With the explosion in mobile and digital usage, app developers have begun to cater to this trend. According to App Annie’s data report from June 2018, there are more than 2.75 billion apps available on Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
With such a large user base and growing demand for mobile apps, many app trends have emerged in the past year or so. Let’s take a look at some of them:
Cross-platform Apps
Cross-platform apps help you deliver the best possible user experience across multiple platforms. These apps allow users to access your app from multiple devices and operating systems, including PCs, tablets, and smartphones. Cross-platform apps ensure that your app is accessible to your entire user base, regardless of their device.
They also allow you to focus on delivering a great user experience across multiple platforms. Cross-platform apps are a great way to reach users on a variety of devices. With more users accessing apps across a variety of devices, cross-platform apps are a trend to look out for in the coming year.
Real-time App Updates
Real-time app updates allow users to get the latest version of your app even if they are offline. This feature is helpful when there are frequent app updates available. To let users get the latest version of your app, you need to make sure that you have a reliable push notification system in place.
Real-time app updates can also be useful if your app has in-app purchase (IAP) or paid features. When these features are available only after an app has been downloaded, a user might be hesitant to make a purchase. With real-time app updates, you can let the user access the features of your app without having to pay anything.
Artificial Intelligence in Apps
Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as a hot topic in the app industry. AI can be used to personalize the user experience, automate certain operations, and extract insights from data. AI can be used to recommend apps and activities based on behaviour, location, and past interactions with your app. It can also be used to provide location-based services and recommendations.
For example, AI can be used to suggest restaurants, activities, and other places to the people around you. Artificial intelligence can also be used to power chatbots. Chatbots can help customers get quick answers to their questions or take their orders for products, making the customer journey simpler. AI can also power chatbots so that they can improve over time and get even better insights from users.
User Interface Design
A great user interface design can boost the experience of your app users. User interface design can be used to differentiate your app from other apps and make it easier to understand. A good user interface design makes use of intuitive icons, colour palettes, and other elements to create a positive user experience.
Good user interface design also includes clear navigation systems, simple and intuitive gestures, and helpful visual hints. Good user interface design can help you achieve several goals, including better app retention, faster app loading, and lower app abandonment rates.
User experience and UI Repair
User experience and UI repair are two trends that focus on solving problems in user interfaces. The goal of these trends is to make existing app interfaces more intuitive and easier to use, especially for disabled users. Apps often fail when they are launched for the first time, as users don’t know where to go or what to do.
With user experience and UI repair, you can make these first-time app users’ experiences easier. For example, the app can provide visual cues to help disabled users navigate the app. Or, it can make it easier for first-time app users to complete tasks with a help button or other visual hints.
Customer journey mapping and data analysis
With the ever-growing demand for customer engagement and retention, these app trends can help you achieve better results. Customer journey mapping allows you to analyze your app user journey, identify pain points, and find new opportunities to improve engagement. With customer journey mapping, you can also identify your top users and look into how they interact with your app.
This information can help you improve your app experience for all users. Finally, you can use data analysis to find insights that can help you better understand your users’ behaviour. For example, you can find out which features are most popular and how frequently they are used. With this information, you can recommend features to be added to your app or improve your app’s performance.
