2024 is here, and we decided to start the year with a glimpse at mobile app development trends for this year. Most related articles were published at the end of 2023, mentioning the main predictions for this industry. We asked our Engineering Director Ivan Kuzlo to share his thoughts on the future of mobile app development.   

So, let’s dive deep into mobile app development trends in 2024, see real examples, and, most importantly, their benefits for the business.  

Vital Statistics in Mobile App Development   

Before looking at significant yet boring numbers, let’s see what has changed regarding mobile apps in our society. First, we are witnessing evident attitude changes in businesses and users toward apps in general. Indeed, we live in the times when our society has become more anchored and thus dependent on mobile devices and, by extension, mobile applications.   

Here are some more thoughts on mobile dependency, or even addiction. We have found and would like to share exciting research on how obsessed we are with mobile phones. The stats are for the USA market, but they can be applied, with some slight changes, to any location. Recent studies show that the average American, for instance, checks their phone at least 96 times per day, once every 10 minutes! Find even more eye-catching statistics here.  

Read also: Top mobile app development conferences worth visiting in 2024

Now, to the business perspectives. In 2020, the global mobile apps revenue increased to over 318 billion U.S. dollars. It was an impressive increase of over 60 billion U.S. dollars compared to 2019. The Statista Digital Market Outlook estimates that the revenue across most segments will increase over the next few years and reach around 613 billion U.S. dollars by 2025.  

With more than 6.3 billion smartphone users worldwide, it’s not surprising that the mobile app industry is on the rise, and you, as a business owner, should pay attention to its main changes and trends.  

Mobile App Development Trends and Their Business Perspectives 

For us not to duplicate the information you already heard or read about, we decided not to mention each and every mobile app development trend for 2024. Still, for those who have missed December mobile trend articles and the main forecasts boom, we are placing a table from FinancesOnline. 

As you can see, some trends are not new, and we have already seen them in 2022 and earlier, like bots, AR/VR, Beacon tech, etc. Their presence in the 2024 list only states that the technology is evolving, improving customer experience and helping businesses meet end-users’ needs in full.    

Together with our Mobile Unit, we have categorized the information mentioned above, focusing on our mobile app development expertise. Let’s have a close look at our list of trends, examples, and benefits for business: 

• AI and ML in mobile app development
• Cross-platform apps 
• IoT/Wearables, 5G networks 
• Blockchain technology, NFT, Web3 
• Camera-focused mobile apps 
• Faster mobile app performance, Declarative UI, Motion design 
• Improved security & privacy, biometric authentication 

Now, a bit of explanation for each point from the list above.  

AI-powered mobile apps boost 

In recent years AI and ML solutions have become very popular in the business world, and many companies are already benefiting from this technology. Some popular AI-based Android apps include Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Replika, Face App, and Cortana.  

Read also: Building smarter apps with mobile intelligence

AI is already being used across many industries, including automotive, retail, healthcare, finance, real estate, insurance, and more. In fact, there are endless opportunities for this technology across all business sectors, and AI-powered mobile apps are no exception.  

Benefits for business:  

• Enhanced user experience; 
• Automated operations; 
• Increased solution efficiency.  

Read more about how AI-powered mobile apps can help your business.  

Cross-platform apps popularity  

For a long time, cross-platform mobile app development has been gaining popularity for businesses. Currently, it is one of the most in-demand software development approaches, and in 2023 such apps will also be in trend. If a company wants to reach a bigger audience base, they need to stick to various platforms at once, i.e., web, Android, and iOS, and should spread its services with cross-platform apps. Such applications allow experts to create a single solution for various web and mobile platforms with a single codebase.  

Benefits for business:  

• Opportunity to cover a wider audience base with one solution; 
• Similar UI across all platforms for end users’ convenience; 
• Time, money, and additional team effort saving. 

Read a real-life case study of a cross-platform app development. 

IoT and wearables are getting mature, 5G boosting   

According to recent research, there were over 1.1 billion connected wearables in 2022! Impressive. In 2023, we are expecting this number to grow dramatically.  

What does it mean for mobile application development? It means that websites and apps will not work on all devices, and they should work seamlessly on wearables too. This trend also got top positions during the pandemic: detectors of pre-symptomatic COVID-19 cases, activity and fitness trackers equipped with real-time features that continuously monitor physiological data. In the coming years, this trend will grow and conquer new spheres. 

5G technology is not a new word in the tech world, but what does it mean for mobile app development? This new standard promises extremely low latency, high connection density, and high bandwidth. It supports advanced tech in AR/VR, interconnected IoT devices, and streaming of 360 videos and 4K.  

Benefits for business:   

• Improved productivity of staff and reduced human labor; 
• Efficient operation management; 
• Improved customer service and retention; 
• Cost-effective operation; 
• Improved work safety; 
• Boosted marketing and business development.  

Find more details about this solution on our website.

Focus on Blockchain, NFT, Web3  

The new iteration of the internet is web3. The main aim of web3 development is to create spaces that are not owned by corporate giants like Google, Facebook, and Microsoft but decentralized. So, the web3 development proposes the user with Blockchain, cryptocurrency, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). 

It goes without saying that Blockchain is one of the best ways to secure  users’ data, be it a record of transactions (as in cryptocurrencies) or documents. During the global pandemic, one of the top things that Blockchain did was to keep track of COVID-19 vaccines. 

Read also: Tips to build a blockchain platform for mining industry based on our experience

According to recent research, among all industries, banking has the largest Blockchain spending in 2020, with 29.9% of the global Blockchain market value. 

Benefits for business:  

• Improved accuracy and security;  
• High speed of operations; 
• Decentralized structure for more trust; 
• Reduced costs on manual tasks.  

Read this case study in full on our website.   

Camera-focused mobile apps 

It’s not new, still a rather popular trend in 2024. It all started during the Covid-19 pandemic when people were forced to work and socialize from home. Since that time, video-calling has become more popular and in demand than before. Aside from video-conferencing, entertaining features of camera-focused apps like Instagram and Snapchat added greatly to this trend’s popularity. According to Statista, by 2026, the video-conferencing market is expected to reach $27.3 billion. And, of course, we must consider the high-quality cameras embedded within most new smartphones today.  

Read also: Our practical guide to mobile-first responsive design

We are now working on a camera-based mobile app for pets. This mobile application aims to create and add entertaining masks for our favorite pets, take photos, record videos and share them on social media. Initially, we called our app Snapchat for pets but decided to add even more functionality and boost our technical skills.  

Benefits for business:  

• More convenient and entertaining user experience in using mobile apps; 
• Competitive advantage in your business niche. 

Faster app performance, declarative UI, motion design 

To get your product ready for 2024, here are some recommendations from our devs and designers: when you launch a mobile app, and technically there are no issues, pay attention to its UI design. UI design is responsible for the retention rate of your mobile application users. This vital metric calculates the percentage of users who keep using your product/service over time. 

Read also: How AI transforms mobile apps and the development process 

Benefits for business:  

• Customer engagement boost; 
• Improved business competitiveness;  
• Increased conversions;  
• Higher customer retention rate. 

Here is an example of how we helped create a health and fitness app.

Security & privacy, biometric authentication 

We’ve put this trend last on our list, but its importance for mobile app development will be top high this year. Actually, personal or sensitive data protection is one of the main vectors for both mobile and web apps. It’s significant for all fintech solutions, online shopping, healthcare, and social apps. 

Biometrics are biological characteristics of a user, such as fingerprints, face, or voice, which can be used to verify their identity. It’s now possible to use a fingerprint or face recognition for accurate device authentication.  

Benefits for business:   

• Improved trust in the brand from end users; 
• More secure processes, less sensitive data leakage;  
• Opportunity to enhance password-free authentication solutions. 

Let’s see how this trend is implemented on a real project.

The Team Behind Mobile App Development: CHI Software Mobile Unit 

Now that we have discussed the main trends of mobile app development for 2023, it’s time to introduce our Mobile Unit to get a bigger picture of who will be helping you on your current or new project with us.  

Read also: 10+ innovative ideas for AI startups

CHI Software Mobile Unit is one of the oldest in the company. With 10+ years of commercial experience, the team covers the following: 

• iOS app development 
• Android app development 
• Cross-platform app development 
• AI-powered mobile app development 
• IoT app development  

Our mobile team has 50 developers and can be divided into Android, iOS, and Flutter subdivisions.  

Our Mobile Team Leads attend local and international tech events and conferences, both as visitors and speakers, to be aware of the latest technology trends in mobile app development, share their experience, and contribute to the mobile tech community. The latest one is the London IoT Expo.  

Tech stack we cover:

Final Words  

The major shift to mobile devices in recent years has caused a real boom in different types of mobile app development. Most businesses worldwide, regardless of size and provided services, try to get closer to the end user and go mobile, providing a more convenient customer experience on most used devices. If your business is new, heading towards mobile app development is a wise start in 2024.  

One more important note. There are many mobile app development companies with professional teams and rich expertise in app development. So, if you are hiring mobile app developers, consider some basic research for IT providers, their reputation, customers’ feedback, and created cases. Rates are not the initial indicators for hiring a remote team, and in our experience, expertise matters!