The World is moving at lightning speed and so is Mobile Technology. Guess what, something is faster than this…sale of Smart Phones. Never in history, there was such a demand for smartphones. New Smartphones are coming every day with all-new features and are getting sold at lighting speed. This makes the mobile app industry one of the leading sectors that is growing at the fastest pace. Mobile apps are expected to generate $189 Billion US dollars in revenue by 2020. And so Mobile-App Development is one of the most trending topics of present times.
Talking about Mobile-App Development, the king of the market Android OS has covered almost 75% of the Market Share World-wide. So due to the demanding features in smartphones and such large customer base, Android Developers have to keep themselves updated to the latest trends in Android-App Development.
No, you don’t have to search it by yourself because we have made this easier for you and listed for you the most emerging trends that every Mobile-App/Android Developer should keep in mind to keep pace with the current market.
1. Building really Smart Apps using Artificial Intelligence:
Those days are now gone where apps would only fetch and display data from local or remote sources. Today data can be processed into something really valuable and data itself can be trained for decision-making capabilities. The magic ingredient for this is AI.
Imagine an app that not only inputs the user’s body height and weight but also produces a personalized exercise plan to get the user back on a track to physical fitness. Over the long run, such AI technology can prevent obesity and other complications that could result from excess weight. This was just a small example of how AI can change the way App reacts to the user data and use the data to benefit the user.
Some really cool features that can be embedded to App using AI includes:
- Predictive and smart Reply
- Speech recognition
- Understanding user behavior through data analysis
- Face detection
- Image labeling
- Text recognition
- Landmark detection
And the list continues….
2. Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality:
Augmented Reality:
As the word describes : Augmented Reality means to expand reality. Not making it complex, a simple example of AR is the filters that you have while clicking images in Apps like Snapchat, Instagram, and many others. Basically the images you see are not actually present there but they are virtually present.
Another way to use ARÂ can be a visualization app which gives customers the ability to virtually place furniture products in their home environment before buying.
AR can be used in many ways because it gives users a sight and feel of what is not actually present. So AR can be used in various apps like:
- Navigation
- Gaming
- Camera
- Design
- Education
- Advertising
- Translation……. and the list goes on till your thinking capacity.
Virtual Reality:
Virtual reality is a simulated experience that can be similar to or completely different from the real world. It is used to create an experience that the user feels he/she is actually in the digital world.
A simple example of VR in education sector can be:
Students can go on trips which transfers them far away even to places that are inaccessible using apps like the Google Expeditions. This makes their learning experience much enjoyable.
So here are some future trends of AR & VR:
- VR based virtual training simulations
- AR-based virtual user manual
- AR-based destination navigator
- VR based exploration activities
- VR based live music festivals and concerts
- VR and AR-based visual learning
3. Internet of things (IoT)
The IoT (Internet of things) is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines that are provided with UIDs (unique identifiers) and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction.
It simply means embedding the internet to a device. Eg: AirConditioners embedded with internet can be accessed from any remote location.So if you are at office and want to have the AC cool your room before you reach home, you can do it from your smartphone. This is the magic of IOT Systems.
IoT products like Amazon Dash button, Philips lighting system, August doorbell cam, August smart lock, etc. are already winning users over.
Many business organizations are quickly shifting their gear into IoT app development. So in 2020, IoT devices will be as omnipresent as smartphones.
Future trends of IoT
- Smart and self-driving automobiles
- Smart homes and cities
- AI-powered IoT devices
- IoT in healthcare
4. Building Apps keeping Dark Mode in mind:
Yes Dark Mode, believe me it’s trending. Many users, especially the youth, prefer Dark Theme over the Light one.
Dark theme is available in Android v10, ie. API level 29Â and higher.
It has the following benefits:
- It reduces power usage by a great amount in comparison to the default mode(depending on the device’s screen technology).
- Improves visibility for users even with low vision and those who are sensitive to bright light.
- Makes it easier for anyone to use a device even in a low-light environment.
Dark theme applies to both the apps running on the device and the whole Android system UI.
And so if Android Developers want their apps to get user’s attention they might think to add Dark Mode to their app.
5. Building Apps for Foldables and Wearables:
With the demand for something new, mobile companies are out with Foldable screen smartphones which can Fold like a notebook even while using it. Also with the release of Android 10 which has support for such emerging devices like Foldables, Android Developers have to build apps which supports such devices too.
Wearables are already trending and many people already use them in forms of fitness trackers, smartwatches, smart jewelry, display devices, sensors, and so on. Wearables can track heartbeats, walking steps, body temperature, blood oxygen levels and also analyze body movements etc.
In future, wearables could provide all features that a smartphone provides right now and possibly could take on the smartphone market.
6. Using Android Jetpack:
If you are an Android Developer you already know what i am talking about…But if you are a newbie then let me tell you:
Jetpack is a set of libraries, tools, and guidance to help developers write and build high-quality apps easier. Jetpack components help the developers to follow the best practices, eliminate the need to write boilerplate code, and also simplify complex tasks, so one can focus on the code. To learn more about Android Jetpack, check this out.
Android Jetpack has been in the Android space for much time but most of the developers have not yet taken a dip in the sea of Jetpack. Also, Google is repeatedly adding features to Jetpack, so yes it is still a trending topic which Android Developers have to take in account.
7. Beacon Technology
Beacons are small, wireless transmitters that use low-energy Bluetooth technology to send signals to other smart devices nearby.
A beacon device contains a CPU, radio, batteries, and it works by broadcasting out an identifier repeatedly. The identifier is a unique ID number that your smartphone
recognizes as unique to the beacon. Once connected, the beacon can carry out whatever function it has been programmed to perform.
At first, Apple introduced iBeacon as part of iOS 7 at the World Wide Developer Conference 2013.Then in 2015, Google launched Eddystone, a competitor to Apple’s iBeacon.
Eddystone has been designed to provide location-based content to your smartphone. Being compatible across platforms, it aims to encourage developers to work with beacon technology with or without using apps.
Market Insights have predicted that the beacon technology market is set to surpass $25 billion by 2024.Â
So now you already know why you should dive into the world of Beacons. And to know about how to build apps with Beacons, check out the official Google-Beacon Platform documentation.
Wrapping it Up:
As said, Change is the only constant thing in the world. To survive in this fast-growing world one must learn to smoothly adapt to the changes. And these lines are absolutely perfect to explain a Software Developer’s life.
 Now or soon Today’s current trends are going to be tomorrow’s future.
Stay Updated Stay Trendy……. Â
