What’s Trending in Mobile Application Development?

Out of the seven billion people in the world, six billion have mobile phones. The world has more than 2 billion smartphone users today. And this number is expected to increase to 6.1 billion by 2020.

With such a huge market, mobile app developers continually try to capture and maintain the users’ interest. They innovate and add on new features according to what is trending.

These are the top trends in mobile application development today.

Ensuring Security

In 2014, analyst firm Gartner predicted that 75% of mobile apps would encounter security issues in 2015. The forecast was correct. Gartner report also says that by 2017, smartphones and tablets rather than laptops and desktops will become the focus of security breaches. Thus constant improvement in the security of mobile applications will be the trend. Enterprises and developers will work to boost user confidence by safeguarding against any leaks of personal information.

Enterprise Apps on the Rise

2016 will see a rise in development of enterprise apps as compared to consumer apps as the former bring in more money. A survey conducted by Vision Mobile in 2015 revealed that 43% of the enterprise app developers earned more than $10,000 per month as revenue while only 19% of consumer app developers did so.

Riding on the Cloud

Trends in mobile application clearly indicate that cloud technology is there to stay. Apps on the cloud can be of smaller size, with better management of issues like bandwidth, memory, back-end integration and security. Cloud technology enables the developers to synchronize the apps with a variety of devices and facilitates central coordination.

Internet of Things (IoT) taking Wings

Google glass and Apple watch are trending! IoT is the in thing. And what’s more? A plethora of smart devices like smart cars or smart fridges and televisions or even smart houses are likely to hit the market soon. Mobile app technology has to cater to these developing trends in a big way. International Data Corporation (IDC) has predicted that by 2020 the IoT market in the world will touch nearly two trillion dollars. IoT will soon find a presence in several enterprises as well, leading to development of related mobile application technology.

Cross-platform is the Norm

There are so many Apple and Android smart devices in the market. These have a variety of screen sizes. The mobile application developers have to ensure that their application works perfectly in every device and for all screen sizes. So, cross-platform app development will be the norm this year and in the future too. Cloud technology has made it possible for the mobile app developers to provide the users with the power and freedom to make easy transition among various devices without any disruptions.

Shift toward Swift

Swift is the new programming language by Apple. It is the latest development in mobile application technology. It is an application language as well as a system language. Developers can write codes that are more reliable from the very beginning with this language. Swift has been available since September 2015. Developers are building their expertise in this language.

Beacon Shining Bright

Beacon technology is trending. Apple is already using it. Android too will adopt it soon. Beacon has been instrumental in merging online and offline differences. Many sectors stand to gain with this technology including retail, healthcare, finance, education, hospitality etc.

Augmented Reality Enhancing What You See

Augmented reality based apps integrate the real and the virtual world enhancing user experience. These apps capture the interest of the users and keep them involved. Augmented reality is used in games, compass, GPS and camera in a smartphone. This trend is likely to pick up further.

Creativity with 3D

Mobile apps are being developed increasingly for 3D printing now. This gives free reign to the creativity of the user. It is possible to edit existing models with these apps or even create new ones and then take a 3D print.

Retention by Personalization

According to Statista, Google Play Store has 1.6 million apps and Apple 1.5 million. An average app user, according to Flurry, uses around 15 apps in a week though the number of apps downloaded may be around 65. So personalization is the name of the game. Users will go for an app that fulfills their needs specifically.

Our smartphones with countless apps are now our constant companions. These apps provide ready-made solutions to most of our everyday needs. The more an app incorporates what’s trending, the greater is its ‘happening’ status and popularity!!

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