The mobile app development is a fast-growing industry. Whether you’re a mobile app developer or a business owner you need to keep up with the latest trends in order to stay competitive. The experts in the field keep coming up with new and new predictions for what will be trendy in 2016. Here 12 trends of this year you shouldn’t miss.
Mobile devices and e-commerce
According to the latest surveys, people extensively use their mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones, for online shopping. Due to this tendency, some major e-commerce portals have even decided to abandon their websites and launched their mobile apps instead. And it’s reasonable since the stats show that online purchases made from mobile devices take up about 90% of traffic.
Cloud technology
With the introduction of wearable devices, the apps using cloud technology, which can retrieve the data from any location, have gained its popularity with app developers. It’s predicted that app makers will mainly use cloud technology while building mobile apps.
Hybrid apps
Going native or going hybrid is a personal choice of any developer but 2016 will see a great increase in hybrid HTML5 app development. Businesses will give their preference to HTML5 when developing apps for their needs as well for customers.
Internet of Things
IoT devices will be adopted by the enterprises in the fields of health care, payments, and energy. For its implementation, a more advanced mobile integration platform will be required to switch to different needs. Thanks to those platforms the enterprise backend infrastructure will be improved making all data available to different devices.
IoT strategy
2016 is the time for the companies to learn more about IoT and devise their approach as to its implementation. A clear plan is necessary in order to avoid that fuss many companies experienced when they realized all the advantages of mobility but faced a lot of challenges connected with the building and integration of mobile apps at the desirable scale. That is why companies should be realistic about the idea of integrating IoT programs into their digital strategy. Also, they should clearly see the ways in which those programs will benefit their business. If everything is done properly, the experts predict that within next 4 years the IoT market will come up to two trillion dollars.
Data visualization
Using the IoT, enterprises will have to find a smart solution to visualize large chunks of data coming from different devices. They will need to organize and visualize those data in order to analyze it and make a rapid decision aimed at solving an immediate problem or revise a current strategy.
Cross-platform development
Despite the decrease in tablet sales, the businesses keep using these devices extensively. They are indispensable tools used by service technicians, energy engineers, or emergency responders. As long as long as they remain popular, those members of team who work remotely and those who coordinate their mobile devices with desktop environment will be in need of cross-platform solutions. It is expected that mobile applications will not differ much from web ones in terms of design, functionality, and performance. In other words, irrespective of the screen size, an app will perform well on any device.
Wearable devices
In 2016 the development of mobile and wearable devices will go hand in hand with a more noticeable shift to wearable device applications for enterprises. People are craving for something even more revolutionary than Google Glass or Apple Watch and want to get more hi-tech. It’s expected that wearables integrated with mobile apps will not only enhance our lifestyle but also will improve the enterprises’ workflow and facilitate productivity.
Consolidation of the mobile app market
According to some experts’ predictions, a lot of software providers will go out of market or be acquired this year. How will it influence the businesses? The number of platforms will decrease but what is left will be of high-quality and be available in one place.
Great improvement in mobile market
Due to a complex nature of enterprise mobility (since it requires not only integration and deployment but also security and management), there is a need for new app development architectures, models, and methodologies. Mobile apps are now in demand and this fact will encourage companies to improve their products and make them work for enterprises. The market will be more interested in the mobile application platforms that support a backend-as-a-service (MBaaS) model.
MCoE
A mobile center of excellence (MCoE) has been already used by many large enterprises. It facilitates close cooperation between customer’s (business) representatives and IT team so that both parties can control the mobile app development. This year, more companies are expected to establish a MCoE because it brings collaboration to the whole new level and makes the development process more efficient and scalable.
GPS-based technology
Another tendency that will be observed in mobile app industry is the wide employment of location-based technology. Such technology as Beacon has already brought in new experience both for businesses and individual users.
