1921
According to the latest data, about 7.33 billion people use smartphones, which is almost the entire population of our planet. In an effort to capture this huge market, many companies are launching their own mobile applications: to attract new customers, automate routine processes, improve interaction with the audience and solve many other business tasks.
Analysts from Data.io are convinced that in 2024 the number of downloads on the AppStore and Play Market will grow by 1% and reach a record 257 billion downloads. But, of course, not all applications will be able to succeed. Today, the user has become too selective, and in order to withstand the competition, you must follow current trends. But what will they be this year? About 11 of the main ones in this article.
Internet of Things (IoT)
At the top of our trend ranking is the Internet of Things. It provides centralized monitoring and control of remote devices, allowing companies to receive up-to-date data in real time and respond to it in a timely manner.
IoT technology has already found practical applications in logistics, healthcare, retail, and many other business areas, and its popularity will only grow in the near future.
5G compatibility
The fifth generation of Internet connection is not yet available in all countries, but it is only a matter of time. Devices that support 5G are already actively filling the market and will soon completely replace their predecessors. Therefore, if you are planning to launch an application in 2024, we recommend that you immediately take care of 5G compatibility. This is especially important in the video streaming niche, where the advantages of the new mobile communication technology are fully revealed.
Trading in the mobile app
If your business is focused on online commerce, you can integrate these processes into a mobile app. Unlike a website, here users can customize the interface to their liking, save products they like, and use other features that are not available on the web platform.
In addition, it is necessary to take into account that mobile traffic has long surpassed browser traffic and now about 70% of purchases are made by users using a smartphone. As a result, many successful online stores have naturally evolved into applications for IOS and Android. Therefore, if you are planning to enter the e-commerce market, it is better to do it with a mobile application.
Chatbots
To optimize customer service, you can implement a chatbot in your application that will handle most of the user's questions. Unlike full-time operators, the bot responds to customers instantly and at any time of the day, which will help avoid losing leads.
Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning
Artificial intelligence and machine learning are becoming increasingly important components in mobile development, as they enable the creation of intelligent and personalized applications. Here are some practical applications of these technologies that will definitely be needed in 2024:
- Personalized recommendations: Using machine learning techniques, mobile apps analyze user behavior data, such as search history, preferences, and purchases, to offer personalized recommendations. For example, an app can recommend movies, books, music, products, or content to a customer based on their previous actions.
- Data analysis and process optimization. Machine learning allows mobile applications to analyze large amounts of data to identify patterns, trends, and predict user behavior. This helps optimize business processes, predict demand for products or content, and automate many routine tasks.
- Improving chatbots. Artificial intelligence is also being used to improve the performance of chatbots and virtual assistants. It is able to learn from dialogues with users to become more effective in providing assistance and solving problems. Unlike conventional chatbots, AI-based bots are able to give not only pre-prepared response templates, but also maintain a full-fledged “live” dialogue on a par with a real operator.
Augmented and virtual reality
There is a trend today to modernize retail marketing by implementing AR technologies that provide a personalized approach to customers and contribute to increasing online sales. Users themselves agree with this: according to Snapchat, 76% of consumers believe that augmented reality will play a key role in their future purchasing decisions, and 57% would like to increase the use of AR in their daily lives.
Virtual reality is not yet widely available, as it requires expensive equipment. However, this is expected to change dramatically in 2024, as VR devices become more accessible to a wider audience, and demand for VR applications will increase accordingly.
Cybersecurity
Mobile applications can collect and store a large amount of sensitive information about users – their personal and payment details, location, contacts, and more. Therefore, one of the top priorities in mobile development is to ensure a high level of cybersecurity.
Cloud computing
Cloud storage provides advanced tools to ensure the smooth operation of mobile applications and protect information. They usually use data centers around the world, thereby ensuring availability and maximum speed of request processing for users from different geographical regions, as traffic is automatically redirected to the nearest available server.
In addition, cloud applications are compatible with multiple operating systems, including iOS and Android, which simplifies future product updates and development, as well as reduces budget costs.
Development for foldable smartphones
Foldable smartphones are another form factor of gadgets that has been rapidly gaining popularity recently. Yes, there are still not as many of them as regular devices, but this is a great opportunity to reach a new audience by offering them a unique experience with full adaptation of the application to non-standard foldable screens. Moreover, this will not make the development much more expensive, because the changes will only affect the graphical part of the software, and all the business logic will remain the same.
Development for smart gadgets
The total number of gadgets in the world recently crossed the 1 billion mark. And given the pace at which Apple, Samsung, and FitBit are updating their smartwatch lines, soon every third smartphone user will have such a device. There are several reasons for their growing popularity - convenience, functionality, and relatively low price.
Therefore, when planning to release an application in 2024, it is also worth taking care of its adaptation for Smart Watch. This is especially important for products in the areas of healthcare, finance and music streaming.
Paid programs
Strange as it may sound, shareware is gradually losing ground and making way for paid software. The thing is that many users are tired of annoying advertising and mediocre functionality, which is why they are increasingly willing to buy the best services for a relatively low fee. A good example in this sense is the mass transition of users from Gmail to Superhuman, which positions itself as the fastest email in the world. Zoom, which has gained the image of the best program for business conferences, is also growing in audience - over the past year the number of video chats in it has increased from 10 to 300 million.
Which trends will lose their relevance?
Touch control
Many programs continue to use the touchpad for data entry - this is when the user needs to type the necessary information manually, using a pop-up keyboard.
This format of interaction is gradually becoming a thing of the past, replaced by voice input and built-in intelligent AI-based assistants that allow you to perform the necessary actions as quickly and efficiently as possible. If your application does not yet have this feature, you risk losing ground to more innovative competitors.
4G compatibility
The speed of the new generation of 5G Internet is up to 20 times faster than 4G. The difference is huge, so the developers of new smartphones and other accessories have completely focused on implementing the new standard. Therefore, 4G is gradually becoming a thing of the past and will soon lose its relevance.
Lack of integrated payments
Many applications are aimed at selling products, services, subscriptions, or paid content in one way or another. Therefore, built-in payment gateways are, without exaggeration, vital. If you do not provide users with a convenient payment method, you will likely start losing customers, which is unacceptable.
Why is it important to follow current trends?
Today, there are millions of mobile applications in various niches on the market, and in order to withstand competition and ensure stable profit growth, you need to continuously monitor new trends and implement them into your product. To solve this task, we at AVADA MEDIA offer our clients qualified post-release project support.
