Experts estimate that the number of smartphone users worldwide will grow to 4.3 billion in 2023, which will significantly increase the percentage of mobile app downloads.
Friflex LLC specializes in the development of mobile apps for business. In this article, Friflex mobile development team talks about what mobile development trends will be relevant in 2023.
Cross-Platform Mobile Apps
Cross-platform mobile development remains the optimal approach to creating rich mobile apps for multiple operating systems at once. It optimizes both time and budget of the development team.
Currently, there are more than 40 frameworks and programming languages that support cross-platform development. The most popular framework is Flutter.
This year, Flutter received several important updates — now Flutter fully supports all available platforms and even foldable devices.
Flutter apps on iOS support 120Hz, just like native ones. Performance is improved, as well as image decoding, error handling and other features.
With the help of Flutter apps were developed for such companies as Alibaba Group, eBay, Tencent, Toyota and many other global brands.
This year, Flutter received several important updates — now Flutter fully supports all available mobile platforms and even foldable devices.
Flutter apps on iOS now support 120Hz, just like native ones. Performance is improved, as well as image decoding, error handling and other features.
With the help of Flutter, such companies as Alibaba Group, eBay, Tencent, Toyota and other global brands developed their mobile apps.
PWA
PWA (Progressive Web Application) is a web development technology that visually and functionally transforms a website into a mobile app in a browser. Such apps can run on different devices in any of the common browsers.
Research indicates that PWAs have a 36% higher conversion rate than a mobile website. Among the advantages of PWA one can single out development speed and budget savings. However, there are certain disadvantages — PWA won’t be able to completely replace a multifunctional app due to a number of functional shortcomings, limited access to the device’s hardware components, high power consumption, and other minor reasons.
PWA can be an express solution for those who want to quickly release a version of the product for convenient use on mobile devices, for example, to replace an app you had deleted from stores.
Stories
Stories continue their move from social media to business apps. They turn a mobile app into a platform where you can not only make purchases, but also interact with content. Stories create an emotional connection with the user, influence his loyalty, increase conversion and screen time, as well as the duration of one session.
Google introduced Google Web Stories to stimulate content creators that used their services. The new service was integrated into Google Search and the carousels of Google Discover, also heightening regular users’ engagement.
AI in Mobile Apps
Artificial intelligence and machine learning dominate the technology industry. Developments based on them allow companies to create chat bots, voice assistants, virtual fitting rooms, as well as automate marketing using smart analysis of user actions and build even more personalized communications with the client.
According to Gartner, 40% of infrastructure and operations teams will begin to use automation using artificial intelligence technologies to increase IT productivity by 2023. AI is most actively used today in e-commerce, mobile banking, SportTech, and travel apps.
In the e-commerce banks and telecoms mobile apps, the most common AI-based development is chatbots. Personalized B2C chat can be developed based on ML (Machine Learning), NLP and neural network training. Retailers, such as Staples and H&M, use chatbots to connect with their customers.
SportTech has examples of applications that have not just integrated AI to optimize performance, but have developed a killer feature based on it. For example, the idChess mobile app, uses AI technologies and computer vision to allow you to digitize chess games played on a physical chess board and record them on your smartphone as of a chess diagram in pgn and gif formats.
By integrating AI into a mobile app, you can increase the effectiveness of marketing. Artificial intelligence allows you to automate B2C interactions using voice or text communication and cross-platform communication, analyze user actions in the application, predict market needs, and reduce time for routine tasks.
Gamification
Gamification increases the value of a mobile app in the user’s eyes. This tool is also able to influence the behavior of your client. Gamification motivates the user to return to the app more often, making purchases, inviting friends, completing various tasks and receiving rewards for them.
A large audience uses a smartphone for games and communication rather than for shopping. Gamification in e-commerce, for example, can attract new users. A big advantage of mobile apps over web versions, among others, is the ability to easily turn it into a game.
The Farfetch online store has collaborated with the fashion game Drest. In the game, it was necessary to create an image for a model from the catalog, as well as complete tasks within a certain budget, and share images. After creating a virtual image, users were able to purchase similar products on Farfetch.
In order for the costs of gamification to affect not only user engagement, but also monetary metrics, you need to set a goal. What has the business to get from users playing with their app? If gamification is created only to “be in trend”, the business won’t be able to capitalize on it.
Location Based Services
Location Based Services (LBS) provide a dynamic user experience and change the way customers interact with businesses.
Today, location data is essential for many services. They allow you to track the places visited by the user and use these resources for analytical purposes; conduct marketing campaigns based on geolocation; offer additional services (delivery, etc.) LBS provides access to up-to-date data and allows companies to obtain information about their customers.
Android Instant Apps
The number of mobile apps in app stores continues to increase, which creates more and more competition for space in the user’s smartphone. With this in mind, Google introduced its Android Instant Apps.
Android Instant Apps allow users to download only the essential parts of the app while accessing the rest of the content instantly via a URL.
Developers can easily turn their core apps into instant apps without having to create separate ones.
The technology may become especially relevant for the retail, delivery and taxi industries, where some users immediately delete their app after completing the target action.
Successful cases of instant apps integration were shown by Vimeo video hosting, JET trading platform and The New York Times. After launching Instant Apps, average session length on Vimeo increased by 130%, customer conversion rates on Jet went up by 27%, and New York Times crosswords doubled the number of sessions per user.
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From our own experience in mobile development, we observe the development or disappearance of certain trends. At first, innovations were regarded with skepticism, for example, when stories were introduced on Instagram in 2016. But over time, businesses adopt and borrow from each other, and today stories and their analogues are used in retail, fintech and other areas.
A crisis may serve as the impetus for the development of a trend. The pandemic has greatly affected consumer behavior and created a demand for the use of artificial intelligence in mobile apps. Smart virtual assistants that are able to solve a client’s issue without the need to visit, for example, a bank, are a convenient feature for both the company and the user.
If you need an app designed with the use of the latest technologies, you can contact us! You can also subscribe to our LinkedIn to be the first to read our newest insights.
