The ever-changing technological trends and the fast-paced app development sphere has hyped the need to ahead of the technology for the developers. The global market has experienced a tremendous increase in the Andriod smartphone and iPhone users in the past and these figures are expected to touch greater heights in the near future. Keeping the mind the immensely competitive scenario in the mobile app market, the article has compiled two aspects for the consideration of the developers, The first part focuses on the trends to watch out for in the mobile apps development for the coming years. The second part includes some of the knowhows about the must-have features for the future apps.

If you’re contemplating opting for mobile app development, then you might want to consider some statistics before jumping on the bandwagon. Check out these amazing app development trends that are predicted to control the industry in the upcoming years.

mcommerce is the next big thing

The trend of mobile eCommerce emerged in 2016 and has been on a rise since then. As per Forrester research, by end of 2017, the U.S mobile users will spend $90 billion via mobile payments. That is a 48% increase over the $12.8 billion spent in 2012. This opens up an ocean of opportunity for both the Andriod App as well as iPhone App Development. Not just this, Stastisa estimates that by 2017, there will be 222.29 million smartphone users in the USA itself. Moreover, the smartphone penetration rate is predicted at to see a hike of 64%. The smartphone users worldwide are expected to reach 2.87 million by the year 2020.

Image Source: blogs.perceptionsystem.com

Location-based apps will steal the show

The location-based services are booming and are expected to stay on the rise in the upcoming years. Right from the retail to the travel industry, every needs to stay in sync with this advanced technology in order to serve the customers adequately. The customer behavior has trended much more towards location-based activity since 2011 and has been on the go since then. Most of the smartphone owners say that they often use geo-social services. Moreover, 69% of Google searches include a specific location. Thus, a location-based mobile app will surely standout in a crowd.

Augmented reality and Virtual reality will hold the gears

The augmented and virtual reality is extensively being used in developing games and apps, especially by the iPhone app developers. Even though almost a decades work was involved, it started gaining popularity in the year 2016 with the introduction of mammoths like Pokemon Go and other iOS apps. The emergence of VR and Ar has led to the development of interactive user experience. In fact, according to TechCrunch, the mobile AR could become the primary driver of a $108 billion VR/AR market by 2021 with AR taking the lion’s share of $83 billion and VR $25 billion.

Migration to the cloud will be on the rise

Cloud computing makes the working argument for the large and small-scale enterprise. At the same time, it is fast, inexpensive as well as easy to deploy for the customers as well. The future is expected to see the powerful apps that will run directly on the cloud such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and others. Syncing the data on an app and then continuing it from a tablet or desktop will also see a huge acceptance.

Enhanced security standards will have higher priority

Some of the disturbing facts about the security features as described by EY states:

• 56% of enterprises admit that they are unlikely to detect a sophisticated mobile threat. 37% admitted that there is no real-time visibility on
• 37% admitted that there is no real-time visibility on cyberattacks.

Keeping these figures in mind, the advanced security features are expected to be on a rise in near future. Mobile devices connect to 10-100-times more networks than desktop computers. Thus, they are more prone to attacks such as decryption, traffic redirections, and others. Hence, the mobile app developers need to stay in line with the advancements and innovations in this field.

Having discussed some of the major mobile application trends that are expected to follow in the near future, listed below are some of the features that uplift your apps effortlessly in the competitive market.

The Chatbots

With the usability and popularity of Siri in iPhones, it is very clear that the iOS apps with in-app chatting tool will play an essential role in engaging the app users. While most smartphone users consider chat bots as a fun and easy way to help them with digital tasks, it even helps in reducing the clutter and miscommunication issue. User engagement is the key to upsurge the retention rate. A chatbot can help you achieve both the agendas.

Location Based Services

As mentioned above, there will be an evolution of location based service (LBS). Hence, the apps should be deployed with GPS capabilities. The real time information provided by LBS will flourish in the year 2017 and year to come. Not just this, brands are expected to see as much as a 20% increase in their conversion after adding location data to their ad data. The travel industry, navigation, security features, retail sector, indoor mapping and gaming apps are being considered as the key areas that will benefit with the location based apps.

Multi-platform app development

In the year 2011, Android captured 68.1% of the smartphone OS market share. By end of 2016, 50% of mobile apps available in the market were made hybrid. That is the apps were compatible on multiple platforms. The trend is expected to a greater hike in the future. An iOS app that only works on iPhone won’t get acknowledgment from the users. So, the developers need to come up with apps that may be developed for iOS, but would even work on iPads, iWatches and others. Make the app universal so that get a much wider scope for getting downloaded.

Biometric security constraints

The added layer of security which is tough to breach will make your app standout effortlessly. The touch ID feature in iOS app is one of the most appreciated factors till date. Such features are expected to be in demand even in the Android app development. Features like fingerprint authentication to ensure the security of highly confidential of the mobile apps will help gain the confidence of the users.

Dominance of real-time interface

The real-time customer service is the most effective way to drive your mobile users into customers. Moreover, it is a great marketing tool as it provides better user experience. Thus, the satisfied customers will spread positive reviews which will automatically enhance the position of the application in the app store. However, it is important to surpass the irritation and annoyance of the users. Tracking the activity of the users and providing the notification to those who actually require it is the key.

Conclusion

Analyze each and every aspect of the consumer behavior as well as of the market is the key to boost the ROI. Hence, before investing your time and dollars, list out the various aspect mobile app development in a nutshell.