How Mobile App Development Get Changed In 2022

 

How mobile app development has evolved over time

The first handheld cell phone was made in 1973, but it took another 20 years before the first cell phones were sold to the public. The technology we use now was made possible by the first cell phones. IBM's Simon, which came out in 1993, was the first phone with a touch screen and built-in apps like a contact book and calendar.

The Java-based Blackberry 5810 came next in 2002. This game-changing device had built-in apps, like wireless email, and helped make it possible for mobile apps to be made quickly. Java is still the most common language for making apps that run on Android.

Apple and Google both opened online app stores in 2008. Just nine months after it opened, Apple's App Store had a million downloads. In 2021, Apple and Android devices around the world downloaded 230 billion apps for the first time. 

As mobile phones became more common and development grew quickly, apps got better and better. The first apps mostly showed information based on what the user told them, but many apps today can figure out what the user wants and show them information even before they ask for it. 

Here are six things that app developers will keep looking into over the next few years.

5G sets the stage 

Fifth-generation wireless technology (5G) has been getting a lot of attention for about ten years, but most carriers didn't start offering 5G access until 2021. 

5G is all about speed. It is not just faster than current 4G technology; it is exponentially faster and can work 100 times faster than most networks. This is important because it lets users, from individuals to business networks, connect with things other than phones, like wearables, devices, and machines. Because it is so much faster, information is transferred in milliseconds, which cuts down on latency and makes the user experience better. 

Use cases can be simple or hard to understand. As an example of a simple use case, users could watch HD videos on their devices without buffering or quality loss. A PwC study shows how apps, the Internet of Things (IoT), and wearables could be used as part of a 5G-enabled healthcare ecosystem to help patients better track their health and quality of life. This could help doctors find diseases earlier and save about $2,000 per patient on health care costs.

 

AR and VR are no longer just for games:

Using augmented reality (AR) technology, users can play Pokémon Go while walking around their neighborhood. Virtual reality (VR), on the other hand, creates a fake environment. Meta's Oculus Quest 2, for example, lets users work out, travel to new places, and watch concerts made in a virtual world—all from the comfort of their living rooms. But AR and VR are no longer just for gamers. These technologies are quickly spreading to travel, real estate, and retail, among other places.

 

The real estate industry is using augmented reality (AR) technology in a big way, and COVID-19 is one of the things that has made this happen quickly. When the pandemic hit, many people could no longer go to open houses in person because it was no longer safe. As a result, quick app development helped make it possible to do virtual walk-throughs from home.

 

Matterport is a platform for 3D virtual tours. In late 2020, they made an iOS app that lets home sellers scan their homes using the LiDAR sensors on their phones or tablets. In the past, you could only do that with expensive camera equipment. Redfin, a real estate company, says that in late 2020, 63 percent of buyers who looked at virtual walk-throughs made offers on homes they hadn't seen in person. Since February 2020, the number of 3D walk-throughs seen through the app each month has gone up by more than 500%.

 

AI is not going away.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is not a new technology for making mobile apps. However, as AI and machine learning get better, so will app features. For example, algorithms can use advanced machine learning to learn from how users have behaved in the past. They can then use data to predict what might happen next. 

Facial and speech recognition, which are biometric markers that can make apps safer, could be an area where AI could stand out in the future. AI and machine learning can help companies, especially in the insurance and finance industries, improve user safety and data security and spot fraud. McKinsey thinks that AI could be worth more than $1 trillion per year to global banking. 

As more people use their phones and wearables as payment devices, it will be even more important to find and stop fraud. It is thought that there will be 2.8 billion mobile wallets in use around the world in 2020, and that number could reach 4.8 billion by 2025. As people use these wallets to do more complicated online transactions, fraud detection companies are making AI-based technology for banks and retailers to help reduce false positives, improve fraud detection, and shorten the time it takes to investigate.

 

Blockchain is more than just a digital currency

Even though the word "blockchain" is most often linked to digital currency, the technology behind it is being used in a number of new ways. A blockchain is a digital ledger that records transactions in a safe way. Once a transaction is on the blockchain, it's almost impossible to change or remove it. Because of this, blockchain technology can be used to keep track of digital assets and keep people's identities safe. 

Blockchain technology is being used more and more by mobile wallets and P2P payment apps to make transactions faster and safer. About 68 million people are thought to have blockchain wallets right now. In January 2021, people downloaded 5.6 million blockchain wallet apps. 

Due to the extra security features, you can expect to see blockchain technology combined with the Internet of Things (IoT) and smart contracts in many industries in the coming years. IBM found, for example, that using blockchain technology helped shipping and logistics companies cut costs, fix problems in the supply chain, and settle disputes. 

Wearables can do more 

Wearables include watches, earbuds, and other smart devices. Some pieces of clothing can also be considered wearables. Wearables can do many things, from letting people make phone calls with their voice to keeping track of how many steps they take each day. About one billion connected wearable devices are in use around the world. The wearable technology market was worth about $116 billion in 2021, and it is expected to grow a lot more in the years to come. It is thought that by 2026, it will reach $265 billion. 

The largest part of wearables is made up of consumer electronics. Still, there is more and more interest in using them for things other than counting steps, especially in healthcare. For example, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given Fitbit and Apple Watch permission to use an electrocardiogram app to check for irregular heart rhythms. 

In the near future, you can also expect wearables to have security features that are tied to smart apps. Apple and Schlage, a company that makes locks, recently worked together to make smart locks that can be opened with an Apple Watch or an iPhone. A virtual house key can also be added to a user's mobile smart wallet. 

Security becomes an even bigger problem. 

As more personal information is put online, people are getting more worried about their security and privacy. Consumer data is routinely collected to improve services, especially when AI and machine learning are used, but consumers have good reason to worry about their personal information getting out. 

Synopsis did a study of popular Android apps and found that 63 percent of them had open-source parts that had known security flaws. This means that many customers could have their information hacked or leaked, which could hurt their experience with an app or their trust in it. 

There are two new ideas that could help solve security problems like these. One way to verify a user is through biometric authentication, which uses the user's eyes, face, fingerprints, or voice. This helps protect consumers from fraud or stolen information and is easy for them to use. The other is using distributed ledger technology (DLT), which includes blockchain. This technology can add more layers of encryption to smart phones and other IoT devices to make them safer.

 

What does the future hold for making mobile apps?

 

The growth of the mobile app industry will continue to be driven by the use of existing technologies and the creation of new ones. It's easy to see why developers would want to get in on the action: Growth projections say that by 2025, mobile app development will bring in more than $600 billion in revenue. And it looks like that is just a down payment on the benefits of making mobile apps.