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During 2020, mobile apps became incredibly popular for businesses as the apps provide a way of connecting with customers. Whether or not you have an app, planning to make changes during 2021 will help give you more visibility and potentially an edge over your competition.
During 2020, mobile apps became incredibly popular for businesses as the apps provide a way of connecting with customers. Whether or not you have an app, planning to make changes during 2021 will help give you more visibility and potentially an edge over your competition.
Given how quickly tech evolves, trying to predict what will be trending over the next year is a unique challenge. Still, 2020 has given us a lot of indications of the ways in which apps are likely to change, as well as some technologies that could be incredibly beneficial in the app realm.
Flip phones went from being the pinnacle of mobile technology to a relic of that period. Enough time seems to have passed that they have become an item of nostalgia, but they now have the ability to include more complex apps than the original versions.
The apps do need to be adjusted for a flip phone screen, but apart from that, the functionality is the same as any other smartphone. Over the last year, flip phones have been gaining in popularity, so ensuring that a person will be able to access your app on their new phones could be a real advantage for your business.
Better known as IoT, this technology allows people to do things remotely. From checking to make sure they closed their garage door while they are at a restaurant to setting the home’s temperature, IoT offers a convenience that people are not likely to want to relinquish. IoT has been around for a few years, but there is still plenty of time to get into the market.
If you have a product that can be made smart (nearly any electric product is a candidate to be made a smart device – even coffee makers) , consider how you can make use of IoT to increase your visibility and make your product more integral in people’s lives.
There has been a huge migration of apps into the Cloud, but apps have largely remained in their native environments. However, there is a growing trend for apps to be stored in the Cloud as it frees up space on people’s devices.
For businesses, the Cloud makes it easier to implement changes. Users don’t have to spend time downloading the changes since they are made in the Cloud. It is also more cost effective. If you currently don’t have a mobile app or you plan to make updates this year, consider moving it to the Cloud.
Machine learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) have been trending technologies for years, but they are fairly complicated. Over the last couple of years, developers have worked ML and AI into their apps to improve the user experience. Both of these functions make a completely unique user experience.
Chatbots are like personal assistants that will take care of tasks so that you can get in and out of places faster. Currently only a few apps include chatbots, which would certainly give your business an advantage.
One of the best current examples of a chatbot is with the Starbucks app. Essentially, the user can order what they want through the app, and the app will place the order for them. If they place the order right before leaving home, by the time the customer arrives at the Starbucks, the order is likely to be ready. Since they’ve already paid through the app, all they have to do is pick it up and leave, significantly reducing the time it takes to get their order.
Mobile wallets are becoming one of the preferred ways to pay, in large part because they are so easily accessible. You don’t have to pull out a particular card or touch any devices. A quick scan of your phone is all it takes to pay. Besides being able to pay in person, mobile wallets let users do a lot of other tasks, such as paying bills and sending money.
There is a growing market for these wallets, and after 2020, there is a growing demand for this particular app and integration with them.
Another major change that 2020 brought was the preference for people to be able to shop from their devices instead of having to go into stores or restaurants. The more people rely on their mobile devices to make financial transactions, the more security is needed to secure those devices. There are actually several important security trends to consider for the new year, but it is important to plan to do more to ensure your customers’ data is more secure.
Either developing or updating your app should be a priority for 2021. People are increasingly moving to apps to do tasks that have traditionally been done in person or over computers. Mobile devices are easier to use, and if you realize you need to pay a bill or order food for dinner, it only takes a couple of minutes to take care of it. The to-do lists are getting shorter because people can do things on the fly.
Keeping up with the latest trends – or at least a few of them – will help to convince people that your app is something that will help simplify their lives. By being a convenience that people want in their lives, or in helping people more quickly access and complete tasks, customers are more likely to be loyal and recommend your business.