Mobile App Development Trends to Follow in 2020

There is no denying in the fact that Smartphones are transforming operating models, business models, and marketplaces at a surprising rate. It is expected that in the next two years, mobile app market revenue will reach $693 billion.

However, not every application that comes into existence remains the apple of the eye of its users. According to Gartner’s prediction, 9,999 in 10,000 mobile applications fail. This clearly tells that having a mobile presence is not enough in this century, where every day thousands of similar applications are getting developed.

The apps that were developed in 2018-19, might not possess the potential to work successfully in 2020. Just with the correct mobile app development strategy, you cannot sustain the position in this market which is changing every single day. Hence, it is quintessential to keep up with mobile app development trends if you want to stay competitive with others in your niche.

Now comes the question, what are the trends for mobile app development that will rule this decade? Let’s have a look:

Beacon Technology

The latest trends in the mobile app technology show that beacon is something that will evolve in 2020. The technology is the first mobile application trend that is completely embraced by hotels, museums, healthcare industry and more. The best part of beacon technology is that the average user can easily get used to its functionality.

Firstly, let’s see what actually are Beacons?

Beacons are small, wireless transmitters that use low-energy Bluetooth technology to send signals to nearby smart devices. They found application in location technology and proximity marketing. Beacons were developed to connect and transmit information to smart devices, which makes location-based searching and interaction easier. Beacons, when merged with the Internet of Things, find application in the retail sector.

According to GeoMarketing, the number of beacons deployment is expected to rise to 400 million globally by the end of 2020. The proliferation of smartphones has put various industry verticals over the edge in order to cater to the demand of boosting location-based marketing solutions provided by Beacons. Today, Beacons find applications in a wide range of industries, ranging from retail, banking, cinema, healthcare, airports, logistics and more.

Apps for Foldables

With Samsung’s foldable OLED display, the operating systems are getting ready to make use of this technology to improve smartphone experiences. According to Samsung, mobile applications like Amazon Prime Video, Facebook, VSCO, Twitter, Spotify and Microsoft Office are already optimized for Galaxy Fold.

Since the foldable phone is sure to be the buzzword in the year 2020, it has become important to plan the mobile development strategy in the way that it runs seamlessly on foldable devices.

When running an application on a foldable device, the transition of the app from one screen to another should happen automatically. For great user experience, it is important that the current task continues seamlessly and the app resume in the same state. An app should save the UI state and support configuration changes to aptly respond to the configuration triggered during the transition.

It is important to note here that Android 10 (API level 29) and higher supports quite a large number of aspect ratios. With Foldable, form factors can vary from long and thin screens such as 21:9 to 1:1.

Screen continuity, multi-resume and multi-display are some of the factors that should be kept in mind while designing an app for foldable display.

Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence

When it comes to artificial intelligence on Smartphones, Virtual assistants like Google Assistants, Siri and AI-based photo filtering apps like FaceApp and Prisma comes to mind.

But in 2020, we are sure to witness the enhancement of existing application and many other tools like AI-based cameras, user predictions, voice translations, and user predictions will find a home in the smartphones.

A combination of AI and MI is sure to bring a wide range of benefits to application development. With AI and MI, it would be possible to keep track on previous data, detect problems and fix them in real-time. These two technologies can be combined to comprehend behaviour and action through regular usage patterns and implement necessary actions.

Some of the popular examples which show the use of AI and MI in app development are:

• Chatbots and virtual personal assistants
• Speech recognition apps used for entertainment and gaming
• Medical software that diagnoses the medical condition and suggests treatment
• Motion and facial detection apps, which found application in a surveillance system
• Financial forecasting solutions

This year is sure to witness the boost in the number of mobile apps which can recognize voice commands, analyse textual data and anticipate user behaviour.

Chatbots

Users, these days look for DIY customer service tools that can reduce the hassles involved in online purchasing. And chatbots are the perfect option that can help you with customer relationship management.

It is expected that in 2020, the integration of chatbots to the mobile application will rise from being fairly rudimentary to a fierce level. According to the recent statistics by Gartner, by 2022, chatbots will be delivering $8 billion is cost savings.

As of date, the approximate number of apps in Apple Play store is 1.8 million, and the number of applications found in Google Play Store is 2.5 million. However, there are still many applications that are not leveraging Chatbots to boost user experience.

With users appreciating quick and precise answers, it is an excellent business opportunity to integrate chatbot to your mobile app.

Mobile Wallets

Keeping in mind the ubiquity of smartphones and the rise in the popularity of smart watches, mobile wallets such as Google Pay and Apple Wallet is sure to drive purchases through 2020. Hence, the demand for mobile wallet apps is sure to rise this year as well as in the coming year.

According to the recent stats, the transaction through mobile wallet reached $4296 billion in 2018. And by 2022, this value is forecasted to reach a gigantic $13,979 billion.

Mobile wallets are more popular between the younger demographics due to their enhanced capability to handle and customize the technological solution as opposed to the older side of the spectrum.

There is no denying in the fact that mobile wallets eliminate the barriers that prolong the checkout process while placing an online order. Hence, for the suppliers to remove the obstacles in conversions, it is imperative to integrate their application with the mobile wallet.

Even the major brands like Ticketmaster, Under Armour, Wayfair and Avis have jumped on board with mobile wallets. So, if you want to make sure that you are not lacking behind your competitor, then make sure you are integrating mobile wallet with your application.

Conclusion

There is a plethora of applications available on Google Play, Apple App Store, Amazon App Store and Window Store. With all these mobile application trends, the mobile industry is sure to expand at a lightning speed.

The emerging trend in mobile app development technologies, micro services and rising backend platforms, combined with changing hardware capabilities will continue to steer mobile application evolution.

Thus, to make sure that you are not behind your competitors in this highly competitive app development space, it is crucial for business leaders to stay abreast with the latest trends and technologies.