Top 5 Mobile App Development Trends Expected to Dominate in 2018

Mobile apps have surely been the hotspot of news, views, reviews and analysis over the last couple of years.

Despite rumors, or better say ‘misinterpretations’, about the alleged ‘app boom’ coming to the brink of closure, the fact of the day remains the same as it had been over the last year, year-and-a-half, or so: mobile apps are striking gold, the app boom is not going to end anytime soon.

And, to be more precise, it’s just the advent of a colossal appification, with 2018 looking all in readiness to conquer the unexplored realms of appversity, touching new dimensions, technologies, and platforms.According to IDC, “By 2020 there will be over 6.1bn smartphone users surpassing the fixed line subscriptions.” Considering this massive figure, any top mobile app development company will surely look to tweak things up in order to entice the prospects and sail above the competition.

Here’s a quick view of the top 5 mobile app development trends to watch out for in 2018:

1.  The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning mobile apps

While Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) dominated the thoughts of app developers right through 2017, the year ahead will experience a drastic influence of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning on the app community. Though AI or ML is no novelty and have been around since a while now, their intensity and magnitude will grow significantly across the mobile app fraternity in 2018.

Developers will be on their toes to come up with apps focused on reinforcement learning and language learning. While it will provide an all-new revenue stream to app developers, the machines like computers will behave more like humans through human intelligence simulation. IDC predicts, “The AI market will grow to more than $47 billion in 2020”. And 2018 will sure be the fulcrum of this tremendous uproar.

Enterprises have already started brainstorming for AI and ML and, as a chain reaction, you can sense the giants across leading industries - like finance, banking and retail – planning their moves in the direction of machine learning mobile apps. AI will continue to bring about a drastic transformation in our world, getting more and more integrated into our lives.

2.         Ascend of Android instant apps

Android instant apps and their influence on progressive web apps is already a blockbuster debate. Instant apps, basically, are native apps that work like a website and have the potential to magnetize more and more people, thanks to the exquisite convenience they have on offer. Instant apps need no installation and, therefore, there are no roadblocks between apps and websites. These apps are tremendously easy to share, are compatible with all Android versions, and are set to take the world by the storm in 2018.

3. IoT and Wearable Apps are the next big thing

Wearable apps powered by IoT find a spot in our top mobile app development trends for 2018.

The world has already accepted the monopoly of IoT, and it’s only going to get bigger, better in the year ahead. According to International Data Corporation (IDC), “The market for wearable devices is going to experience a composite annual growth rate of 20.3 %, leading to 213.6 million units shipped in 2020”. And it’s pretty much obvious that 2018 will be a milestone to this pivotal change and any IoT application development company will look jump on the bandwagon.

4. The blockchain boom

Blockchain has perhaps attracted more eyeballs alone as compared to all other rising technologies put together of late. Blockchain, the technology powering the wonder word ‘Bitcoin’ is now making its presence felt across the nations, slowly but surely.

Blockchain is an unalterable, shared ledger to record a company’s data listed as blocks – no matter that’s the history of processed transactions or bitcoins, none of the two can be modified without changing the collusion of the network and all subsequent blocks. Data tyrants have almost surrendered against this failsafe latest technology as it eradicates the scope of information tampering.

In 2018, mobile app developers will look to explore this technology a touch more confidently to harness stronger outlook by providing transparent and secure access to the blockchain.

5. Big data to get bigger in 2018

In 2018, any mobile app development agency will be more likely to come up with advanced, hybrid application security features by integrating apps with big data and data science.

Core data capabilities will be the focal point for enterprises looking to improve the functionality of big data and big data-powered apps. For instance, big data analysis will simplify features like tracking the use trend of a device.

Other rising mobile app development trends for 2018.

Along with our handpicked top 5, several other mobile app development trends will do the rounds in the year ahead. Some of these include:

·         Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)

·         AR and VR

·         Cloud Technologies

·         Cyber Security

·         Predictive Analysis

·         Business Bots

·         Edge Computing

·         Lazy Loading

·         Enterprise and micro apps

·         M-Commerce Rise

·         Location-Based Application

+1 Windfall Trend: The world will run on 5G

The confluence of cloud technology, AI, instant apps, and the landslide of smartphone devices as well as mobile subscriptions will act as a catalyst for ingeniously superfast 5G digital speed.

Though there’s no ‘soak-overnight’ formula to 5G, given the extent and rage of hyper-connectivity the world is scrambling towards, being a mobile app developer, you’d do well to be proactive and be prepared to switch the gears.