Irrespective of the industry, any modern business looking to remain relevant needs to maintain an online presence. This is because the current crop of customers is constantly looking for easy ways to purchase products and services. As a result, multiple digital platforms such as social media, apps, and websites, which businesses can use to connect with their customers continue to crop up. This compounded by technological breakthroughs, availability of cheap internet-enabled devices, and low data costs mean more of such platforms will continue to be on high demand.
Of all these platforms, Android apps, have emerged as the platform of choice for businesses to market their services and reach out to their customers. However, due to scanty information surrounding the mobile app industry, many companies simply choose to hire Android developer without first researching the key technology trends driving this ecosystem.
In this article, we are going to look at the latest technology trends in Android development and how you can leverage on them to take your business to the next level.
Contents
Brief Background of Android Development
Android is the brainchild of Andy Rubin and dates back to 2003. Although it was initially intended for Digital Cameras, the operating system was switched to accommodate a host of other devices after it was acquired by Google.
Fast forward to today, Android is one of the most widely used OS. Between the two biggest mobile application platforms – iOS and Android, iOS has been touted as the most lucrative platform for developers whereas the former has the largest market share. App Brain estimates that Google Playstore plays host to more than 2.5m active Android apps, compared to the 2m on the iOS counterpart.
In terms of the revenues, the total app market is expected to generate close to $189 billion by the year 2020 with iOS contributing around $60 B against the $114B from Android respectively. However, it’s important to mention that $36 billion out of the total Android contribution will be generated from third-party Android stores.
Before you decide to hire an android developer, here are the 3 latest trends in Android development to keep eyes on.
Artificial Intelligence
Over the past few years, Artificial Intelligence has become one of the most widely scrutinized and talked about topic in the technology ecosystem. If you are fortunate enough to visit android forums, you will come across stakeholders discussing the possibilities of this technology not only in the Android software development but the industry as a whole.
AI will continue to influence Android app development in a number of different ways. For instance, complex tasks like User commands processing will start embracing this technology. As a result, developers will be able to easily troubleshoot and rectify app issues even before the users start raising issues.
Additionally, Artificial Intelligence will also help business improve the overall user experience. Given the aptness of this technology in gaining deeper insights into the user’s behavior, Android app developers will be able to reduce app redundancies and build intuitive products that are user oriented.
Machine Learning
Businesses are slowly beginning to see the possibilities that machine learning when it comes to mobile app development.
But first, what is machine learning?
It’s a data analysis method that automates analytical model building that operates under the idea that a system can access data, learn from it, identify common patterns, and make a decision based on these patterns without human intervention.
Machine learning for Android developers is an important aspect that will continue to dominate the industry for many years to come. For starters, e-commerce apps are already using machine learning algorithms to analyze user’s behavioral patterns, this helps businesses customize and market their promotional products to different customer niches.
Another area that machine learning is and will continue making in-roads is the automation of customer service using chatbots. A good example of a chatbot is Siri.
Additionally, security authentication features like fingerprint and facial recognition have all been made possible by machine learning. With this, instances of unauthorized data breaches will almost become a thing of the past.
Lastly, Android apps search process optimization has continued to see improvement all thanks to machine learning. It’s now possible to incorporate voice search and spelling corrections to the apps, all of which have contributed to improving the user experience.
Blockchain Technology
When a customer purchases a product online, they leave a trail of sensitive personal information such a credit card information. Which then begs the question, with digital transactions slowly becoming the norm, how secure is this information??
In the next few years, physical wallets and credit cards will be antiquated by blockchain technology. Given the discrete and tamper-proof nature of blockchain, customer’s information along with a cohort of other processes will be made safer by this technology.
Final Thoughts
As for the business owners, keeping up with these emerging solutions will help you discover unique approaches to build appropriate solutions for your customers. But if we are talking about smaller entrepreneurs, it is easier to create a simple solution, as it can involve not so complex technologies and also uses free tools for small business.
In the next 5 years, Android programming will continue to see major transformations. A manifold of technologies will continue to emerge, making Android apps even more robust. For any aspiring or practicing developer out there, enrolling for something like machine learning course will help you remain proactive and at the top of your game.