Mobile app development has seen the most exceptional growth in the history of technology. Up until 2004, when Apple launched the very first iPhone, mobile applications were a category of software only companies cared about.
Today, mobile apps have garnered attention of every single person on the planet. Anyone who knows about internet, knows about mobile applications. They have proven a great business case as well. By 2020, mobile app revenues will touch $189 billion, a growth of more than 100% in four years.
All of this has been possible with only caveat – whatever works today will not work tomorrow, because there will be a new trend to catch upon. Cloud storage, real time emoji, encrypted messaging and what not.
So, here is a list of trends that will dominate and perhaps change the mobile app development world in 2019:
1. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning: Yes, AI and ML have been buzzing around for years now. As simple mathematical and statistical concepts, they have existed in academia for decades now; but in business sense, they are still new tech.Businesses are using AI and ML primarily for:
a. Data Analytics: Artificial Intelligence has the power to provide richer insights which might be missed by the human eye. The very advent of AI means that businesses have started using more and more data for making decisions. This has a primary impact on the business – the entire decision making process becomes more rational.
On a standalone basis, AI has great capacity to provide real-time predictive analytics to managers. Data Analytics was crucial feature levered by AI teams to beat the world’s best chess and Go players. The same logic can be used in data analytics to optimize operations.
b. Automation: The base case for AI is that it can help you automate the very recurring business processes. The capacity of AI is that it gets better as more data is fed into it and before you know, your AI algorithm is ready to take on more intuitive processes simply based on the insights it has garnered by working on the repetitive processes.
c. Research: Using the power of both analytics and automation, AI can push businesses for looking into directions they otherwise would’ve ignored.Beyond these use cases, branches of AI such as Natural Language Processing are actually helping businesses cut down costs by understanding user queries better.
It does not come as a surprise that investments in AI will touch $77.6 billion annually by 2022.
2. On-Demand Service Apps: Ask any mobile app development company in USA – what is the most aggressively growing category of apps? And the answer will be – on demand service apps.
The entire model of ‘Uber for this’ has spread like wildfire in the startup communities globally. What started with cab service on demand becoming the world’s most valuable company, has now expanded into pretty much every single service turning into an on-demand app business idea – restaurant booking to booking a helicopter to getting laundry done to getting a tutor for your children.
On-demand service apps will only grow in 2019, as business models start evolving and customers start looking for more tailored services.
3. Wearable Tech: The biggest indicator of an industry growing aggressively is when a big player moves into the space. When Apple and Facebook entered the wearables space, it was clear indication of the industry becoming ripe for growth.
Companies like FitBit have already shown the fitness and health application in the wearables space. Now, it is up to the new age mobile app development company to adapt the apps already on the market and make them compatible with the wrist sized screens on the wearables.
4. Instant Apps: Instant Apps as a concept have been around for more than a couple of years now. That said, Google has bundled it into a sophisticated product only recently.
If you have a business in app or game development and you want more users to try it out, you have to know about Google Play Instant. Most of us decide whether we will watch a movie or not by looking at the trailer. Google has taken the same concept and applied it to apps.
Now, with Instant Apps, users will be able to experience your app without downloading or installing it. They can have a cursory experience of the app or game right on Play Store. This is one of the key trends that will implode and change the way we interact with apps.
In Conclusion
Irrespective of what industry or business you are in, you should learn more about these upcoming trends. You have to have a plan ready on how you can integrate these new technological trends with your business strategy in the long run.