Why the Next Phase of Mobile App Development Is Industry Driven
Introduction
Mobile apps ushered in a new era of using tools and resources from the comfort of our palms. This field doesn’t require intense manpower and therefore has witnessed an exponential growth over just a few years. What started on a small measure to provide entertainment and information has spanned to include business related apps as well. A few of them have been illustrated in this article.
Development in mobile apps
As mentioned in a previous article, mobile app development has gone beyond the gaming and entertainment space. Businesses are adopting a slew measures to keep abreast with the market realities, balance their account sheets and tap more vistas to grow their revenues, both organically and inorganically. Mobile apps are one such Eldorado which tick off a few positive points for the businesses. These are:
- Productivity
- Marketing
- Accessibility
- Data Storage
- Customer Loyalty/Brand Value
A lot many apps do answer the points raised above. But time does demand some progress in this field. The next set of breakthroughs plausibly comes in these avatars:
Mobile Wallet: now you can use your mobile to make a purchase or pay bills. A swipe against the barcode of the product or entering your mobile number as authentication are some of the methods oft used payment options. The infrastructure at the backend, be it physical or cloud stores your financial details or e-currency. This proceeds to authorize the purchase and debit the apt amount. You receive a purchase order which confirms your successful payment via mobile.
Many forms of payment using mobile are currently being groomed in the laboratories of mobile application development companies.
Message/Chat synchronizing: apps that seamlessly synchronize your chat or messaging over different devices are available dime a dozen now. Conducting instant synchronization of chat data and contacts between different mobiles or communication devices is a USP of these mobile apps.
Social networking: with more users joining the social networks every day, social media companies were looking for ways to keep users engaged and be able to access their social network accounts anytime, anywhere. The restrictions imposed on using social networks while at work proved to be another hassle. Enter internet connectivity in mobiles and voila this created a huge opportunity for mobile application development companies create apps for these social media. These apps can be downloaded or sometimes come loaded in smartphones. Users have to just invoke these apps, login as they would do in a desktop/laptop set up and start using social media. It’s that simple! The mundane functions like sharing post/images, searching, tweeting, status updates and account/privacy settings can be accomplished via these apps as well. No wonder the technology watchers report a rapidly rising trend in social network usage via mobiles.
Business Apps: Perhaps nowhere is the trend in mobile app development more stark than in business use apps. Development in mobile apps in sectors like health (mhealth), banking (mbanking), retail (mretail) is fast gaining industrial recognition and spawned a new infrastructure requirement to support mobile app ecosystem. Apps to check the eligibility to take prenatal care, medical history of patients, authorize bank account to invest in different portfolio, or check rewards status of a large retailer exemplify the advancement in app development to cater to niche or customized needs.
What Else…
As the world moves towards squeezing ICT (information technology entertainment) into smaller devices, mobile apps are going to play larger role. With the advent of cloud computing storage for data no longer is an issue. Be it cutting edge apps for business or apps to stream videos faster, trends in the mobile app development space look bright and ongoing.
