TOP SERVICES AND TRENDS FOR MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT IN 2022

All businesses start making their next move plans as 2022 approaches. Many of them are also keeping an eye on the most recent trends because the marketing landscape is constantly changing and they must be aware of what is now "in" and "out" if they want to stand out.

Since 87% of smartphone users spend the majority of their time on apps and nearly half of them open apps more than ten times per day, mobile apps will undoubtedly be one of the "in" things in the new year. But because of advancing technology and rising consumer needs, the mobile app development industry is always changing, making it difficult to stay on top of market trends.

Looking at our list of the top 11 app trends services expected to succeed in 2022, however, will give you a good start.

Will there still be a need for mobile app development in 2022?

Never before have mobile apps and development services been so well-liked. Every year, more people use smartphones, and the coronavirus pandemic has just sped up this tendency.

Currently, there are 6 billion smartphone users worldwide, which translates to an ownership rate of 80.69%. Additionally, since more people are using their mobile devices to access the internet than ever before, there is a corresponding rise in demand for mobile apps; in fact, 258.2 billion mobile apps are anticipated to be downloaded by users in 2022. Additionally, they might download one of your apps. You want a piece of the $808 billion in income that mobile apps are predicted to bring in by 2022? Here, incorporating one of the aforementioned trends for 2022 may just provide you a competitive edge, so pay close attention.

What are the hottest mobile app development trends of the upcoming year?

Apps based on AI/ML

In 2022, numerous industries, including mobile development, will be significantly impacted by machine learning and artificial intelligence. As a result, it is anticipated that the global AI industry would grow rapidly over the coming years, reaching a market value of $190.61 billion in 2025. Even more intriguing is that 35 AI initiatives are anticipated to be implemented by the average organization in 2022.

What modifications to AI and machine learning should we anticipate in 2022? Most importantly, improved search results and product recommendations would make it easier and faster for users to complete their everyday chores. Numerous businesses are also developing virtual assistants that can detect the user's attitude from his speech and respond appropriately.

What are the benefits of employing AI and machine learning for businesses? Virtual assistants and chatbots are two excellent examples of how valuable this technology may be for the business. Your clients could obtain an immediate response to their problem or query with an AI-powered chatbot rather of having to wait on hold to speak with an agent. The ability of chatbots to collect and analyze a wealth of user data makes it much simpler for businesses to forecast user behavior in the future and offer them more specialized services. Adding a chatbot could also make it simpler for your clients to contact you at any time of day or week as they can continue to work all day and night.

Voice-recognition virtual assistants and intelligent chatbots may also improve the user experience. The app user would only need to state their request to the assistant, and the assistant would respond with an immediate response. Without involving any members of the support divisions, too.

We will only see an increase in the demand for AI applications as 34% of sales and marketing leaders say AI is the technology that most improves customer experience.

Cloud-based applications

Our mobile devices’ capabilities and storage size may keep growing, but so do the demands of modern mobile apps. That’s why one of the challenges of mobile development has been to create apps that don’t need as much computing power but can still work efficiently. Cloud-based applications might exactly be the solution here.

As they use virtual servers to store everything they need to function, they don’t need to rely as much on the device’s hardware. That means that the application can be downloaded and used without affecting your device’s internal memory. Users can also use the apps on any device they want and easily switch between them, as they only need to log in to a server rather than install the app.

But cloud apps can also mean visible savings for businesses. First, it can give businesses the option to access customer information from smartphones and tablets at home or while traveling, as well as quickly share that information with other parties anywhere in the world. And if you need extra bandwidth for your app, a cloud-based service can meet that demand instantly without forcing you to go through the painful process of updating your IT infrastructure.

Thanks to the various benefits of cloud services and the spread of new and improved wireless communications such as 5G R16 and R17, Gartner’s spending on public cloud services will exceed $480 Billion in 2022.

M-Commerce

With regular stores closing overnight because of worldwide lockdowns, customers flocked to the web and mobile apps for all their shopping needs. In 2020, over two billion people purchased goods or services online, and during the same year, e-retail sales surpassed 4.2 trillion U.S. dollars worldwide.

Shopping through their mobile phone turned out to be especially convenient for smartphone users. More than half of consumers who say they shop online every day rely on their smartphones to do so. And if you look closely at the stats, you’ll see that users actually pick their smartphones as their preferred shopping device more than all other devices combined!

Why are m-commerce apps so popular? As they make it much easier to browse and search for products, users can quickly find what they need. In addition, since the application collects information about a customer, it can later show them personalized offers that the customer is more likely to click on. Dedicated shopping apps also allow businesses to offer a fast and convenient service for their customers whenever they need it. One-click ordering, omnichannel retail, cryptocurrency payments, and voice search are just some of the features that we will likely see growing in popularity next year.

Mobile wallets

With the rise of e-commerce and m-commerce shopping, the demand for quick and contactless payments grew as well. In fact, frictionless payment methods are one of the major things that today’s customers would love to see in the mobile apps that they use. That’s why mobile wallets (smartphone apps where you can store all of your payment methods) are growing in popularity worldwide. Thanks to their convenience, speed, and increased security, nearly three billion people are expected to use Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay by 2022.

The main benefit of these apps is that customers do not have to enter any personal information while shopping. To pay for their bills purchases, all they need to do is take out their phone and open their mobile app. And you don’t even have to touch a keypad or use cash. Just showing your phone to the merchant allows the transaction to go through, and you can leave the store with your purchases.

IoT-enabled mobile apps

In their 2021 survey, Deloitte found that an average American household had more than 25 smart devices. Looking at how many devices are “smart” now, the numbers shouldn’t be anything surprising. In today’s world, everything can be equipped with sensors to collect information about its environment – from everyday objects like coffee makers to industrial sensors and controllers, to even cars.

But the true power of IoT lies in the dedicated smartphone app for each device. By connecting IoT devices to our smartphones, we can easily control how those devices work even remotely. This could not only solve several small but everyday problems (like forgetting to turn off the central heating) but will also save regular users and businesses huge amounts of money.

Based on this growing demand, Bosch predicts there will be approximately 14 billion connected devices* worldwide by the end of the year 2022, from a starting point of more than 2 billion at the end of 2013.

Cross-Platform App Development

When building mobile apps, native apps are still a top choice for many businesses. But as there is a vast range of operating systems available now, optimizing and coding applications for each platform is becoming tougher and time-consuming for developers. Not to mention, the cost of creating two or three native apps is astronomical.

That’s why the industry is now slowly moving towards creating cross-platform apps. What are those? Cross-platform SDKs such as React Native, Flutter, and Xamarin help developers build mobile apps which can run seamlessly across multiple platforms. In this way, app developers can develop mobile apps that work on iOS, Android, Windows, and even the web without needing to write new code for each.

Since most of the app code is reusable, that also means that cross-platform apps can be created much faster and cheaper than native ones while offering similar performance. This has led to an increase in companies interested in building cross-platform apps.

Product Discovery services

With thousands of apps coming out every month in the app store, it’s becoming harder and harder to catch users’ attention. So what can you do to ensure your app is as successful as it can be? In addition to coming up with a great idea, you should also do some research on your potential user base – here’s where Product Discovery can come in handy.

Product Discovery is the first stage of mobile app development, during which you identify your target audience and ensure that the app you’re going to build fills a void in the market. This allows you to pinpoint the features of your app that would make it appealing to more users, find out how exactly they would use your app and test your idea and see how well it will perform in the marketplace.

Once you clearly understand what your audience wants, you’re much more likely to develop an app that meets their needs.

Improving mobile app security

Investing in cybersecurity used to be seen as something only for large companies. That’s sadly no longer true. The ransomware global attack volume increased by 151% for the first six months of 2021 compared to the first six months of 2020.

According to various reports, cyber threats in 2021 alone caused $6 trillion in damages, making it the biggest economic disaster in history. In fact, if growth continues at its current rate, cybercrime could reach $10.5 trillion by 2025.

With so much at stake, it’s no wonder businesses of all sizes look for ways to protect themselves and their customers.

One of the solutions that could help companies fight the number of attacks is using voice biometrics. By verifying a person’s identity using the unique characteristics of their voice, voice biometrics could eliminate the need for passwords and PINs. Moreover, as each human voice is unique, it’s nearly impossible to fool voice biometrics, making it currently one of the most secure methods of authentication.

Wearables

We can also expect to see a rise in wearable mobile app development. Since these devices have a user-friendly interface, are easy to carry, and offer personalized insights to their users, the number of people using them only keeps growing. By 2022, the number of people using wearables connected to a 4G network will reach 900 million.

But the modern wearables aren’t only limited to just monitoring your heart rate or measuring the number of steps you take. The current hectic & fast lifestyle has made people more conscious of their health & fitness, and as a result, smart clothes and footwear are gaining popularity.

Basically, intelligent clothes are garments like shirts, socks, and shoes fitted with sensors and computing devices that track body activity and health statistics like heart rate, skin temperature, oxygen saturation, etc. The data is then gathered and sent to an app on your smartphone. These intelligent clothes make it possible for users to track their health even more effectively than with a regular health app, so for many people, this is a technology of the future.

Instant Apps

Instant apps are a mobile development trend everyone should watch for in the coming year as it’s likely they will become standard in the future. The Android Instant feature allows developers to offer a slimmed-down version of their apps on the Play Store or their website and let the users decide whether or not to download and install the full version.

After selecting an instant app, Google Play will automatically send only the files needed for that particular feature to your device and launch it immediately. No downloads, no installers, and, most importantly, no waiting. Thus, you could test several apps before deciding on the one that works best for you.

This type of apps would be especially useful for companies that have applications with large file sizes since it would allow the users to preview the product before installing and try out all the available options.

Betting apps

Betting is the fastest-growing segment in the global gaming industry, according to Statista. Sports betting is expected to reach $92.9 billion by 2023 and that number will only grow as more regions legalize sports betting.

There are several reasons why people use their smartphones to place bets instead of using the typical betting places. First, betting online is simply much faster and easier than traditional sports betting as they can get anywhere and at any time.

Various online betting apps allow players to test their betting skills first by offering free or low-cost practice games. It is a great way to learn about new games, bet types, and betting markets without risking anything.

Traditional brick-and-mortar betting places accept only cash to fund your account when you place a bet, but most online sportsbooks accept a number of payment methods, adding flexibility to your account.