Technology is constantly evolving! What is in trend today might become outdated even tomorrow. We have seen a lot of new technologies fading into oblivion right before our very eyes. We have seen technologies like pagers and television rise and fall.
However, some new technologies might very easily augment themselves with another innovation and make them relevant according to the changing times. Technology does not essentially render the emotions associated with an act irrelevant. This is the reason why on-demand video is still a fad whereas television channels do not any longer enjoy the same patronage.
When it comes to today’s technology and one of the most mainstream manifestations of technology and communication, we can only think about smartphones. One word that redefined smartphones for us is apps.
Today, almost every activity can be performed using an app. There are apps to count the number of steps that you have taken during the day. There are apps that can even find a perfect date for you, not just based on your interests but even based on your dislikes!
However, there are a few apps that have been rendered obsolete with every passing day. Some apps that were a universal craze have just disappeared into oblivion.
In all of this, the future looks exciting and promising. At the same time, it is not that great news for the mobile app development companies that failed to innovate according to the market and the requirements of the users.
What will the future of mobile apps look like? What are the new technologies that are expected to create a profitable, pleasurable, and practical confluence with the existing awesomeness of mobile apps? Let us read on!
Blockchain
When we think about blockchain as a technology, we can only think about bitcoin and its creator Satoshi Nakamoto. However, we fail to understand that blockchain as a technology is not just about cryptocurrency but also about secure, transparent and a decentralized ledger. The convergence of these three attributes presents interesting prospects to explore.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
The immutability of the blockchain and the need for consistency across all the nodes present an interesting perspective and opportunity for enterprises to handle sensitive information in a way that it can be seen but can never be tampered with. Blockchain if handled correctly, can even make it into the realm of remote voting using a mobile app.
Artificial intelligence
When Isaac Asimov conceptualized artificial intelligence, people would have thought about this as a crazy concept that might never see the light of the day. However, today, artificial intelligence takes control of your day even before the first light.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Lots of innovations including recommendation engines, behavioral targeting, and personalization have transformed the way in which e-commerce ecosystems function. It is quite possible that you are going to see a product that you are very likely to buy when you open your favorite e-commerce app – thanks to artificial intelligence gathering information and learning about your likes and dislikes.
In addition to these usual suspects, one of the most prominent manifestations of artificial intelligence is the chatbot. Chatbots can take care to handle a conversation from a user to gather essential information, so the vital and monotonous parts of the support ecosystem are successfully processed even before a live human interference. This helps in saving quite a lot of time and money for companies. The fact that the artificial intelligence engine can process parts of the conversation even with mobile internet speeds is a resounding testimony to the fact that the practicality and relevance of artificial intelligence are growing with every passing day.
Augmented reality
Somewhere between virtual reality and reality lies augmented reality. Although augmented reality might have had its beginnings in 2014, its manifestations have started to get noticed in the recent past. AR can help in giving users an experience that is as close to reality that is quite distant from them. For example, AR can be used by e-commerce companies selling apparel and accessories to give users a feel of how they would look, when they wear certain clothes and accessories.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
This not only enhances business but also gives users a sense of excitement. Needless to say, marketing gurus are bound to swear by the fact that emotions play a very important role in executing the sale.
Voice
The success of technology lies in making us feel as natural as we can be. It is one of the reasons iPhone became an instant hit – instead of using complicated paraphernalia to operate the phone or use a weird combination of buttons that might go against being intuitive, they confined themselves to a simple touch interface that made it close to the real world.
One of the most common ways we interact with the real world is through speech. Voice recognition had always been a challenge for the tech world because of the complications involved in accents and the humongous number of languages spoken around. Thanks to the data processing efficiency that has developed over the decades. Now, voice recognition and natural language processing is a reality. It has gone so far that you can even control vehicles with your voice!
Conclusion
It is quite evident that mobile apps are here to stay but they will be transforming in their dimension, their utility and their awesomeness as time changes. Blockchain, artificial intelligence, chat bots, augmented reality and natural language processing are expected to increase the utility of mobile applications and smartphones in general. Mobile app companies should take note of these upcoming trends and ensure that they create mobile apps that incorporate all these new technologies, or at least to make them flexible and modular enough to accommodate them in the future.
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