Mobile App Development - 13 Nov 2019

Mobile App Development Trends in 2020 That You Should Know About

It’s no secret that most people who are old enough to drive probably also own a mobile phone; in fact, the latest report from the CRTC estimates that 87.9% of Canadians own a mobile device. But you don’t need data from the CRTC to know how prevalent mobile usage is, just a quick observation of fellow passengers on your daily commute is enough to show you how dependent we have become on our mobile devices. Given these statistics, it’s no surprise that investment in mobile apps is at an all time high, and as a business owner there are a few mobile app development trends in 2020 of which you should be aware.

5G Mobile

We’ve heard the talk for awhile now, but 5G is coming. Soon. Major networks in the United States have already rolled out 5G and with the 3 major Canadian service providers already in the process of updating their 4G networks, it’s only a matter of time before Canada follows suit. But as far as mobile app development trends in 2020 are concerned, what does this mean for your business? 5G is more then just faster connectivity; 5G will change the way mobile app users interact with and experience your web pages and apps. For your business to take full advantage,you will need to ensure that your apps and web pages are optimized for 5G.

Beacon Tech

Beacon technology isn’t necessarily a new mobile app development trend in 2020, but rather a resurgence of existing tech. Initially released by Apple in 2013, beacons are small devices capable of interacting with nearby mobile devices via Bluetooth. While beacon tech initially failed to live up to its hype, 2020 seems like beacon tech’s time to shine, particularly in the form of proximity marketing. Retailers enabled with beacon technology can send personalized marketing or promotional material to nearby consumers who have that retailer’s app installed. Imagine walking past a juice bar and receiving a notification asking if you are in the mood for a kale smoothie, or picking up your groceries and receiving specials and coupons directly to your phone; that’s how beacon tech and proximity marketing will revolutionize that direct to consumer advertising.

Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP)

Google has been at the forefront of making the internet more mobile friendly. In 2016, they began with their mobile first indexing, which changed the criteria for how web search results were ranked and filtered, the priority moving from desktop to mobile versions. The latest Google project is accelerated mobile pages, which are essentially HTML “lite” web pages designed to download quickly. Why this matters for business owners is because mobile users tend to have short attention spans; if your page is taking 3 seconds to load, many users will have moved on. Having a good AMP score will translate into better conversion rates and better user experience, both of which are better for business.