Top 12 Mobile App Development Trends to look for in 2021

The mobile app development industry has been booming for some time now. However, with the entrance of multiple new smartphones in the market, the requirement for staying competitive is vital for survival.

Approximately 3.5 billion people globally owned a smartphone in 2020. Currently, mobile apps are the most efficient, direct, and personalized way to convey information about a product, encourage brand loyalty, and stay entertained. By the end of 2021, the mobile app market revenue is expected to reach around $693 billion.

Indeed the mobile app development space is highly profitable however, it can make or break a business. When venturing into this space, businesses have to keep in mind the current trends. This article speaks about the Top 12 Mobile App Development Trends to look for in 2021.

Apps for Foldables Phones
Samsung’s foldable OLED display smartphones are now available and businesses are already developing apps for it. In 2018 Google announced support for foldable Android phones by using its ‘screen continuity’ API. Samsung recently announced that most of the popular Android apps have been optimized for Samsung Galaxy Fold such as Spotify, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon Prime Videos, Microsoft Office and VSCO.

If you are into mobile app development, then you have to plan a development strategy for apps to run seamlessly on foldable devices.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)
For those who don’t know, FaceApp rose to fame overnight and generated a revenue of $1 million in 2019. It is an app that uses AI (Artificial Intelligence) to add filters to the user’s photo and make them look older or younger.

AI and ML have been amongst the top trends of mobile app development for a while now. Recently apps like Google Assistant, Cortana, and Replika have all used and are experimenting with this technology. A combination of Deep Learning and ML is being used for mobile app development as they provide valuable data and real-time analytics for the project.

Chatbots
More than 50% of shoppers online want DIY (do-it-yourself) tools to speed up the purchasing process. Chatbots are perfect for this job. It helps the business to improve customer relationship management. In 2021 80% of businesses are expected to use chatbots as most businesses have realized its potential and consider it a must for business. Today users expect quick and precise answers and it is a business opportunity to integrate a chatbot into your mobile apps. It is one of the most important to look out for in 2021.

Wearable App Integration
According to Statista, it is estimated that there will be around 929 million connected wearable devices by 2021, which was only around 453 million in 2017.

With new technology advancements in the field of wearable technology, soon it will become a part of our integral life. Recently Apple at Worldwide Developers Conference announced its WatchOS update. In the update, it was mentioned that Apple Watch will no longer require a companion iOS app and will have an app store of its own. This indicates that there is a vast field of opportunities for apps in wearable technology, another trend to look out for in 2021.

IoT-Enabled Mobile Apps
The interconnection of smart devices over a network is called the Internet of Things (IoT). Brands like Google with Google Home Voice and Amazon with Echo have fully utilized the power of IoT.

With numerous applications in healthcare, supply chain, smart homes, etc., the increase in demands for IoT gadgets and systems has gone up. This on the other hand has increased the demand for IoT-enabled apps.

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)
Everyone remembers Pokemon Go. In its prime, it stormed the world. But now AR and VR are here to stay.

AR and VR have taken the gaming industry by storm and are creating high-quality gaming applications. Google is going to introduce new AR features for Google Maps, which would give directions from their camera phones in real-time.

Mobile Wallets
The availability of smartphones and the user intent towards easy payment facilities have given the rise to wallets such as Google Pay and Apple Pay. Samsung is also making use of mobile wallets to serve its users with a secure and convenient platform for money transactions and bill payments. Mobile wallets apps development is a key trend in 2021 and would be on a rise next year as well.

Mobile App Security
Security is not the latest trend but it is here to stay. Security should be at the forefront of mobile app development. Now with the integration of AI, AR, and VR data risk is at large, and security should be prioritized while developing apps in 2021.

Beacons Technology
Beacon technology will be strongly used in 2021. Beacon-powered notifications are helping businesses connect with their customers in a proper contextual manner. Beacon technology has now been adopted in airports, mobile payment, and automated personal beacons. It is used for virtual tours and makes them personalized and promotes smoothing and secure information sharing.

Instant Apps
Instant apps became famous in 2016. For those who don’t know, instant apps are native mobile apps that are usually smaller in size than the usual apps, they are user-friendly and highly convenient as there is no need to download them.

Users always demand a better User Experience and an app that loads faster. Indeed instant apps are a trend to watch out for in 2021.

On-Demand Apps
Uber was revolutionary when it came to existence and its awesomeness doubled when it started to offer a demand-based pricing model. Doing this paved the way and benchmarked user experience for other popular apps.

There has always been a demand for on-demand healthcare, ride-sharing, food delivery, travel, and beauty and around 42% of adults have used on-demand services at least once. Another trend to watch out for.

Cloud Storage Development
Surprisingly around 54% of businesses in the UK are without a cloud blessed solution and is considered a futuristic trend. However, everything is about to change.

Cloud technology is responsible for building instant Android apps and iOS devices also use cloud databases in some apps. Cloud computing helps mobile apps deal with a large amount of data effectively and carry out complex tasks along with being secure and cost-effective.

Conclusion
With over 8.93 million apps globally the mobile app development trend is bound to change in the coming years. Thus to stand highly competitive in this space businesses have to consider the latest trends to ride the waves. With the emergence of new technologies facilitating app platform development, the development of backend platforms and microservices, combined with new innovations in hardware will continue to drive innovation and steer mobile app evolution. If you are a company looking for mobile app development, then please do visit us for a FREE consultation.