From shopping to beauty, from hiring domestic services to booking cabs, mobile apps are becoming significantly important part of our daily lives. Last few years have been very much important in terms of innovations in the world of mobile. The mobile app development sector is observing huge transformation due to the various trends. Such trends are dominating the mobile app development and will continue to do so in forthcoming years. Phenomenal gadgets like fitness trackers, Apple Watch, Google Glass and many other wearables including cloud computing technologies are certainly going to make drastic changes throughout.
In this write-up, I would like to share the expected, if not anticipated, Mobile Application Development Trends 2016:
Mobile App Development Trend #1: Cloud-Driven Mobile Apps
Cloud Technology has been playing a major role in Mobile App Development Process and this will continue to grow in 2016 and many forthcoming years. Even the devices like tablets, smartphones and wearables are growing exponentially and they are expected to expand further in future. Cloud Infrastructure fosters unlimited supply of computing power for your apps.
Cloud-driven apps enhance the data synchronization and ensure seamless execution of mobile apps on various devices. Considering the necessity of Smart Devices and Wearable Technology cloud compatibility becomes very obvious.
Mobile App Development Trend #2: Enterprise Mobile Apps Will Gain Traction
Gartner even predicted that by the year 2017 market demand for Enterprise Mobile Apps will outrun the IT organization’s capacity to deliver bountiful of apps. The business world is becoming more connected with every succeeding year, hence the need for enterprise apps will continue to grow.
The stats validates that there will be more requirement of development skill to create enterprise apps. Specific skills around security, integration, design and development will become requisite and modern mobile thinking will start to mature within enterprise.
“Stats Explains: Total value of mobile payment transactions in the US will grow by 210% in 2016.”
Mobile App Development Trend #3: Security Comes As Prime Concern
How will you ensure that your mobile app is secure? Evidently we can say that no consumer is interested in knowing about their app security and if they do then they believe in a smartphone and their tablet creators and hence look forward to application developers to ensure a secure environment for them.
But surveys and stats are not very much supportive. Gartner forecasted that 75 percent of mobile apps failed because of basic security measures through the end of the year (2015). This also supports that 3 out of every 4 apps is troublesome. It becomes imperative to hire a team of proficient mobile app developers who have a strong understanding of Android and iOS features and security.
Mobile App Development Trend #4: VR and Beacons adoption in 2016
Beacon Technology will be gaining traction in 2016. Beacon merged offline and online differences. Beacon has been doing wonders in iOS domain and soon it is expected to invade Android in future. Such advancements are seen in domains like Retail, Real Estate, Hospitality, Healthcare, Tourism, Education, Travel, Entertainment, Automotive, Travel, Corporate, Advertising.
Mintel, a research group issued a European Consumer Trends 2016 report which identifies that beacons and virtual reality are the two technologies which will be more prevalent in 2016 and can become mainstream for this year. Virtual Reality is seen as an important part of travel firm’s marketing arsenal.
“Stats Speaks: 2016 is expected to bring an explosion in beacon marketing.”
Mobile App Development Trend #5: More Personal Talks In Year 2016
Tech-savvy consumers today expect that brands must interact and engage in more personalized and contextual manner which delivers actual value. 2016 will be a ‘year of more personalization’. Considering all this, marketers are now striving to know more about target audience (who they are, what they like and how they looking to get engaged with their brands).
Personalization is like a crucial aspect of any mobile initiative. Brands are constantly looking for new technologies and channels which can help them to connect with their consumers in a more personalized manner and hence build strong relationships with more personalized mobile apps.
“Stats Speaks: 67% of consumers want messages and deals personalized to their preferences.”
Mobile App Development Trend #6: Why so ‘SIRI’ous In Year 2016
Expect a lot from digital assistants like Siri as it is going to become a focal point. Enjoy a new form of search engine optimization. Siri will be prevalent in the year 2016 and is all about developing the user experience around the device. This will involve flow of information from device to device hence cross platform development and microservices will also gain traction.
Looking at the speech capabilities of Siri capabilities which employ voice commands for handling tasks like sending messages, initiating calls and setting meetings. Speech recognition in Siri is letting developers tap the technology into the phone and phone’s core functions.
Mobile App Development Trend #7: Swift- Swiftly Becoming Open Source
App developers are adopting the high-end programming language Swift which although has released only in 2014 but have become one of the Internet’s most popular development language. As the coders are creating both a mobile app and a server-side management platform on Swift, it is expected that the popularity of coding language will be greatly increased.
Swift has Apple’s full support and has great improvements over its predecessor like faster performance in applications, efficient coding practices, protection from common errors and open source technology. Apple will be taking lead to keep Swift going and more and more independent developers will be investing in learning and contribution to the growth of Swift.
Resolution:
We’re very excited about what’s to come for mobile app development in 2016. If you are looking to try your hands on these trends, it’s high time to prepare yourself in order to create outstanding Mobile Experience for your customer-base. Be prepared for all the innovation that 2016 promises to bring it for all of us!
References: Noborder, Mobiforge, Tnooz, Redrovercompany, Innofied, Uxmag, Kevy, Chupamobile, Itbusinessedge, Enterpriseappstoday
Rachit Agarwal
