Mobile app development will be a US$77 billion opportunity this year

We are well into 2017, and it is high time to take stock of the trends that have come and gone. The market of mobile apps is getting bigger day by day. According to Gartner research, there will be more than 260 billion mobile app downloads in 2016, compared to 180 billion in 2015. The market is supersaturated and really competitive. But there is still a high demand for fine solutions, though. To be up to date, check out an outlook of about five app development trends you should not miss, as created by mobile app development company The App Solutions.

1. More IoT apps

The IoT industry is expanding rapidly and will connect more than 4 billion people, with an opportunity for US$4 trillion revenue by 2020. It will effect a major shift both in hardware and software connected devices.

The core idea behind this trend is not just collecting information, but also provide an information analysis users can rely on while making decisions.

The App Solutions determines two vectors of development for the upcoming year. First is the Rapid Prototype Development that provides the service of prototype creation on a really tight schedule. The second line of activity is the Prototype to Production service wherein we help to complete the project, staff the team with engineers and pick the hardware products.

Also Read: Connected everything: Here are 7 ways IoT will change the business landscape this year

2. Android before iOS

In 2017 Android has all chances to become a priority platform. Already now Google Play has twice more downloads than iOS App Store. (To be fair we should notice that iOS apps bring more revenue than Android.)

The main reason for this tendency is growing markets of India, China, and Latin America, where smartphones that run on Android prevail. Another significant factor is the evolution of Android ecosystem itself. In any case, the final choice is dictated by the business objectives of each particular project.

3. More UX, less art

The success of a mobile app is defined by the thoughtful user experience, and 2017 won’t change the situation. A diffused background with well-marked and highlighted call-to-action button is a must today. In this way, app owners can help users navigate through the app to the target action. The art should bring a minimum distraction.

Graphic designers and artists will develop UX into an art form. So take a closer look at grid-based interfaces, parallax, split-screens and micro-interactions to gain traction.

Also Read: Meet design thinking: An approach to problem solving that can increase the probability of breakthrough in innovation

4. Security is more important than ever before

Surprisingly, a vast amount of users still don’t take the security issue seriously enough. But it absolutely does not mean that app developers should do the same. With growing development of mobile purchasing and rapidly expanded amount of other users’ private data, security is a number one priority.

Smartphones have plenty of options for user verification like face recognition through inbuilt cameras, voice recognition, fingerprints, SMS codes, and phone calls verification. The whole app security architecture should be carefully checked and improved.

5. Cross-platform apps

Cross-platform apps gain more attention and this becomes another trend that shapes the nearest future. App development customers want to get their apps in the short term and with reasonable price, and frameworks like AngularJS or Cordova are perfect for that.

Another argument for this trend is an increasing number of devices per one person. All apps should look nice, run smoothly, and show excellent performance while connecting to each other.

Also Read: IoT and e-commerce: How platforms and marketers can benefit from increased connectivity

The takeaway

As a bonus, here are some more trends we all should look out for:

• Space saving features that will help to solve the problem with constant lack of space;

• Interactive push notifications can bring the interaction with app users to a new level of communication;

• Virtual Reality is a bit raw at the moment, but the interest for this area is definitely huge;

• Сhatbots are already here to take over the care of answering users questions and providing relevant content.

To sum up all the above, we should say that the opportunities of a mobile app market are going to reach US$77 billion during the year. So it is worth trying even if your idea is in a highly competitive niche.

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