A new year means new trends in web and mobile app development, with developers in the know keeping an eye out for what’s about to become hot and what might be on its way out. The web and mobile app development world is constantly changing, and predictions are always being made about what’s in store in the future. With that in mind, we’ve put together this list of various emerging trends in mobile and web app development that are sure to dominate in 2022 , as well as their expected popularity by the end of 2021.
Web app development is going to be about speed.
Web apps will continue to become more immersive—don’t be surprised if web apps start to mimic native app functionality, like voice calling or video chats. This will, in turn, prompt a new wave of design standards for web app development that focus on speed rather than fast loading times. The internet is too fast for slow-loading pages; in 5 years, you won’t be able to get away with serving up anything below 2 seconds of load time.
Mobile app development is coming full circle.
As mobile apps become more ubiquitous in everyday life, users expect them to behave like other services they’re accustomed to, like web apps. Developers are finally building experiences that meet these expectations—plus, responsive design patterns on traditional websites make it easier than ever to keep a site consistent across multiple devices. With responsive development processes becoming an integral part of every company’s app strategy, web and mobile experiences will start converging significantly. Web app features will eventually make their way into mobile apps—and vice versa.
The Chatbot revolution starts now.
Today, nearly everyone has a smartphone. As companies look to capitalize on mobile technology and innovate in new ways, they are discovering that users enjoy getting messages—news, alerts, coupons—via their phones as much as through email or social media. Furthermore, users want these messages pushed directly to them; they don’t want to have to hunt for them. The trend in messaging is so strong that it’s revolutionizing all sorts of apps.
Virtual Reality apps are here to stay.
Mobile phones are expected to be able to display virtual reality experiences using Augmented Reality devices by 2022. For example, Google’s VR Cardboard kit is a do-it-yourself (DIY) VR headset that lets you insert your phone into it and view virtual reality environments on your screen. Virtual Reality apps are already popular among social media users as well as gamers, with Oculus Rift leading in sales so far. Facebook Inc.
IoT apps will only get more popular in the future.
It’s estimated that by 2022, consumers will spend more time on IoT apps than on mobile games. This means that app development firms need to start thinking about how to integrate IoT into their projects now or risk getting left behind. The challenge is that IoT technology is so new—it might seem like a risky investment! But it’s worth bearing in mind that new technologies often go through a trough of disillusionment before the adoption becomes widespread.
Augmented Reality will go mainstream.
Facebook’s purchase of Oculus VR (maker of virtual reality glasses) is just one example of how AR will soon be integrated into our everyday lives. Google Glass, Microsoft’s Kinect, and new smartphone cameras are all poised to capture augmented reality experiences that we can share with friends via social media. It’s not a matter of if, but when. Mobile app development should begin experimenting with these emerging trends now in order to remain at the forefront of industry trends in 2022.
Data storage keeps getting bigger and better.
Cloud storage is a big deal. Companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and others have made huge advances in data storage over recent years. In 2010, 4 TB hard drives were little more than a dream. But now, they’re affordable (and even smaller) enough to use as cloud storage options. Cloud-based data services are becoming so ubiquitous that most companies won’t need their own servers within just a few years—one of our mobile app development predictions for 2022.
App popularity leads to network effects.
Once users have established a network of social connections on an app, they’re less likely to leave it. As users grow more accustomed to apps as a method of communicating with friends, family, or business contacts, they’ll be even less likely to abandon them. This reliance on apps leads to network effects in which individual platforms grow increasingly more valuable as larger communities of users are built around them.
Final World
3D technology will create virtual stores and malls, making virtual shopping a more advanced alternative to physical shopping. These 3D experiences won’t just be digital copies of existing brick-and-mortar locations: retailers are now looking at retail design as a way to differentiate online experiences from in-store ones, working with architects and other designers to create multi-sensory spaces that maximize their potential, both online and off.
