Mobile Application Technology Trends to Watch Out for 2017 & Beyond

Mobile is one of the most pervasive forces in technology today. Mobile devices and applications dominate our reality and consumption of information in unprecedented ways. But both the devices and the operating systems and technology used within smartphones have come a long way from the first cellular phone created in 1973 by Motorola engineer Martin Cooper. Cooper called his rival AT&T’s Joel Engell in the seminal phone call that is now an iconic anecdote.

“If you want people to think out of the box, you shouldn’t create the box in the first place,” is Martin Cooper’s oft quoted phrase regarding the first, portable, hand-held, cellular phone that apparently weighed a kilo. Since then mobile phones have escaped the box – they have become sleeker, smarter, intuitive and capable of much more than phone calls.

In fact, there is so much more that’s happening on the ‘device’ ecosystem, that placing phone calls now just seems like one of its minor benefits and no longer its defining attribute. So, what are many technologies and trends that are influencing the future of mobile apps and their development?

The Internet of Things
Using the coffee maker manually to make coffee is so 2012. The present and the future are places where gizmos, appliances, and gadgets can be and will be controlled remotely with ‘smart control’. Smart objects are basically all devices that you can access remotely or electronically via your mobile devices or tablets. These can help you control your house’s thermostat, change the ambience of your homes with mood lighting (or smart lighting), live feed and updates from your oven regards to the progress of your dishes, smoke alarms, vacuuming – there is no shortage of possibilities.

Everything is uber-connected with the Internet of Things (IoT) and the user wields ultimate super-powers using just one smart device. Many technology companies and mobile developers are looking at innovative ways in which devices can connect, collaborate and make lives easier.

M-Commerce
The rise of m-commerce has challenged the notions of online shopping and is set to surpass desktop eCommerce very soon. Having a mobile phone with real-time information is a driving factor for customers to shop spontaneously, and make product discoveries. According to a report by Invespcro, over two billion mobile phone or tablet users will make some form of mobile commerce transaction by the end of 2017. Also, data from comScore shows that m-commerce growth overshadows all another online retail spending with three times the growth of desktop eCommerce. The future of mobile app development is certainly linked with the growth of digital commerce. Mobile app developers and companies should be prepared for the great opportunities this dynamic presents. Trends like storefront apps, marketing automation, chatbots and mobile messengers are redefining the face of smart-phone powered shopping and these are areas for developers and businesses to focus on.

Mobile DevOps
With the focus on continuous integration and continuous delivery, mobile DevOps have the power to integrate IT, development and operations with their operational goals. Mobile apps that interact closely with legacy apps and systems will be the heroes in the DevOps lifecycle. For enterprises going the mobile DevOps way, however, this presents significant opportunities and challenges. From multi-platform support to enterprise business-to-consumer (B2C) or business-to-employee (B2E) mobile apps, to automated testing, deployment, and monitoring of mobile apps – businesses will need to take a proactive and holistic view of mobile’s capabilities.

Motion and Location Sensing
Almost all new smartphones have location sensing technologies that use many positioning methods to provide location data. This helps in delivering location-specific contextual information to the users. Where motion-sensing has many benefits for security, Anti-theft, power-saving and games, location sensing technology are being used in geotagging, games, navigation, and fitness. These comprise a large part of the apps that we use on our phones from Maps to Pedometer. Motion and location sensing technology bears great relevance for the retail sector. Moreover, designers are breaking new grounds with technologies like Wi-Fi, imaging, ultrasonic beacons and indoor location sensing – to create extremely personalized services.

Just the tip of the iceberg
With technology like Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Wearable Tech, and brain-computer interface, mobile seems to have just scratched the surface of its full potential. It is certain that mobile devices and technology will reconceive the world as we know it. We offer custom mobile application development services to build highly functional apps with native performance, expressive and flexible UI.