The prediction says there would be globally 7 billion users of mobile all around the globe by the end of 2021. The projections say that the figure would continue to rise with the accessibility of technology every passing day. Mobile phones have integrated seamlessly into our lives for some 10 years now.
Irrespective of the industry, the mobile app development industry has genuinely worked on changing plus redefining business for quite some time now. Almost every company needs to change the latest trends in mobile app development and extend the marketing strategy so that it can gather traction towards the right amount of growth plus reach its target market segment effectively.
Some popular brands like Kodak, Nokia, etc. were highly popular in the past, however, as they failed to keep up with the technology, ended up closing their operations or selling out. The scenario around the technological front wasn’t as fast and rapidly changing as is doing today. Technology today is truly in a constant condition of flux. When businesses fail in keeping up, they usually tend to wane out.
The only way you can stand apart in this kind of environment is by innovating constantly. Irrespective of the fact that you are a developer or business with a mobile app, you need to be updated with the latest trends in mobile apps. If you haven’t incorporated these trends into your apps, your mobile would become obsolete.
Apps are getting developed much faster than before so that they can meet the increasing demand for new content. Consumers are expecting to come up with apps that come with clean, friendly user interfaces. As the customers today are highly tech-savvy, you can use mobile apps to create a huge brand value for you. Let’s check the emerging technological trends in mobile application development that you must always check out.
The Newest Trends in Mobile App Development?
Wearables
There’s been a huge storm globally in the mobile wearables, all around you will come across people decked up with the latest wearables. Then Apple introduced its Apple Watch and iPods that gained huge acceptance both amongst customers and businesses as it opened more opportunities for development. Today, manufacturers are offering their version of smart earbuds and smartwatches. These can do everything right from helping to navigate seamlessly to your destinations, while some might even allow you to make calls without your phone anyone around. With the current wearable industry having a value of more than $44 billion, it is safe to state that wearables are one of the topmost application trends in mobile technology.
Wearable trends that exist in 2021
- Fitness-based technology that helps you stay at the top and forefront of everything.
- Move towards making wearables highly dependent of smartphones
Development Apps that are highly on-demand
On-development apps for development were created to fill the void that was getting created in the mobile development industry. Building apps need knowledge of coding and technical expertise. However, the on-demand development model today has made building apps much more accessible. In case you are using a business and trying to scale up with apps, there are chances you won’t be able to build it all by yourself at all. There are good chances that there exists an on-demand app doing everything that you are expecting from it. This data states 42% of adults have utilized on-demand services. The on-demand development model is rather likely to grow with the increasing demand for simplified app development.
On-Demand Apps 2021
- More industries are adopting on-demand model
- Emphasis on B2B transactions
Mobile Wallets
The pandemic has completed altered our lifestyles and literally forced us to adopt an alternative that is digital-first. Today, people are resorting to paying online and buying online for all their services. The mobile wallets have absolutely simplified online payments making them accessible to one and all.
As we are taking up online transferring of money, service providers would push towards making their products better also highly secure. In the process of mobile wallet development, secured funds plus transactions is one of the primary concerns. The new norm post-Covid is social distancing where contactless methods of payment solve the problem. In the future, ease of payment and security would drive innovation within this sector to emerge as one critical trend in mobile applications.
Trends of Mobile Wallet 2021
- More than 2 billion users globally
- Wallets that are convenient and secure
Apps that are cloud-based
Cloud technology has grown multi-fold over the last few years. Cloud storage is growing to be inexpensive as the service providers are investing in highly efficient cloud infrastructure. Cloud technology is mobile application development’s backbone in 2021.
Many things we work on apps leverage cloud technology, like when you book a cab or order food. Cloud has enabled web hosting rather inexpensive, accessible, and more efficient of holding loads. This has prompted the quick adoption of our mobile trends in technology.
2021 Cloud Trends
- Cloud infrastructure that is efficient
- Cloud solutions that are hybrid
- Quantum computing
IoT/Smart Things
Internet of Things (IoT) is one ecosystem consisting of intelligent devices that can communicate with several other devices over the internet. Everything – right from lights in our houses to the gadgets we use can be smartphone-connected and monitored. The is the future dreamt and designed through IoT and we have come rather well thus far.
2021 IoT trends
- IoT tech that is more affordable
- Self-driving cars
- Smart appliances and smart homes
Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR)
Remember Pokemon Go – the game that revolutionized the gaming app and brought augmented reality to this world. While the work of AR is to superimpose artificial objects on real-world objects, virtual reality offers a completely artificial environment. However, games are not solitary areas of application for VR and AR. These technologies could also be used towards the improvement of the efficiency of educational and training apps. They could give the student a completely true sense of conducting the job entrusted.
Interior designing plus marketing are several other areas where VR and AR are creating experiences that are game-changing. The app allows users to see how the product would look in a certain space or provide you with a better idea about its shape plus size.
2021 AR/VR Trends
- Utilizing AR/VR in the field of marketing, industries, healthcare, and education.
- Mobile AR technology will take the forefront
Beacon Technology
Beacon technology is one location-based technology that leverages a Smartphone’s Bluetooth to identify how close or far a store, library, museum, or other such place is. The beacons in the area or location send in signals that trigger the app to get opened on the customer’s phone.
The app can further perform several types of tasks. It can enable users the ability to shop from stores or even order room service in a hotel suite. It can readily suffice information about several pieces on display in a showroom or a museum. Beacon apps come with the potential to completely overhaul the retail sector.
This helps towards the improvement of customer satisfaction by providing personalized services at the fingertips of the customer. Customers would no longer need to wait for a salesperson to return to their queries. They can now use the app that could be integrated with beacon technology. Retail stores could use this to enable queue-less and cashless checkouts.
2021 beacon trends
- Beacons that are AI enabled
- Mobile payment solutions leveraging beacon technology
Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI)
It shouldn’t be a surprise that AI and ML come on the list. They would have come as the top trends of mobile application development also in 2019 also they are also on the 2021 list. That is exactly how versatile also relevant these technologies are.
ML and AI are the forces that guide recommendation engines, motion detection, chatbots, facial detection, text prediction, speech recognition, financial forecasting, and more. As the technology gets more advanced, the numerous ways plus ease with which it could be integrated into a mobile app also appends.
IT, finance, marketing, and customer service are the top industries that come with integrated ML into apps to a huge success. For example, Google has created successfully Duplex, which has the capacity to place calls on our behalf so that appointments can be fixed. AI along with ML would increasingly become highly important to the space in application development.
2021 AI plus ML trends
- Automated ML
- AI-enabled digital chips
- Self-driving technology
Blockchain Technology
When you hear about blockchain, your mind would immediately go to cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin. Even when cryptocurrencies were the source of blockchain technology, these applications have evolved into several areas.
It is rather common to find currency converters and mobile wallets that use blockchain in mobile apps. It could also be used in tracking digital assets, securing digital identity, providing solutions in cloud storage, keeping tracking of rewards and loyalty programs, providing proof regarding provenance in the supply chain management also notarising ownership.
Add in smarter contracts with the blockchain, and there evolve enormous possibilities. The security enabled by smart contracts makes sure you could use it for a huge range of things, right from renting several items to issuing loans.
The world with blockchain comes with innumerable possibilities yet combining it with another mobile app trend like the Internet of Things or IoT would possibly make for a good tool in your hands. Apps built using the two trends would be cost-efficient, fast, and secure.
2021 Blockchain Trends
- Huge scale crypto asset adopting by institutional and retail investors.
- Technologies in Blockchain like DeFi
5G Technology
The latest in cellular technology of communication is 5G that would improve the latency, connection density, efficiency, expected throughput, network capacity. It is already getting offered in some parts of this world and would soon become a rather global phenomenon.
The better features that are offered by the 5G technology would enable developers to create fast and highly responsive apps. 5G technology would also pave the road for more apps using VR and AR, IoT, machine learning, and Artificial Intelligence.
As mentioned in the beginning, the world of mobile app development is extremely competitive. It would be advised that developers take all the features that are offered by the 5G within their accounts plus create apps that can keep up with trends in mobile apps that are latest.
2021 5G trends
- More number of smartphones, those that come with 5G-capable hardware
- Governments along with telecom providers to invest in the 5G infrastructure
Apps that are foldable and hardware friendly
Earlier sometimes back there were old flip phones? In that case, you should be excited about the possibilities that are offered by the latest smartphones that are providing excellent competition to other older forms. Creating apps that are fully compatible with the newest features of smartphones will give you a leeway from the various competition. That app would be responsive and should rather be able to expand when this screen becomes highly considerable. You could also let that open new tabs or a newer menu on an enlarged screen. In short, screens that are foldable can open a huge lot of avenues for the app developers in mobile.
2021 Foldable Hardware trends
- Foldable wearable and OLED tech
- Apps making use of tech that is foldable
Predictable Analytics
Predictive analytics would use the vast amount of data that is at hand, extracts highly valuable insights, plus use this insight to better various processes. Predictive analytics within mobile app development could work on two fronts. It could improve your user experience also the development process.
Everything follows a certain pattern, even the app development. Predictive analytics would be able to process the data collected from several developers to identify issues before they would occur and suggest different alternate methods.
When applied towards the user-end, it could predict what action your user may take next or rather offer to finish all sentences. It could even help locate those pages within the app that come with the least amount of retention rate also uncover the same. It could help marketers identify which of the notifications are receiving the best of responses.
2021 Predictive Analytics Trends
- Using predictive analytics towards improvement of the application development process
The future that Mobile Application Development – 2021 and Further
Technology is rather constantly and rapidly evolving, with fresh and newer iterations of technology that hits the shelves every year. These trends in mobile technology would provide quite a substantial number of newer opportunities for app developers.
Keeping up with the trends is rather vital to stay at the helm of the space of mobile application development. In 2021, technologies that are like wearables, the IoT, and cloud computing would continue catching steam. This is the era of mobile technology and mobile app development will help in creating a new era altogether.
