow users to enjoy a more intuitive experience in locating a place and its surrounding areas all through the phone’s camera interface. AR/VR is the next game-changer technology we’ll be seeing more of this year and in the future.
We will see more applications with AR/VR technology embedded in them. Industries including healthcare, e-commerce, tourism, and education have already started taking maximum benefit from these technologies. Through AR/VR apps, social platforms will be able to accomplish branding and marketing along with targeting potential consumers. We can see Snapchat and Instagram already using AR filters that transform a human face into numerous digital characters.
AR & VR technology implementation in Marketing & Advertising, Healthcare, and in Manufacturing industries has already begun to reshape and improve their processes.
Augmented reality smart glasses including Google Glass, Toshiba dynaEdge, Magic Leap, Microsoft Hololens, Lenovo Star Wars, etc. are among the top 10 Augmented reality smart glasses
2. Internet of Things (IoT)
The internet has slowly pushed its way into our daily lives in the form of ‘smart things’ or the ‘smart objects’ – in other words, the Internet of Things!
People are raving about IoT, however not everyone what knows exactly it is. To put it simply, it is a complete system of physical objects including our everyday electronics, motion sensors, and digital products all interconnected to each other through the internet.
For instance, Kisi Smart Lock, Nest Smart Home, Google Home, etc are the top trending IoT app development trends. Dim the lights and switch on the TV to watch your favorite horror movie before you even enter your room – create that theater ambiance easily with your mobile phone and a simple sync process. Self-driven cars are yet another example of IoT.
A recent report forecasts that the global IoT market will likely reach a value of 1,386.06 billion USD by 2026, with an upsurge of USD 761.4 billion in 2020, during the period 2021-2026
IoT Technology is fast becoming the most fastest-adopted cutting-edge technology in mobile app development.
3. Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning
AI & Machine Learning, a dynamic duo technology remains in the news, particularly with regard to the mobile app market.
Mainly, AI implementation can be seen in chatbots. Siri, Alexa, and Google Assistant which have become omnipresent today are ideal examples of conversational AI. In fact, these conversational AI bots are even more advanced than regular chatbots that are programmed only to address certain questions.
However, in 2021, we will see AI & Machine Learning grow massively. Organizations around the world have already started to adopt these technologies for further profitability and to reduce operational overheads in multiple ways. AI-enabled machines have made their way into our workplaces, reinventing the way a workplace’s HR department operates.
Do you know what this implies? Not only have AI & Machine Learning technology become a part of today’s mobile apps, but have entered and are being deployed in digital products and software applications used in every sector and every industry.
According to Gartner, mobile apps will make the most impact on business success by 2023, and the future of app development is experiencing an uplift with the emergence of multi-experience development platforms.
In the near future, we will witness AI-automated DevOps (AIOps), AI-enabled chips, and even Automated machine learning.
4. 5G Technology
We are witnessing a major transition period from 4G to adopting 5G technology. With 5G technology becoming the talk of the town, it’s pretty obvious that software development companies will grab the opportunity of employing the multi-GBs peak speed of 5G for developing their apps. In a few years’ time, the future of customer experience will be drastically redefined by all these disruptive technologies.
Complains about a slow internet connection and latency with 5G being out of the question!
5. Blockchain Technology
Ever since its arrival, blockchain development has introduced to us a new era of innovative and stimulating opportunities in the IT sector. In 2018, when we first started hearing about Blockchain Technology, it was developed with the idea to secure smart contracts and creating cryptocurrencies. But with the passage of time, human minds gauged the significance of this powerful technology and what more it can offer than one could ever imagine.
For example, through blockchain technology, developing decentralized mobile applications is now possible. “Decentralized Mobile apps” or the DApps are not confined to one owner, nor they can be shut down or experience any downtime.
In basic terms, we can expect to see more Blockchain technology being adopted in the development of mobile apps through decentralized mobile apps, just like bitcoin’s blockchain did for cash currency.
Apart from DApps, trading on the crypto-currencies exchange and Crypto space and gaming will be some trends we will witness in the future.
6. Progressive Web Apps or PWA
A Progressive Web App or PWA delivers an all-inclusive mobile application experience with just one difference – these apps don’t require any installation from app stores or take up large storage space within the phone or device. Just use them directly from the browser. Once it’s up on the home screen, it doesn’t even require an Internet connection to run – just use it as you please.
As compared to other handy mobile apps that consume more than 200 MB of space on your smartphones, Progressive Web Apps hardly take 50KB of physical storage and continue to function seamlessly even in low-spec smartphones. What’s more, PWAs can work even on a low-bandwidth network without any glitches. Big companies such as Alibaba and Flipkart have already integrated PWAs within their web platforms, resulting in giving them multiple benefits.
Have you tried Google Maps Progressive web app used on Android Go devices?
Without a guess, we anticipate seeing a surge in development in PWAs in 2022, particularly as they add more value for users in rather developing and rural smartphone markets worldwide.
7. Mobile wallets
The demand for mobile wallets is massively increasing. One reason is the secure transactions they offer. As security is the biggest concern for every developer, the usage of mobile wallets is going to grow even more in the year 2023.
It has been observed that contactless payment methods are becoming every customer’s favorite mode of payment. Hence, in 2023, mobile wallets and payment gateway integration offer the highest level of secured and encrypted payment method and is soon to become mainstream for every mobile app.
8. Enterprise Mobile Apps
Some mobile applications are developed or purchased by organizations particularly for their employee usage so they can perform different activities running the organization. The development of such enterprise mobile apps is trending worldwide. Companies earn more profits when their employees use enterprise mobile apps.
Not only do they serve as a means for internal communications, but also boost employee satisfaction and work productivity. In 2023, we will notice the demand for such executive apps increase and more companies will introduce them in their organizations. As the demand will increase, so will the supply, which means more software development companies will keenly develop enterprise mobile app for their clients.
9. Cloud
It came, we saw, it conquered, and we all witnessed! By now most of us have seen the countless benefits and possibilities the Cloud has to offer for businesses as well as personal use.
With Cloud technology around, you can reduce your hosting costs, improve load capacity, and manage 70% of all your business operations seamlessly from any time, anywhere in the world.
An interesting fact to add here is that the Cloud has helped solve several security-related concerns and revolutionized mobile app development, making it even more secure, reliable, and fast than ever before.
Furthermore, with the help of Cloud-enabled apps namely Dropbox, Microsoft’s One Drive, Google Drive, iCloud, AWS, SlideRocket, and among others, developing powerful apps that run directly on the Cloud is now even more possible. In 2021 and beyond, we can expect to see more such powerful apps in the market that take minimal storage space in smart devices.
10. Mobile commerce or M-commerce
The COVID-19 pandemic made us recognize and adopt the power of a mobile application and how it can boost a business’ growth. While lockdown was being observed in every country, people weren’t stepping out in fear of contracting the coronavirus; the business industry had to come up with survival tactics. That’s where digital power helped them! With mobile applications, the global commerce and business industry gradually picked up pace in growing revenue and sales after facing major losses and also re-built their customers’ trust.
Now, a majority of consumers opt to shop online no matter where they are, even on the move. Even for big leading brands, consumers prefer their mobile e-commerce apps more in comparison to their physical shops or even websites. Now the mobile e-commerce industry has transformed into mobile commerce or M-commerce.
In 2019, there was an estimate of sales of USD 2.3 trillion, which is anticipated to surge to nearly USD 3.5 trillion in 2021 worldwide. That’s a third-fourth of total e-commerce sales globally!
This is just the beginning! You can anticipate witnessing voice shopping, one-click ordering, and even more omnichannel e-shopping in near future.
Statista reveals that e-retail sales accounted for 18 percent of all retail sales worldwide in 2020. This figure will increase further to reach 21.8 percent in 2024.
11. Wearable devices
Without a doubt, wearable technology is rapidly growing. Gartner suggests that wearable devices will reach over USD 81.5 billion by this year’s end, which is an 18.1% increase from 2020. This means that wearable technology will continue to govern the technology world for years to come. Smartphones and wearable devices sync and function together for users to enjoy a seamless experience. The smartphone acts as the main control panel of a wearable device once they pair together, however that is only possible if both devices are in each other’s vicinity.
In the future, we may predict that the wearable device might not need the smartphone as a control panel. In addition, we can even foresee that wearable app development will become universal and get directly connected to the web and possibly even to our bodies.
12. On-Demand Apps
When “On-demand business” was thought to be an inevitable bubble in the world of mobile apps, today, on-demand has become in demand!
Almost every industry has got on the on-demand bandwagon, and why not when there is not much potential for growth and success in this business model?
The on-demand economy isn’t going out of fad anytime soon. Almost all of us, including you and me, use an on-demand service quite often, rather daily. Netflix, for example, is one such example of an on-demand entertainment app. Similarly, shopping online at e-commerce websites for electronics, groceries or even food delivered to our doorsteps all are examples of on-demand services. Uber too is an example of an on-demand app.
Overall, the on-demand app development trend will stay. To stay ahead in the competition, businesses should adopt this technology trend.
We have been keeping ourselves up-to-date with the ongoing trends in the web as well as mobile app development. If you are thinking of getting an app made, don’t think twice, talk to us right away.