With over 7.8 billion people across the world with 2 billion smartphone users and 27.5 billion mobile apps downloaded, the entire world has been turned to be in our hands due to these mobile apps. Mobile application development is certainly one of the innovative and actively growing fast-paced sectors in the software industry.

Mobile app development is driven by the proliferating technological trends, which are needed to be integrated with mobile apps in order to rule the app development industry in future.

• Cloud-Based IoT

Nowadays IoT has become a buzz word, everything with a prefix ‘smart’ can be connected to IoT. There is a smartwatch, smartphone, smartTV, Cameras, smoke alarm, and plenty of other smart things. All such things need IoT integration. The use of such products is increasing with each passing day, taking this into consideration, it is evident that the market needs companies that can develop custom IoT applications. Everything that we know now needs an IoT. For instance devices like smart home, mobile phones, smart tv, sensors and wearables, all are visible examples of the advent of IoT.

• AI (Artificial Intelligence) and ML (Machine Learning)

AI and ML are becoming integral parts of the future of mobile app development. AI can be used in many different industries from the financial sector like money transfer, virtual assistants, verbal instructions, to the sectors which would like more personal experience for users. Machine learning is gaining popularity owing to the business implications and performance improvements it is making in the industry.

Tinder is a company that utilizes machine learning to increase a user’s probabilities to find a  dating match which is a core aspect of its business model. Google Maps is making the process of choosing a parking spot easier through machine learning. With the proper implementation of machine learning,  new business models can be introduced and existing businesses can increase their productivity and profitability.

• AR (Augmented Reality) and VR (Virtual Reality)

The gaming industry has entirely changed with the advent of AR and VR, it all started with Pokemon Go, from there it widely spread and now we can see that AR and VR are not only limited to gaming app industries but also integrated with several other things like real estate, e-commerce, furniture industries. For example, Google Translate allows the users to launch a camera mode within an app and take a picture of the text you don’t understand and translate the text in the language you understand. AR Kit and AR Core are app development kits launched by Apple and Google that enable app developers in creating high-performance AR-VR mobile apps.

• Progressive Web Applications

A progressive web application (PWA) is a type of application software delivered through the web, built using common web technologies including HTML, CSS and JavaScript and enables user experiences similar to native applications on desktop and mobile devices. Since a progressive web app is a type of webpage also known as a web application, there is no requirement for developers or users to install the web apps via digital distribution systems like App Store or Play Store.

• BlockChain

The technology behind cryptocurrencies is Blockchain, the uses of this technology are practically endless, from the obvious such as financial and security to manufacturing. Block-chain gained popularity mainly due to its enhanced security.  It is also used in exchanging market, e-commerce, as a digital wallet, tracking and smart contracting. There are several existing block-chain frameworks like Ethereum which can be used to create smart contract applications. The best advantage is that a block-chain network can support its own financial token or a cryptocurrency. The best blockchain applications are those in which the token has a utility within the platform. For example, the Ripple network runs on XRP cryptocurrency which is used to make global financial transactions.

  Cloud Based Apps

Cloud Computing allows the user to store information on centralized servers, which can be fetched out later temporarily on any client devices including desktops, notebooks, handhelds, and many other devices. With this technology, smartphone users can store huge amount of data, without even using a single bit of their mobile space. It can also give information about the user’s location, context, and other requested services to improvise user experience.

• Wearable Gadgets

Apple Watch and Microsoft Hololens were launched by tech mammoths Apple and Microsoft with a lot of features. These companies have made these wearables amazingly well and it has improved the human relationship with the machines. These wearables will then need to communicate with mobile applications to deliver information to any other device which in turn help in the improvement of a wide range of services. Wearables are still in the growth stage as many new wearable applications are still coming up. We need to watch and see how the wearable apps and devices industry is going to explode in the future.

Smartphones are getting compact day to day with increased features and functionalities and all these technologies would influence the future of mobile application development especially in improvising user experience.