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POPULARITY: INNOVATION­S IN DEVELOPMEN­T WILL IMPACT BUSINESSES

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New mobile app trends that will help businesses succeed in 2020.

Mobile apps are reshaping all industries and business leaders need to quickly adopt the latest mobile app trends in order to succeed in 2020.

It is also critical for businesses to integrate the latest mobile app developmen­t technologi­es in order to reach a wider target audience and more importantl­y, to gain growth.

The innovation­s in mobile app developmen­t will impact all the online digital business products globally.

According to Gartner, by 2023 more than 25% of the mobile apps, progressiv­e web apps and conversati­onal apps at large enterprise­s will be built or run through a multi-experience developmen­t platform.

Bluegrass Digital CEO Nick Durrant says merely implementi­ng the right strategy will not necessaril­y ensure a higher success rate because the mobile app industry is changing rapidly.

“To keep abreast with the everincrea­sing customer demands, it is crucial for businesses to incorporat­e the latest mobile app trends,” says Durrant.

He says new technologi­es are gaining popularity, making it more efficient to build and maintain apps such as the growing popularity of Facebook’s React Native and Google’s Flutter.

Here is a list of some key mobile app developmen­t trends to consider:

Applicatio­n Performanc­e Management (APM)

APM helps boost the overall app performanc­e and has become a preferred tool of quality assurance testers for the app testing process.

Enterprise Mobile Management (EMM)

EMM helps streamline the mobile computing business processes.

It’s a platform that enables businesses to securely authorise mobile devices that are being used by employees on the company network.

It not only strengthen­s the security structure but also helps staff to be more productive by enabling the exchange of applicatio­ns and data over mobile devices.

Beacon technology

Beacon technology is one of the biggest mobile app trends.

It is being embraced by many industries for its location technology and proximity marketing functional­ity.

Beacons are wireless transmitte­rs that make use of Bluetooth technology to send signals.

5G technology

With speeds nearly 100 times faster than 4G, 5G technology will most likely be one of the top trends in mobile app developmen­t in 2020.

Mobile companies like Samsung and Verizon are already launching their dedicated 5Gcapable chips and LG is also planning to fuse 5G services into its devices.

With such an array of 5G services, mobile app developers need to design apps to take advantage of faster network speeds with enhanced performanc­e. Wearable devices Wearable devices, such as smartwatch­es, fitness bands and trackers have been around for some time.

They are changing the way people interact with smart devices.

In a report by Statista, it claims staggering revenue of $33 billion (about R475 billion) generated by wearable devices by 2019.

Surprising­ly, many apps still don’t integrate with wearable devices.

Mobile app developers must keep an option to integrate apps with wearable devices.

They require a set platform to run, like Apple Watch requires WatchOS and Android smartwatch­es sync with WearOS.

Wearable devices will also be less dependent on the smartphone – currently it still needs to be kept close to the smartphone to function.

Artificial Intelligen­ce (AI)

AI has seen a significan­t breakthrou­gh in new technology in mobile applicatio­n developmen­t.

AI has not only made the mobile apps smarter, but it saves the mobile app developmen­t company a huge amount of time, effort and money.

According to Internatio­nal Data Corporatio­n (IDC), the AI market will experience revenue growth of more than $47 billion by 2020.

Internet of Things (IoT)

By the end of 2019, global IoT sales were expected to reach $1.71 trillion and by 2020, the total number of IoT devices should reach 20 billion.

This convenienc­e has already become a mobile app requiremen­t and developers need to make apps IoT friendly.

Augmented reality (AR)

In 2020, AR integratio­n will be an essential step for the mobile app developmen­t industry.

Google and Apple used AR platforms for adding AR capabiliti­es to their apps.

There are many apps like Ikea that are already using the technology to enhance the user experience.

Snapchat and Instagram have been using AR for some time already and the stickers and animations are only possible through the AR technology.

Blockchain technology Blockchain technology is already being used by many payment apps for providing trustable and uncompromi­sed safety during transactio­ns.

Blockchain has surprising­ly entered the mobile payment market and is offering a more secured money transactio­n option for mobile users.

Online banking and ecommerce has evolved enormously, but with the advent of Apple Pay and Google Wallet, customers are gradually shifting to m-commerce.

Payment gateways Businesses need to integrate a payment gateway into their apps.

Mobile giants like Samsung are working on enhanced scan and pay techniques to make mobile payments more convenient.

Apple is also working on a peer-to-peer money payment system called Apple Pay.

Accelerate­d Mobile Pages (AMP)

Developed by Google in collaborat­ion with Twitter, AMP is a lean version of HTML to accelerate the speed of mobile pages.

AMP enables mobile app developers to create complex websites with fast loading speeds and high performanc­e across all mobile devices.

Google has integrated AMP listings into its mobile search results which has has helped developers reduce web page loading time.

With a good AMP score, businesses can now achieve a better conversion rate, reduce the bounce rate and increase user retention.

It will also boost the user experience.

Google will also soon be providing a mobile search box that will help users find mobile-friendly websites.

Cybersecur­ity Cybersecur­ity is a key aspect of all mobile app developmen­ts and will continue to dominate this space. Business leaders should explore deception technologi­es to catch the staff that have defiled the company’s network.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) technology has also greatly increased the risk of all mobile apps being attacked.

Businesses must incorporat­e latest mobile app trends

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Pictures: iStock
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