Gone are the days when we used smartphones for communication and social media alone. Now we download apps to help us do banking and business, buy products, use social media, monitor our health, run our homes, and more. As users, we’re spoiled by the variety of apps and can easily delete any if we find one that performs better, is more attractive, or has more features. For businesses, it often means losing the client and their money. How do you make sure this doesn’t happen to you?

Our answer is: invest in quality mobile app development and monitor app industry trends. That way, you can take advantage of technologies that enhance your product or service and provide your customers with faster, safer, and more reliable service. This article discusses top app trends shaping mobile app development in 2023 and points out the technologies worth investment.

As new technologies emerge, mobile app development companies adopt them quickly to create high-performing competitive solutions that meet users’ needs and solve corporate challenges. According to Gartner research, tech innovation is the key to achieving strategic outcomes such as cutting operational costs, improving margins, and moving smoothly to a new business model. But it will happen only if a tech team can make these trendy innovations work flawlessly.

The COVID-19 pandemic caused an uptick in app usage and forced businesses to develop mobile apps to retain clients. Despite the pandemic, modern customers continued to demand that mobile apps become safer, smarter, simpler, and more compliant. More than that, they want their apps to be highly personalized. Luckily, today’s mobile app technologies can help businesses meet those user needs.

Here’s a list of mobile app trends that will influence mobile technology development in 2023.

AI

Artificial intelligence is a top trend in mobile app development tech — and for a good reason. AI provides more personalized experiences to each user, like forming recommendation blocks in ecommerce, or chatbot assistance that helps customers get product support information more quickly without a human representative.

AI paired with natural language processing (NLP) algorithms can contextualize searches and make accurate predictions based on behavioral patterns, improving targeted marketing.

Those are just a few of the most common cases where businesses use this mobile app technology. However, AI should be used with caution. It is often viewed as a “black box” when it comes to data collection, so some users don’t feel secure about who will use the data, what they’ll use it for, and where it will go.

Mobile app developers can address these concerns by building AI processes with data transparency and AI reliability in mind and explain data collection processes in a way that users can understand. As a result, AI technologies will gain more trust from end users and wider adoption across industries.

IoT

The Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the hottest trends in mobile app development, influencing industries from healthcare and fintech to logistics. Its integration into mobile apps improves remote collaboration, enables new functionality, and transforms the way businesses provide services.

What’s more, it changes how we collect, process, and use data from devices and how we can benefit from it. Understanding device data helps businesses plan strategically, foresee events that carry risk, and decrease manual work. The best part? It enables us to do all this remotely. The Techstack team has a case in point to show how IoT trends in mobile apps can be applied in different domains.

Techstack case

An agricultural company requested tracking and data aggregation software for harvesting beans. We needed to develop a solution that would receive data from hardware trackers and help stakeholders monitor and control all harvesting stages. We created a mobile app that visualized tracking data and enhanced it with logistics and contract management, product quality, and weight information. As a result, our client was able to get valuable insights throughout the harvesting process and manage transportation, quality control, and data with more ease and transparency.

Wearables

Even though the wearables market is part of the IoT industry, it warrants a separate discussion. This market continues to grow globally and is expected to reach $392.4 billion by 2030. This means that devices like watches, activity trackers, and earphones will need apps with new technology for users to control their wearable hardware and manage the data they get from it.

Source: Wearable Technology Market Size, Precedence Research.

One of the industries where the need for wearables (and mobile apps) will remain strong is healthcare. Some wearables and apps already have FDA approval, which portends a green light for similar developments and wider adoption of such technologies.

Techstack case

Our client requested a web interface with an interactive map and rich UI visualization to provide easy-to-manage data from a wearable fitness tracking device. We developed an IoT-based mobile application that helps users plan and track activity on their phones and gives insights about their performance. To create the app, we used technologies that would ensure smooth app scaling in the future (Azure, .NET, RabbitMQ, and Angular).

Accessibility

Companies don’t include the needs of people with disabilities in the user’s journey when building apps as often as they should. Even the standard accessibility settings on middle-market Android smartphones rarely go beyond TalkBack, Visibility and Hearing enhancements, and Interaction and Dexterity features. However, with approximately 1.3 billion people experiencing a disability, the list of accessibility features should be longer.

Improved accessibility is one of the major trends in mobile apps for 2023. For example, voice command apps will help people with motor difficulties conduct internet searches, purchase goods, and accomplish many other activities. And not only from smartphones.

What can help in creating more accessible apps?

  • Following legal guidelines and requirements. You should follow guidelines described in the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) and Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act during mobile app development. Following their norms and principles for mobile app interfaces (they should be perceivable, operable, understandable, and robust) will ensure that future apps are accessible to every user.
  • Using certain technologies for mobile app development. At Techstack, we choose the proper mobile app development technology stack to support accessible designs and interfaces.
  • Following platforms’ guidelines. iOS and Android also have guidelines for developers who want to ensure their apps have value for every user.

Designing accessible apps will boost your app’s reach and improve its versatility, contributing to market success. Also, it will help you avoid legal trouble that can damage your company’s reputation.

Augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR)

From Pokémon GO to mobile healthcare apps that help examine moles, AR/VR-powered tools have broadened tech use in our daily and professional lives. Ecommerce, 3D rendering, sightseeing, healthcare, design, and architecture are the top industries that can benefit from the AR/VR trends in mobile app development. How so?

  • AR and VR help visualize how a future product will look. As a result, producers and designers can make necessary changes before production, which will decrease errors and prevent potential revenue losses.
  • They help customers make buying decisions. People prefer to see something before buying it, and AR/VR can help greatly. For example, you can virtually try makeup at Dior.com and see how a particular lipstick shade looks on you before buying. This will eliminate guesswork for your customers and reduce returns rates.
  • They facilitate learning. AR/VR-powered mobile apps help people learn more and faster. For instance, instead of looking at a static two-dimensional picture of an eye, students and doctors can “walk” through its tissue and better understand how it works or practice surgical techniques. And architects can study architecture around the globe with Google Earth VR without leaving their rooms.

When paired with GPS and location services, you can anchor AR experiences to an exact location or point of interest, as the medical app AED4EU does. With its help, you can add location data to your phone so that in an emergency, the app scans the environment and projects nearby places with automated external defibrillator (AED) kits, which can save lives.

Blockchain

Blockchain can be used for mobile app development in multiple ways—from trading platforms to payment solutions, electronic signatures, and so on. This is one of those mobile development technologies that can improve data security and transparency, increase app reliability, and eliminate the need for intermediaries (especially for payments).

As the core of blockchain, decentralization is another trend in the apps of the future. With decentralized apps (dapps), users’ data isn’t managed by a third party but instead gets distributed across a ledger, which makes it hard to hack or alter. This comes in handy in industries like governance, healthcare, and finance.

For example, Audius is a dapp that allows music creators to publish and distribute their work and earn cryptocurrency ($AUDIO tokens) when users stream their music. In addition, musicians can turn their content into NFTs that contain immutable information about the artists and use rights. Users can pay for the streaming services with $AUDIO tokens without a third-party payment solution.

Foldable-Hardware Friendly Apps

The number of foldable devices is expected to increase exponentially by 2025, which will propel one of the hottest mobile app trends — apps that are easy to adapt and resize depending on the mode of use.

Source: Foldable smartphone shipments worldwide 2019, 2020, and 2025, Statista

And if you want to develop mobile apps for foldable devices, here’s what you should keep in mind.

  • It will require in-depth studies of user interaction. Since the foldable device market is still developing, there isn’t much information and enough UX studies to guide you in designing an easy-to-use, attractive interface. This means you’ll need to observe more contexts in which the devices are used and consider the results during app development.
  • You’ll need to do a lot of testing. There’s no agreed-upon standard for screens on foldable devices, so you’ll need to test your app on many foldable smartphone screens.
  • Create multiwindow applications. Because the devices work in two modes (as a smartphone when folded and a tablet when opened), the app should have a multiwindow view to unlock the product's benefits. However, this mobile app trend will mean more work for the tech team and require a change in Agile Scrum processes.

On top of that, future apps for foldable smartphones and tablets should also be accessible to all users. So when developing them, think about how to achieve accessibility for foldable devices.

Cloud-based Apps

Cloud computing shows no sign of slowing down. Cloud-based desktop solutions, particularly those used in management and team collaboration, will have mobile counterparts to help users work remotely and on the go.

The cloud also plays an important role in integrating mobile application technologies like AR/VR, AI, machine learning (ML), and 5G, and providing affordable storage and infrastructure needed for these technologies to function. What cloud trends will shape mobile app development in 2023?

  • Industry cloud platforms. Instead of purchasing separate cloud services, companies will shift to pre-integrated, customizable, and composable solutions. This will speed up mobile development on demand and make applications easy to scale and faster to develop. Plus, it will improve the organizational agility needed to embrace tech challenges flexibly.
  • Cross-platform development. Cloud computing enables faster cross-platform development, which is more cost-effective for businesses and saves space on users’ devices.
  • Everything as a Service (XaaS). With cloud computing, more companies will provide everything as a service (e.g., network-as-a-service, storage-as-a-service, security-as-a-service). This will boost the development of mobile apps that help mobile users access these services.

In particular, businesses that process huge amounts of data (e.g., streaming services like Spotify or Netflix) but also want to make their product easily accessible, will further embrace mobile development in the cloud.

5G

5G, also known as the network that’s supposed to connect users with machines, objects, and devices, is one of the trends in app development for businesses targeting urban mobile users. Currently, 5G is provided by a limited number of mobile network operators, but that’s expected to change in a few years.

According to Deloitte Global, the number of mobile operators investing in any stage (trial, planned deployment, or rollout) of 5G standalone networks will double in the next year, from 100 in 2022 to 200 by 2023. Why is this technology important for the future of apps?

  • It enables mass IoT adoption.
  • It enhances mobile broadband (it’s faster, allows more cost-efficient VR/AR experiences, and has a lower cost per bit).
  • It provides connectivity to mission-critical communication in some industries (e.g., healthcare and financing).

Businesses that plan to launch apps for finance, trading, or healthcare should keep an eye on this mobile app development trend, as 5G-supportive technologies will help them provide services faster and more securely.

Super apps

Super apps are a collection of mini-apps that allow users to do many activities, like calling, messaging, shopping, and paying, within one app’s interface. They provide customers with ease and speed of use and businesses – with additional channels through which they can offer their services or products. WeChat and Rappi are prime examples of such apps.

Why will they become popular?

  • Cost-effective maintenance. Since these apps are built with microservices and scalability in mind, they will be easier to maintain without interrupting the performance of other components.
  • One-stop-shop solution. Instead of logging into a variety of apps for every different task, a super app can be your one-solution-does-all tool for tasks like shopping, social networking, dating, and banking.
  • Increased customer loyalty. The more services your super app offers, the more time users will spend in it, and the less likely they will delete it.
  • Increased revenue. Super apps allow companies to increase the value of users rather than their number. Plus, offering different services in one place facilitates customer conversion, saving you money, compared to more costly cold acquisition.

Walmart, for example, plans to tap into the super app economy. First, they created a seamless experience for their clients by merging grocery and other home delivery subscriptions. And recently, they announced they’re working on creating a financial super app to process various financial transactions, from payments to trading, in one place. For this, Walmart is partnering with tech companies like PayNearMe and venture capital firm Ribbit Capital.

Summary

Mobile app development trends are vital for businesses that want to provide today’s and tomorrow’s users with easy, pleasant, and safe apps. From IoT, blockchain, AI, and 5G, to cloud services and AR/VR—there are plenty of trends in app creation that you can leverage. We recommend partnering with a development company to help you select approaches that open new business opportunities for you.

Techstack, a mobile app development company, keeps up with mobile app trends. We ensure that the apps we develop solve our clients’ business needs and can be easily adapted for future challenges. Contact us today, and let’s discuss the app trends that will add value to your business!