TOP 5 MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT TRENDS FOR 2022

With the advancement of technology, the mobile app development industry has become one of the fastest-growing markets in the past decade. In recent years, mobile app usage has increased significantly.

Some of the stats about mobile usage for your reference

1. According to Statista, there were over 6.4 billion smartphone users.
2. According to DataReportal, 69.4% of mobile users use online shopping apps.
3. According to Statista, mobile web traffic had a 54.9% traffic share of the total global web traffic.
4. Mobile users account for over 70% of Youtube traffic.
5. According to Statista, there will be around 931 million mobile users in India in 2022, and by 2040 mobile users will cross the 1.5 billion+ mark.
6. Currently approx. 10 billion mobile devices are in use worldwide.

Whether it’s mobile technology, mobile ecosystem, competition among brands, or the Covid 19, people have become inclined to use mobile devices and apps for most of their daily chores.

Mobile usage and hence the mobile apps are only here to increase. This blog would cover, what we think, would be the Top 5 trends that the Mobile App Development community will focus on in 2022. Let’s get started.

1. 5G:

5G is the wireless technology’s 5th Generation which rolled out in 2019, but it gained popularity in the last year as many governments started implementing 5G infrastructure for their respective countries. We believe 5G would be a game-changer and here are a few reasons why we think it is so important

Impact of 5G in Mobile App Development:

1. It will immensely enhance the speed and performance of the video apps by providing high-resolution Ultra HD live streaming for a fascinating user experience.
2. It will integrate the technologies in the apps very smoothly and seamlessly.
3. It will help large ventures to share their large amounts of data hassle-free.
4. Developers can enhance UX and boost app functionalities with the help of 5G’s superior connectivity and decreased loading time.

2. AR/ VR:

Augmented Reality is another mobile development domain that has been hot for a couple of years. We still believe it has not yet reached its full potential, and hence we are listing it as a top trend for the year 2022. AR is an enhanced version of the real world and it helps people to enclose the digital content over the real-time environment around the user. It provides users with an interactive experience in 3D by generating live images and sounds in the real world. 

Example:

In the past couple of years, users have downloaded ‘Pokemon Go’ and made it one of the most lovable AR-based games. It used AR technology to give a unique experience to the users by combining the digital world and the real world. The players can watch their beloved pokemon either in their homes or on the streets. People of every age group are still fascinated by this game.

Virtual Reality creates a virtual environment for the user like the real world in which objects and images seem to be real. It brings the virtual world and the real world together. It uses headsets for creating virtual images in the real world to give the users an intriguing experience of playing the games or visualize the virtual environment as the first person.

Example:

Metaverse, as introduced by Mark Zuckerberg is the perfect example for Virtual Reality. Concepts/ideas are already making a buzz for Walmart and H&M that shows users shopping in the Metaverse 

Using both AR and VR businesses can increase their customer base by displaying their products and services in very engaging ways.

Impact of AR/ VR in Mobile App Development:

1. AR would help stores to display inventory/stock that is physically not available hence capturing potential buyers.
2. It can also help the customers to save their time by using virtual fitting rooms.
3. The real estate industry could be using AR/VR to provide customers with a 3D tour of their properties.
4. Businesses can use VR-enabled apps for displaying intrinsic images and information for the users with the help of stable tracking of the user’s movements.

3. AI and Machine Learning:

Artificial Intelligence is one of the most preferred app development areas for businesses. The competition between companies in providing a better customer experience in their apps has taken AI/ML to the next level. Apps are now focusing on decision-making and problem-solving features which use Machine Learning algorithms that copy human capabilities.

The most commonly used AI feature is face recognition which helps users with an extra layer of security to their devices. AI/ML also helps in detecting frauds, information breaches, and suspicious activities that eventually help businesses to minimize their losses.

Example

At CES 2022, Engineered Arts demonstrated its humanoid Ameca. It is a robot with human-like facial expressions. It’s one of the best examples of how AI/ML is advancing.

As Elon Musk says “Robots will be able to do everything better than us.”, we do agree with this statement and we believe that AI/ML is here to stay. Who knows Terminator: Rise of Machine might be a reality in the future 🙂 

The following statistics do support the above claims at some level

• According to Business Standards, in 2022, global AI software revenue can reach around $62.5 billion.
• According to Statista, by 2025, the market revenue of face recognition is expected to reach the $8 billion mark.
• By 2030, the global AI chip market is expected to reach $194.9 billion.

Impact of AI and ML in Mobile App Development:

1. AI could provide a real-time translation to the users even with no internet connection.
2. ML could be used on large scales with banking applications. It’s already being used by a few giants like BNY Mello and Wells Fargo (Machine Learning for finances), we anticipate that this will be explored at greater depths.
3. There are high possibilities of AI helping software developers generate basic code blocks which could be used as the foundation for their work and hence reduce the overall development time.
4. The shopping experience for a customer is going to get improved and personalized, hence mobile-commerce would be pushed to use ML in a way that does not invade customers’ privacy.

4. IoT:

Internet of Things could be one of the top 5 mobile app development trends in 2022. It has seen rapid growth in recent years. We also believe that IoT is like a treasure trove that is yet to discover. The concept of smart home devices has seen high growth and popularity among users. Apart from smart home devices, mobiles are also used as IoT devices that could remotely control security and temperature in the house. 

• According to Statista, by 2025, there will be over 75.4 billion IoT-connected devices in use. 
• According to Forbes, by 2023, cellular IoT connections will reach 3.5 billion.
• By 2025, IoT investment by companies may reach up to $15 trillion.
• According to Deloitte, the global healthcare IoT market will be worth approx. $158 billion by 2022.

Impact of IoT in Mobile App Development:

1. The automotive sector and Mobile app development could work very closely. There is a need where customers want to access their vehicle and its statistics in their mobile. They virtually would like to control their vehicle from their phone. Tesla and BMW are a few auto giants that are now allowing users to use their phones as keys to operate their vehicles.
2. More and more electronic appliances and gadgets would be integrated with mobile apps. Electronic giants like Samsung and LG have already released products that have tight integration with a user’s mobile device.
3. More health applications would be introduced that monitor users’ health vitals.
4. With the increase of Smart Cities, the governments and municipalities would be spending a considerable amount of effort and money to monitor and detect suspicious activities on the move.

5. Cloud Apps:

Cloud computing is not a new technology, but it has been integrated with the mobile industry. Cloud services are playing an important role in mobile app development as they help users to store their data, files and execute complex tasks in the cloud, in turn freeing up the device’s space. It provides very cost-efficient development solutions.

Cloud Apps could be one of the top trends in mobile app development and we believe it as well based on the following stats:

• According to Forbes, 83% of enterprises will transfer their workload to the cloud in 2022.
• By 2028, the Cloud communication platform market size is expected to be $22,408 million.
• According to Statista, by 2023, both the insurance and telecommunications industries plan to have 11.4 clouds.

Impact of Cloud Apps in Mobile App Development:

1. BAAS is a very trending concept. In today’s time most of the mobile developers are taking benefits of cloud backend and we anticipate that this would only grow in 2022
2. Using a cloud backend not only helps reduce the work of mobile developers but also improves the performance of the mobile app as most of the logic gets executed in the cloud.
3. The cloud integration with mobile apps would also help a mobile app to scale easily. In today’s time every cloud service provider works on a pay as you go model so if the traffic increases the service provider can help allocate more resources in real time and hence the apps and its features are easily scalable.
4. With cloud mobile based apps, the storage capacity is no more a concern. The cloud service providers enable the mobile developer to use huge storage capacities at a very cost effective rate. We believe that most of the mobile apps would be bypassing the local device storage and bank more on cloud storage.

Conclusion

With the ongoing spread of the Covid pandemic, mobile app development is also advancing rapidly. People are indulging more in online apps that have pushed companies to keep up with the trends and provide a personalized experience for consumers. 

With the given blog we tried to focus on top 5 trends that we feel would highly impact mobile app development in the year 2022. That being said, we are sure that there would be other technology advancements that would impact the mobile development community.

If you have any project ideas or you want to develop a mobile app for your business, we are here to help you. Contact us, we would love to discuss your idea and sort out your queries.