Our smartphone use has more than doubled in recent years, according to research by Ruigrok NetPanel and others. It should be noted right away that this study was conducted before the pandemic, which means that smartphone use has increased even more in the recent period.
Shopping via cell phone, mobile banking, streaming and playing games are pursuits that have increased greatly over the past year. Thus, for these daily activities, the smartphone is increasingly chosen over a PC or tablet. This ever-increasing trend in the use of our cell phones means that the development of mobile apps continues to grow as well.
But, which mobile application trends are going to play the biggest role in 2021? You read it here.
Mobile e-commerce
2020 was the year of e-commerce and so was mobile e-commerce. Last year, as many as half of all Dutch people made regular online purchases via their smartphones. Because of increasing smartphone use, this trend is therefore expected to continue into 2021, where nearly 3 quarters of all e-commerce will be mobile e-commerce. Younger generations in particular prefer using the cell phone to a PC or tablet when they want to do a little online shopping. This indicates that a well-functioning app alongside an online store is incredibly important.
In contrast, older generations like to make more use of a larger screen when shopping online. Therefore, both a web shop and app are equally important. More and more large organizations such as Uber are choosing Progressive Web Apps (PWA) for this reason. Simply put, PWAs are responsive websites that can also be installed on a smartphone as an app. The big advantage of this is that PWAs work on multiple platforms, allowing you to reach multiple users through just one app.
5G
2021 should be the year when 5G will really experience a major breakthrough. This major technological development will allow mobile apps to take a big leap forward. Thanks to the speed of the new 5G network, much more is simply possible, and we are undoubtedly going to see that. Several major tech companies believe that the arrival of 5G will change the development and use of mobile apps for good.
5G is simply many times faster than 4G. Moreover, the response time of the 5G network is also a lot faster. This ensures that you have less hiccups while streaming or playing online games, for example. The combination of the fast network and response time will have a positive impact on streaming and video communications, as well as on all wireless devices connected to each other.
Streaming and video communication
Because of the pandemic, the use of video communication has skyrocketed in the past year. Working from home, studying and other things were by necessity done via Zoom or Google meetings. Although the end of the pandemic is slowly approaching, it is expected that even in 2021 many staff will continue to work (part-time) from home and video meetings will remain the norm. Therefore, it is not surprising if mobile app developers will respond to this in 2021.
Internet of Things (IoT)
While IoT has been mentioned before as an important trend in mobile app development for the next decade, this technology should definitely not be missing from this list now. Especially combined with the rise of 5G, developments around IoT are expected to play an even greater role.
Whether it’s wireless devices in the home, wearables, smart cars or even smart cities, the potential in this market is huge. In this regard, one factor plays a decisive role: everything can be controlled from your smartphone. Although this obviously does not apply to controlling cities, it is possible to control your home in this way. Lighting and entertainment to home appliances, it can all be controlled from your phone. Therefore, it is expected that more and more consumers will use it. Therefore, this trend will continue to be evident in mobile app development in 2021.
Mobile First and the importance of UI/UX optimization
With the rise in our cell phone usage and the increasing expectations of mobile applications, an app’s User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) will be even more important in 2021. After all, the first impression of an app is all-important. In fact, as quickly as an app is downloaded, it can be deleted again.
Google is also taking into account the increase in our smartphone use. For example, the search engine first looks at the mobile version of a website to assess its SEO ranking. This is also known as “mobile-first. In this regard, the mobile user experience of a website is very important. Given the increasing use of cell phones, it is not surprising if we will soon even go to “mobile-only,” where the mobile version of a website has the greatest impact on search engine rankings.
Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)
So websites are increasingly being visited via our smartphones rather than a desktop. Developers logically respond to this. One way to capitalize on this is Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP). This technology allows pages to load faster thanks to “omitting” unnecessary programming code and using less data.
Therefore, a faster mobile website is rewarded by Google with a higher search engine ranking. It is not for nothing that the use of this technology is popular among developers.
Blockchain
When the word blockchain comes to mind, most people initially think of Bitcoin. Yet the technology behind blockchain goes far beyond that. Thus, blockchain technology offers tremendous opportunities in all kinds of sectors. Consider, for example, healthcare, logistics, gaming or finance. Wherever security and transparency of data or fast and secure transactions play an important role, the use of blockchain can create great added value.
The practical application of blockchain is currently in its infancy. Especially given the great and revolutionary possibilities this form of technology still has to offer in the future. It won’t be long before apps based on blockchain technology become prominent. Chances are that 2021 will be a year with a marked increase in the number of blockchain deployments and apps.
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