The Android ecosystem is a highly demanding mobile operating system, with a market share of over 85% and provides more than 3 million apps on the Google App store, ranging from calendars, browsers, social media, games and many other categories of apps. When it comes to mobile app development services, Android is at the top. The apps made for Android devices are user friendly and developers on this platform will continue pushing the envelope in the coming years.
Mobile app development trends to look for in 2021
There have been many changes since the adoption of Android, which majorly focus on enhanced user experience. Developers need to continuously evolve the mobile app development services they provide in order to be industry leaders.
With the ever-increasing popularity of the apps on this platform, android app development services will see a significant surge, and here we look at some of the most promising trends and technologies that this platform promises to offer in 2021.
Instant Android Apps
Instant apps let users try the application without downloading them, thus utilizing the web faster.
Such apps are helpful for ecommerce businesses and games as they do not take space in the user’s device and reduce unnecessary interruption. The major advantage of such apps is that end users can have access without having to download them, while also providing high quality UI/UX design, larger storage, and compatibility across devices.
Blockchain technology
The blockchain technology is an app development solution that is completely decentralized, improves transparency, eliminates unauthorized access, and focusses on strong security protocols.
Blockchain is the most sought after app development option in sectors which require robust security and operational protocols such as the banking and finance sectors, currency exchange, and even the food and automobile sectors that have a high level of process dependencies. A PWC survey showed that 84% of global companies use blockchain technology.
Some of the important advantages of Blockchain technology are:
- Reduced data loss
- In case of network failure, the data is deployed for better performance
- Blockchain is a highly secure mode for data encryption
Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence
The advent of cloud computing has increased the technological nous of companies. The new features of AI can increase organizational productivity by up to 40% as claimed by Accenture. Both the advantage and limitation of AI are same: that it is very versatile. AI can automate different tasks, incorporate image identification, data analytics and processing.
Devices on a neural network can be personalized for other smart devices using applications, without any obvious incremental input.
Multiplatform Development (Flutter)
The future of android app development has been defined by Google’s new technology – Flutter. A native interface is used for seamless cross platform app development. Many mobile apps tools have been developed using this platform only because of its ease of use and flexibility.
Some of the most useful features of Flutter are:
- Native design
- Easy to learn features
- MVP development
More and more developers depend on Flutter for their app development, which has made this an increasingly vibrant community amongst the app development environs. Some of the popular apps that have been developed using Flutter are Google Ads, Alibaba and Reflectly.
Chatbots / Google Assistant
Many businesses these days are combining the services and content of their apps with Google Assistant.
The major benefit of integrating apps with Google assistant is that users can use apps directly in the Assistant. With this function, users can link multiple aspects of an app with Google assistant.
Another feature of Google known as Android Slices lets you highlight your application’s important content to the user using Google Assistant. The number of Google Assistant users is increasing every day, further integrating the application with this virtual assistant which is what major development teams across the world are currently building towards.
APM and EMM
Certain technologies help in hastening the response time of mobile applications. Such technologies are known as application performance management and mobile enterprise management systems in the developer fraternity.
These technologies have helped in checking and maintaining the quality of the mobile applications which are being developed, while also contributing to the safety and security of the application and encouraging productive data exchange among the employees.
Beacon Technology
Beacon technology has been helping businesses target unique clients. These are special contraptions which can connect with any mobile gadget within their range. This technology is helpful especially for location or proximity dependant businesses, like sending notifications related to hotels in proximity along with any offers that they currently provide.
Such features make Beacon technology an increasingly attractive component for certain businesses and can be very useful for those who run shops and restaurants. Beacon technology is expected to be widely implemented in the near future.
5G Technology
5G Technology is much quicker when compared to 4G networks. This technology offers high radio frequency with speeds of over 100Gbps. Applications that leverage features of 5G features will help in improving business performance immensely.
Internet of Things (IoT)
Most of our emails, details about meetings, contacts, messages, etc., are stored in our cell phones. With the advent of different applications, smartphones are also being used with other gadgets like smart watches, smart TVs, haptic devices etc., but it does not end here.
The prices of such gadgets are reducing every day, and it is estimated that more than 75 billion gadgets will be connected globally by the end of 2025, which makes it an important area of focus for the developer community.
Android Jetpack
Android Jetpack is a set of tools, guidelines and libraries that helps developers in building applications. Its major purpose is to ease the work of developers. Google provides proper documentation that makes it easy to use this tool.
Its salient elements are its UI, behaviour, architecture, and foundation. This feature of making app development easy and fast is one of the most recent development trends.
Kotlin Multiform
A great feature provided by Kotlin is its multi-platform project which is being used to replace Flutter. It is currently in an experimental phase that can be accessed in Kotlin 1.2 and 1.3 but will soon become a widely used platform.
The major aspiration of Kotlin is to share codes between platforms. The technologies and systems supported by Kotlin include Mac, Windows, Linux, JavaScript, iOS, Android, and embedded systems. It reduces the time required to develop an app and makes the task easier.
On-Demand Apps
On-Demand Apps are a growing trend and is expected to be in wide use in 2021, which will help complete tasks rapidly. On-Demand Apps are expected to be popular in sectors like healthcare, beauty, retail etc. They will be able to access the user’s location and provide the required services.
Mobile Wallets
Mobile wallets like PhonePe and Google Pay are being used as payment gateways and it is estimated that these and many other payment apps will augment their security features in 2021, for higher customer acquisition, and uninterrupted services, overcoming the frequent outages experienced by customers currently. It will reduce the efforts required for making safe and easy financial transactions.
Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality is comparatively a new trend for android applications and will rule the market in the coming years. The value of AR gaming is expected to reach 284 Billion US Dollars by 2023. This technology is supposed to present more data or objects in reality for entertainment.
Motion Layout
Motion Layout is not just about transitions between layouts but also about animating every layout property. It leads the developers to display every point in the transition depending upon the condition. In 2021, developers will still be using Motion Layout for developing the interface, which will help users understand what happens in an application.
Ecommerce
Users prefer to shop online instead of going to retail shops, resulting in more Ecommerce applications. Some of the USP’s of these apps are:
- Safe payments
- Push notification for product offers etc.
- Customized experience
- Competitive benefits
Security and enterprise solutions
As per studies conducted, only 50% of users have some form of protection on their phones. There are over 3 million applications on the Android App store, out of which many have been reported as being malicious. Despite this, Android is a very famous platform integrated with Google and its services. In 2021, increasing the security level of the apps on the Android App store will be a key area of interest for the stakeholders of this ecosystem.
Accelerated Mobile Pages
Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) helps in improving the visibility of the organization to its users – primarily through better rankings on search indexes. Performance and speed are the major factors determining the ranking of the website. The loading speed of AMP websites is four times faster and will be given more visibility in search by Google’s search engine.
Cloud-based Android Apps
Developers are turning to cloud-based apps as it has simplified the weight of heavy data loading. These apps keep a huge amount of data secure without using the phone’s memory and can be accessed by users anytime and anywhere.
Wearable Apps
The ever-increasing popularity of wearable gadgets has led to the rise in the demand for apps which cater specifically to this segment and help users integrate their gadgets effectively into their everyday lives.
Final words
With these 20 mobile app development trends, it is safe to say that the Android OS is moving towards providing a better experience to its users. In case you are planning to make an app, you can browse through the trends mentioned above to help advance your business. If you are looking for mobile app development services, you can get in touch with Smart Sight innovations.
