10 Trends That Will Shape Mobile Development in 2017

The landscape of mobile app development in 2017 is witnessing the emergence of newer tools and cutting-edge technologies, while the traditional approaches and technologies continue to grow. New developments are expected in both, the consumer arena and the mobile-first enterprise space. The hype around enterprise mobility continues, while the cumbersome app stores continue to promise significant changes.

Top 10 Mobile Development Trends You Should Follow

Year 2017 has emerged as a benchmark year for the trends shaping mobile development and there are several reasons responsible for this. Two of the major reasons are – infiltration of newer and more exciting technologies into this sector and the cost of adopting mobile apps for smaller businesses expected to be well within the reach in 2017.

Following are the top 10 trends that are expected to shape mobile development in 2017 and beyond –

1. Artificial Intelligence is Now Real

   According to Gartner, year 2017 has witnessed over 300% increase in the investments made on Artificial Intelligence (AI) for mobile such as mobile chatbots, which make great substitutes for functions carried out by numerous websites and apps. Features like these make it simple to perform a variety of tasks on mobile devices forgoing the need for downloading several apps. Therefore, AI in mobile app development is expected to govern mobile developments in 2017.

2. App Streaming is Expected Go Mainstream

   Lack of space on phone memory is one of the major reasons causing app abandonment by the users. App streaming technology was designed to address this concern of mobile app users. Just like video streaming, app streaming also enables the users to harness some features of an app directly from the app store, without downloading it. Therefore, App Streaming opens vast possibilities, for example, app developers can give a taste of their app's experience to the users without any installation hassles. This will potentially improve user retention as the user acquisition costs will also be hugely reduced.

3. Utility and Augmented Reality Apps to be Integrated

   Although Augmented Reality apps are often considered to be gimmicky, they are expected to make one of the most actively engaging apps when integrated with utility apps. The best part is one of its major business benefits is to boost the engagement of millennial customers. Therefore, this integration is one of the major mobile development trends, which can be expected in 2017 and beyond.

4. Mobile Security Will Be the Top Priority

   With mobile phones evolving into wallets and purses, security is undoubtedly a major concern. “Hewlett Packard Enterprise Mobile Application Security Report 2016” states that 96.52% of mobile apps examined failed to clear one or more security tests. Today, most of the mobile apps mainly focus on UX and UI and completely skip security. Apps that seek access to unrelated data, such as a fitness app that asks the access to a user's calendar data, often rely on advertising and analytics framework and create unnecessary log files. All these make it easy for malicious attackers to quickly access and steal sensitive and private data of the app users. Therefore, app developers are expected to follow certain best practices, which include –

   • Constantly analyzing the apps during and after the usage to detect any data leakage
   • Stop storing sensitive and private data in external storage without encrypting it
   • Ensuring that all the applications are accurately transmitting data over SSL

5. Rise of Cloud-driven Mobile Apps

   From tech professionals to customers, everybody is aware of the Cloud technology and its impact on our collective lives. Today, cloud computing is successfully integrated with the mobile apps. Now, users can expect functional mobile apps that directly access data from the Cloud, taking minimum space in the internal memory of smartphones. According to a research carried out by Cisco, 90% of the mobile data traffic will be driven by cloud apps, by 2019.

6. Boom of Location-based Services

   With consumers using mobile devices to update their social network about where they shop, visit, or eat, with the help of location based mobile networks, this technology is expected to boon in the year 2017 and beyond. This technology enables users to seamlessly interact with their business associates and friends, while they are traveling.

7. Micro-apps and Enterprise Apps to Flourish

   While micro-apps aim to carry out targeted business operations to take lesser loads, enterprise apps are designed to streamline, manage, and restructure important business operations on the go. Both these apps have made phenomenal difference to businesses and are expected to impact mobile development 2017 and beyond.

8. Wearable Devices to Get Attention

   As per the International Data Corporation (IDC), wearable devices market is predicted to grow at a rate of 20.3% per annum. This being one of the latest mobile development trends, it is expected to result in 213.6 million units to be shipped by the year 2020. Some of the amazing wearable devices witnessed in 2017 include Fitbit Flex 2, Pebble 2, Google Daydream View, Apple Watch Series 1, etc.

9. m-commerce Will Set New Standards

   With a considerable number of users preferring to complete their purchases using Apple Pay and Google Wallet, m-commerce will emerge as one of the important trends in mobile development. m-commerce payment facility coupled with wearable devices is expected to take a new shape in the year 2017.

10. AMP Project Transforms Mobile Landscape

    Accelerated Mobile pages (AMP), is designed to improve the loading speed of mobile apps on mobile. Another technology called progressive web apps, a technology which makes mobile websites look and feel like mobile apps, is also being constantly used and serves as an alternative to developing and updating the native apps. These are the trends shaping mobile development in 2017 and beyond.

Summing Up

Although these are the top trends expected to shape mobile development in 2017 and beyond, numerous other technologies, such as Altered Reality, serverless apps, IoT apps, etc. are also expected to make an impact. While an increasing number of people are investing in developing and buying apps, users will continue to experience hassles with poorly built apps. Therefore, year 2017 demands developers to focus on delivering standout mobile apps that add value to the users' day-to-day life.

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