5 Mobile Application Development Trends for 2016

1. Hybrid apps are in

Hybrid applications using technologies such as Ionic and HTML5 are gaining traction for the amount time and cost savings they account for. With Swift 3, and rumours that Android will soon adopt it, going for JavaScript over Linux, we look at a more integrated platform base. Word is out that Swift 3 will be available for Windows Phone too. For enterprise and consumer apps, HTML 5 continues to remain the platform of choice for app development. Frameworks such as Ionic, JQuery Mobile, Mobile Angular UI and Native Script have mature languages that deliver high performing user experience. Even Facebook has hopped the hybrid app development bandwagon with the React Native framework. They are currently experimenting with Linux and Windows platform to render a complete service.

2. IoT integration

IoT technologies such as GPS, Beacon and location-based Wi-Fi will be integral to many applications. We are looking at a mature Home Application on iOS 10 which will enable iPhone and iPad users to operate household appliances with instructions delivered to Siri. The Android Wear and Apple Watch will do more than track health and fitness, and go a step further to perform more complex functions. Android’s biometric scanning for unlocking the device is the most rudimentary utilization of IoT technology and its voice recognition technology is fairly advanced.

3. Rapid mobile app development technologies

With growing demand for app-related services, and also the tight cost schedules, mobile application development companies are using rapid development technologies such as AngularJS and NodeJS with their reusable components. More development tools and frameworks have made their entry into the market to meet customer expectations and the technology has matured, so quality remains uncompromised. In the foreseeable future rapid development and shortest time-to-market will be an imperative so as to capitalise on the early adopters’ trend. With the number of applications crossing the 1 million mark on prominent platforms such as Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android, to gain visibility app development companies will have to pace their new launches at a greater speed.

4. Cloud Storage

Cloud technology plays a key role in mobile app development and storage from device is shifted to a centralised cloud server for apps and device. As multiple connected devices become common, smartphone, wearable device and other internet-enabled devices will share data over the cloud. Mobile applications will also have to have cloud storage and the data will have to be stored for real-time access across devices. With free storage space of up to 10GB, and easy integration via email address authentication, people are easily adopting the technology and immersing themselves into its utility, so the next step will be to follow the maturity in usage and new application of cloud storage, going beyond storing and sharing data.

5. App Security

Security continues to remain a worrying issue for device manufacturers and more so for mobile app developers. A Gartner report from 2015 predicts that 75% mobile applications will fail security tests and present gaping holes for hackers to exploit. A uniform security guideline for mobile app developers will have to be soon arrived at to ensure app data security across devices, platforms and the cloud.

There are more complex issues that will be face by mobile app development companies while compiling an application. However, evolving development platforms and sophisticated programming languages are increasingly consolidating the app development process. With its new Swift Playground, Apple is already making app development possible for the common user.