13 digital product & app development trends to watch out in 2021
Our world is rapidly evolving. The change brought by technology has encapsulated our personal and professional lives. The year 2020 is all set to depart. Before going it leaves a scar of a coronavirus outbreak and drastic changes in the way we live and work, mainly due to technological advancement.
Without any doubt, along with laptops, smartphones and tablets are our most used devices, capturing an average of 3 hours and 50 minutes of our attention per day in 2020. The average time spent daily on a smartphone has been rising steadily for years, and this growth is predicted to continue in the future due to the conveniences that mobile applications can offer today.
Best mobile apps are created and updated every day. Almost each industry sector has started leveraging the benefits of customized on-demand apps for offering enhanced customer experience and improved services. These apps are designed to increase our convenience and are thriving in this pandemic age.
Now we use them everywhere: from grocery shopping to business meetings. Most countries now ask to have a national COVID-19 safety app before allowing to cross the border. What looks certain is that we will depend on mobile applications even more in the upcoming years, and the advancements of emerging technology will work wonders to make apps more useful while our lives — easier. To grow and sustain in a highly competitive environment apps require upgrades and innovation.
Isn’t it interesting to go through the top technology trends that will reshape the future of mobile app development by giving it a touch of innovation and creativity? Whether you are an entrepreneur, a startup owner, or an individual who likes to use various apps for personal convenience, you will certainly like to know the upcoming app development trends for the year 2021 and beyond.
The world looks at the technology with hope as we approach the year 2021.
1.5G Technology
The launch of 5G innovations has had a significant influence on mobile app development. Furthermore, 5G mobile phone technology projects are expected to deliver a tenfold reduction in latency while improving overall network efficiency and traffic capacity. With the speed of 100 Gbps and high radio recurrence, 5G innovation arrives at the greatness of information transmission with 1.4 billion cell phones over the globe.
5G would be up to 100 times faster and better compared to 4G, according to the different mobile network providers around the world. 5G is bringing new online service possibilities and the demand for 5G supporting and smoothly working mobile applications respectively.
2.Wearable Devices
The latest fad to arrive in our generation is wearable technology. The devices include smartwatches, fitness bands, and trackers. They are the next big thing in the upcoming decade and are yet to experience their maximum potential; therefore, they have a lot going on in the backend. Wearable technology will change and evolve, thus, innovation will be triggered. They already help us to gather health information, work out, pay bills, respond messages, and much more! Many functions are so easily accessible thanks to the connectivity to other devices and mobile applications usage.
3.AR and VR technologies will rule
Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are not new technologies for mobile app development, but the integration of their advancements in the mobile app sector brings revolutionary changes in the user experience. Consider an example of the real estate agency. When features based on these concepts are integrated into the real estate app to show properties and services provided, they can give an immersive experience to the clients while blurring the boundaries between the virtual and real worlds.
Specialists also expect that in 2021 both these concepts will be mainstreamed in business-critical areas including industrial maintenance, health, and security. However, compared to VR, the Augmented Reality app development will most probably gain ground more quickly in the corporate sector.
4.AI and ML
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are the futuristic trends for industries as well as for mobile app development. On one hand, they promote robotic process automation (RPA) in the corporate sector, and on the other, they enable mobile app development companies to make chatbots which provide a much more engaging and personalized user experience. Both AI and ML technologies aim at automating some of the daily routine tasks in various enterprises.
5.The IoT
Whether it is Android or iOS app development, the Internet of Things (IoT) concept will remain in focus. IoT is getting mainstreamed in the corporate sector quickly. Many companies, irrespective of their size, have already integrated connected devices into their business systems for bringing automation and provide better time and resource management. The year 2021 is likely to witness how IoT will become a new norm.
6.Mobile Wallets
Google Pay and Apple Pay do not need any introduction. We can certainly expect that the trend of contactless mobile wallets will gain more traction over the period as the number of users will steadily increase worldwide. The reasons for the growing popularity of mobile wallets are the convenience and security they offer while enabling users to make online transactions quickly.
Apart from the BFSI sector, marketing, eCommerce, retail, and other customer-centric sectors will use mostly mobile wallets in the coming time to ensure swift and seamless online payments on their platforms.
7.Chatbots
Fueled by Artificial Intelligence this type of program enables pure automation in some customer services. By dissecting the client’s questions and keywords it gives appropriate help. Talks are favored by clients because of 24*7 help and quick reaction to their inquiries. Most companies are searching for an application which can deliver a smooth chat box service and provide their clients with automatic assistance.
8.Instant Apps
For example, Android Instant Apps was launched as a new configuration by Google. All Android gadgets are compatible with instant applications, need substantially less storage space, and typically have a user-friendly interface and UI design.
Combined with the fact that instant apps are beneficial for the mobile gaming and e-commerce industry, more and more software developers are integrating Instant Apps into their platforms. The advantages they offer would undoubtedly secure this technology a safe position among trends in 2021 mobile apps.
9.Beacon Technology
Beacon technology helps in sending signals to other devices within a close range. It is gaining traction in many sectors. It provides a new way that allows customers to interact with a brand easily. For instance, businesses with apps use this technology to create a seamless experience for the end-user by creating a platform for the customers to get offers, promotions, and discounts on products or services.
10.Blockchain Technology
It offers decentralized android app development solutions that increase straightforwardness, diminishes intermediates utilizing severe security conventions, and any unapproved access. It is an ideal Android application development decision for the monetary areas like cash trades, banks, cryptocurrency operations and more.
11.Cloud-Based Android Apps
One of the greatest benefits that cloud-based Android applications can offer is that it protects a sufficient measure of information. As we know, the cloud is a major and most secure platform to store a lot of information safely. Mobile applications dependent on this platform can get information put away in Cloud and cycle it simultaneously. Without any doubt, cloud-based applications will continue to grow in number in 2021 and beyond.
12.APM and EMM
A popular mobile app development trend, Application Performance Management and Enterprise Mobile Management are the two main elements of the enterprise mobile management development. APM was integrated in 2016 for mobile metrics, introduced mostly to avoid snags in application performance. Helping in boosting the speed, it helps to also increase the value of the app in customers’ eyes. It has become a favorite tool of many app developers as well as QA analysts.
On the other hand, Enterprise Mobile Management helps organizations securely enable mobile devices for their employees and streamline working processes easily. EMM includes app security, finance management, and application maintenance. It fortifies the security structure, provides employees with an easier and smoother communication flow and exchange of data which results in an overall increase in productivity.
13.App Development For Foldable Phones
This is probably one of the most awaited mobile app development trends in 2021. Although foldable phones were first announced in early 2019, the first one was released pretty later in 2020.
The latest Android 10 has added support for foldable devices and multiple foldable patterns too, while Apple is not really rushing to give any updates regarding this new technology till now. The thing with this technology is that folding and unfolding mobile devices does change the screen size, density, and ratio. This is a completely new struggle for mobile app developers since it is like multi-window usability as well as switching between portrait and landscape modes.
Even though a significant number of smartphone companies use Android as their operating system, each company will be making its foldable phone a little different than others. Hence, the main issue here would be the seamless and smooth transition between various screens. This will be the task in 2021.
Concluding Lines
The mobile app development trends are constantly changing. Using knowledge from five years ago makes it hardly possible to increase your presence in the market. The digital transformation is happening at full blast. 2020 taught us a lot and despite the COVID-19 news and lockdowns all over the world we saw a rise of the mobile app downloads and a higher popularity in wearable devices applications development.
With over 2.2 million apps on the Apple App Store and more than 2.8 million apps on the Google Play Store, the future of mobile app development looks very promising. We can certainly expect that this number will keep on increasing dramatically in 2021 and more businesses will jump on to the app bandwagon to attract more customers and provide them with convenience of all-in-one apps. All the top technology trends mentioned above are predicted to play a crucial role in increasing the apps’ popularity and enhancing their functionality.
Post-pandemic world in 2021 is promising to bring trends of an alternate reality, where technologies such as VR and AR will lead the scene to the future human interactions with technology.
