Five Current App Trends

While trends aren’t always reliable, they can be a good way to gauge which direction things are going and to help you get ahead of the competition. When it comes to apps, you also want to ensure that you don’t fall behind the competition.

tech
August 20, 2020
Five Current App Trends

While trends aren’t always reliable, they can be a good way to gauge which direction things are going and to help you get ahead of the competition. When it comes to apps, you also want to ensure that you don’t fall behind the competition.

Apps are meant to be a quick, easy way of completing tasks for your customers. Apps should not only be maintained, you want to make sure that the right trends are incorporated into your app, whether it is just launching or has been published for years. Adding the latest in innovation can help you stay current with customer expectation – and, in some cases, surpass it.

Moving to 5G

The term 5G has been used a lot, and it often confuses people since they don’t know what it is. It largely refers to the transfer speed that your phone can manage, and these days it affects how mobile devices work with other smart devices in your home. This will affect all app developers as their apps should be optimized to meet the new transfer speeds. This is decidedly an improvement that will help keep your customers from being frustrated by your app's speed.

Instant Apps

Essentially the instant app provides users with a chance to get a look at an app to determine which one they want to download. It’s sort of like a test drive since they don’t have to download it before they try it. By giving users this option now, you will help them decide if they want to invest their time in your app while showing that you have confidence that they will like it. People always appreciate a chance to preview things before making a purchasing decision, and this is something new that will very likely catch on as more apps make this option possible. It saves customers time and space on their phone, and can give you some interesting new metrics.

The Move to Mobile Wallets

While there are definitely some concerns associated with mobile wallets, they are becoming increasingly more popular as people find them more convenient than other forms of payment. Mobile wallets include solutions like Apple Pay and Android Pay. One of the most popular forms of mobile wallet is actually Walmart Pay, showing that people are more than willing to buy into this new payment method as it is far more convenient than nearly any other payment method when using a phone.

While you need to determine if it makes sense to set up something like this for your app, keep in mind that the most used way to pay is the Starbucks app. It lets people put money on their card from their mobile device, then they can use the app to pay for drinks and earn points at the same time. It is incredibly convenient since it takes care of everything at one time.

Cloud Access

If you have software that can easily be accessed from the cloud, now is an ideal time to make it available to your users from the cloud. An increasing number of people are relying on the cloud to save space on their mobile devices, an option that is invaluable as people save more images, documents, and apps. By giving them the option of storing any relevant data or files to the cloud, you can increase the odds that they will keep using your app.

Voice User Interfaces

Most people are familiar with virtual assistants, particularly Siri and Alexa. They get regular use as people use them for activities from setting times and reminders to getting phone numbers and looking up information. While these are currently the assistants most often used, there is a growing trend for apps to include their own voice user interface. Not only does voice activation act as a convenient way to getting information without having to go through actually opening the app, with many places having laws against using smartphones while driving, voice user interfaces allow people to get information they need without having to use their hands to access that information. According to a study in 2019, 85% of smartphone users access their devices with their voice, and they want to be able to use these same controls on other devices. Adding this component to your app can increase the number of people who continue to use your app.

Quick Summary

App trends may come and go, but some trends have a clear future because they offer the kinds of convenience that people love in their apps. This blog gives you some of the trends that will likely boost how often your app is used. You will want to make a regular habit of checking the trends though so that you can stay on top of the ones with the best potential. We’ll post more on them periodically to help you.