“The IT world is changing rapidly” — that’s what we constantly hear from most media. And we aren’t exactly arguing that, we just think it’s better to talk about staying on the same page with the fast-changing world than to state its unique pacing over and over again. In this article, we're going to review what's popular and demanded in mobile app development, as well as look closely at the mobile app development latest trends.
With our business being software development, we keep our eyes on trends, updates, or new releases when it comes to the tech market. This way, we not only have solid expertise in our mobile app development but also are competent enough to provide consulting services, being armed with a deep understanding of IT tendencies.
So, without hesitation, let’s dive into the latest mobile app development trends, find the best technologies to adopt, and determine the essentials to focus on.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in mobile apps
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are staying strong at the top of the list of trends in mobile app development. As the trend is absolutely booming, its capacities and ways of implementation still continue to surprise.
In 2023, AI and ML adoption provides businesses with great analytical capabilities to measure engagement rates, understand user behavior, and determine users’ needs fast. With the power of machine learning, AI recognizes patterns to create forecasts for market demands, which lets business owners make predictions and build strategies for success. It enhances the decision-making process as it provides more than enough data to see the bigger picture and determine the best path to take.
From the users’ side, AI is about convenience and personalization. High-quality apps powered by artificial intelligence provide personalized user experiences by matching users’ needs and preferences and adapting their processes to the best fit.
Adopting AR and VR in mobile apps
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are still trending and profitable for mobile apps to adopt: according to Statista, the revenue for the AR & VR market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.7% by 2027.
The point behind the AR adoption is to provide users the ability to interact with an item they are going to buy or use in the real world digitally before making the purchase. On the other hand, VR adoption allows companies to enhance personnel training. For example, ground operations specialists can use VR solutions to practice operating in bad weather or simulate night inspections.
These technologies often make their way into the gaming industry, retailing business, fitness, and educational apps, adding to the engagement rates of users. Virtual try-ons in clothing shop apps, furniture previews to see whether it suits your room design, and smart guides for using training hardware are among common use cases for AR and VR in apps today.
Focus on data privacy and app security
We have already talked about two mobile app development industry trends that are not exactly new to the market, and here comes the third one — the privacy and security trend. With the rise of influence our phones have on our daily lives, the issue of privacy and security becomes more and more relevant. Creating a good mobile app means gaining trust from the users, and there’s no way to do that without ensuring the safety of their personal data.
A secure app has to comply with security regulations, such as the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), and Open Worldwide Application Security Project (OWASP).
Most data breaches and hacking can be prevented by enhancing an app with biometric authorization, multi-factor authentication, and safe data encryption algorithms. However, these measures aren’t close enough to give an application a “secure” title.
Technologies are in constant development, and another key to secure mobile applications is for developers to be aware of the latest security and privacy vulnerabilities, along with staying proactive to address such issues before they can turn into any damage to users.
Cross-platform app development
The main point for businesses behind initiating a cross-platform development is to reach the widest possible audience, along with reducing development costs. Seems like a win-win situation.
Using a single codebase for the development not only enables mobile applications to run on both iOS and Android devices but also significantly reduces their time to market (TTM), not having the developers rebuild the same app for a different platform.
The most popular frameworks for cross-platform development are:
- Flutter
- React Native
- Ionic
- Xamarin
- Cordova
However, despite the advantages it brings to the table, cross-platform development also has its limitations, among which are lower design quality, weaker reliability, limited functionality, and worse performance compared to a native app.
Without a doubt, cross-platform development is a trendy, time- and resource-saving decision but still isn’t suitable for every case. For example, we wouldn’t recommend starting cross-platform development for apps that require a higher level of security, are expected to endure heavy loads or are planned to have intricate design.
5G technology
Fifth-generation wireless (5G) is becoming more and more available every day. The Statista shows that as of 2023, there are already ~1.9 billion 5G subscriptions across the world, estimated to increase up to 5.7 billion by 2027.
The inevitable future of 5G in every single phone creates a high demand for connectivity. For mobile apps, their developers, and users, 5G will bring such benefits as:
- Better video streaming. One of the most obvious benefits is that with 5G, every mobile app can stream videos in UltraHD and enhance live streams with the highest resolutions.
- Effective AR & VR integration. The internet connection was exactly the limitation that stopped AR & VR integration from finding its place in many mobile applications. With 5G, it will become much easier to make these technologies run smoothly and adapt successfully.
- Better GPS performance. Mobile apps based on GPS technology will find a significant improvement in the speed and accuracy of delivered data.
- Decreased dependence on hardware. With greater speed and lower latency, there will be more apps with a real-time connection to cloud-based services, making a big shift from hardware to cloud storage.
- Improved UX. Better internet connectivity will make apps faster to respond, decreasing the load time of the app itself and the features of different complexity.
- Seamless IoT applications. 5G will make IoT applications even more seamless, creating possibilities for ambient computing to find its place in our daily lives. 5G will make IoT applications run even more smoothly as well as lower the error rates due to bad internet connection.
Mind Studios as your mobile app development partner
With more than 10 years of experience in mobile app development, we at Mind Studios never stop striving to learn more and more about the industry we work in. The changes and challenges our projects bring help us to overcome our limits and learn valuable lessons again and again.
For example, our latest release – Mulki – a real estate management app for the MENA region, is a perfect example of us following the latest trends of 2023. In Mulki, we used the power of artificial intelligence and machine learning to build a smart scanning feature for real estate documentation.
The point behind AI integration was that in the MENA region, all real estate contracts have a statutory and standardized structure, which creates an opportunity to automate the paperwork processes. Here is how the eventual smart scanning feature looks step-by-step:
- A user scans a contract via their phone.
- The app recognizes the required text with the help of machine learning.
- The app fills the correct blanks in a digital contract template with the recognized text.
- Voilà, a user has a version of the contract in their phone within a couple of seconds.
As a result, we delivered our client a product for both Android and iOS with the support of the Islamic Hijri calendar and a smart scanning feature powered by machine learning algorithms. We can talk about our projects till the end of the world, and in case you are interested in a detailed journey of Mind Studios with Mulki, here is our newest case study.
Conclusion
Our experience shows that the latest mobile app development trends aren’t always the newest things: 3 out of 5 trends right now could be on the same list of trends three or even more years ago. And it teaches us that regardless of the IT world’s fast pace, some things stay relevant.
Security and data privacy will be trending until there are no possibilities for data leaks, malware, or hacking. Cross-platform development will also be popular as it brings businesses desirable outcomes with a wider audience, lower costs, and lower time to market to deliver a user-friendly app.
AR and VR are not exactly new among the technologies, however, in 2023, there are still a lot of use cases for them to increase engagement rates and user satisfaction for mobile apps from various industries.
Artificial Intelligence is more and more developed and is an undeniable future of our world, but it is still risky and demanding to implement in every niche. With the lack of regulations, there are a lot of discoveries to make about its integration into our daily lives. AI chatbots, voice assistants, and predictive analytics already benefit many businesses around the world, building up more expectations.
5G is a revolution in telecommunications, however, it is still in the process of adaptation and integration. With several billions of subscriptions already, 5G is now the most anticipated technology to come to market.
Despite the fact that trends aren’t always new, they reflect the current state of interest both among businesses and users looking to satisfy their needs in the most convenient way possible. In case you feel left out with all the newest technologies but want to start conquering the mobile app world with your brilliant ideas – let us know. We will be happy to consult you on the matter and find a way to turn your ideas into reality.
