Trending applications are increasingly focused on the user, on satisfying their needs and helping them every day, which is why you have to be up to date with the latest trends in the design and development of apps. Below are some of the trends in app design and mobile application development services.
1. Voice User Interfaces (VUI)
The most immediate future is because the visual user interface and voice are no longer integrated independently . More and more people use Google Home, Alexa or Siri. And artificial intelligence and machine learning are revolutionizing the user experience to another level.
The most immediate future involves the visual interface and voice no longer being integrated independently.
The increase in voice searches is a factor to take into account when designing apps. It is no longer just about creating conversational designs or including elements such as chatbots and virtual assistants, but also creating a design that simulates a humanized interaction, generating connections with users. Applications must have a VUI design that offers accurate and fast results, thus improving the user experience.
Tunneling user experience is a technique that guides users to interact with all navigation elements on each screen they navigate; and so on until reaching the final objective. It predetermines a series of steps until we reach the objective. To understand it, we could think of a configuration assistant that guides us to the last step. It is very common to use tunneling user experience for registration in the app, in trending applications such as sports or diet applications.
2. Neumorphism or New Skeuomorphism
In the eternal debate of flat design vs skeuomorphism , can we find a middle ground? Between these two styles, the new skeuomorphism arises , also known as neumorphism.
Skeuomorphism is a design style in which elements imitate real-world objects. However, neumorphism focuses on highlighting objects, shadows and highlights are the key factor in this new style. It is about highlighting the details using shadows and lighting.
As a result, the user has a more intuitive understanding of how elements on the screen work. Objects have weight and inertia when we manipulate them, they simulate offering resistance when we slide them across the screen, or project shadows on the elements that are under them.
3. 5G Technology
The fifth generation of mobile networks allows speed increases up to 100 times compared to 4G. It also decreases latency by 1 millisecond. As a result, usage is faster and connectivity growth in mobile applications improves. In turn, this facilitates the development of more innovative platforms with significant improvements in quality and performance .
This technology represents a great opportunity to stream higher quality videos, integrate virtual reality more easily into applications, add more interconnected IoT devices , and make mobile payments more secure.
4. Beacon Technology and Fintech
We continue with another technology that provides substantial changes to the mobile applications of the moment. Beacons are wireless transmitters that send mobile signals via Bluetooth without prior synchronization . They are used to send information from an app to nearby users , due to their great usefulness in proximity actions.
Some of its most practical uses are in marketing campaigns or to make payments by contacting the smartphone with a business’s dataphone . And this brings us to fintech , other trending technologies, as they allow new forms of payment and money transfer using electronic devices.
5. Asymmetric Menus and Brutalist Design
Today’s designers want to move away from symmetrical apps, using, for example, multi-product galleries or pattern interruption , as in mcommerce. Although people tend to look in a certain direction when viewing something and asymmetrical design can affect the user’s visual flow and focus , it is a growing trend that breaks with more traditional app design.
This brings us to brutalist design, a style of app design that is becoming popular in 2022. Simple, direct and bold, this type of design greatly limits the use of color and uses large text. And we must bear in mind that we use giant screens : it is important to take into account how users hold their mobile phones while using them. This means making the most important navigation elements easily accessible to a person’s thumbs, since they probably won’t be able to reach the opposite top corner with their operating hand at this screen size.
6. Blur and Transparent Elements
A mobile app design trend, skillfully implemented by a mobile app development company, that adds usability to apps is background blur. While mobile apps with sharp backgrounds may appear to offer a clean, uninterrupted experience, they sometimes cause usability issues.
Depending on the background selected by users for their devices, as well as the number of icons or widgets that are housed on it, the lack of opacity makes reading difficult. Incorporating the Gaussian blur effect into the design makes apps more readable, while preserving the feeling that the app sits against the background.
Along with background blur, another trend is also developing in app design, transparent and semi-transparent elements. Transparencies are used over gradients, overlays and pops of color. With this type of element you achieve a light page , that is, although it contains a lot of information, it does not seem heavy, something very important when talking about mobile devices.
7. Adaptation to Foldable Devices
Folding and dual-screen devices are already a reality on the market, and applications must adapt to this new way of understanding a mobile phone. Taking advantage of the characteristics of these devices , for which demand is expected to increase in the coming years, is now a trending necessity.
The screen becomes larger, so it will be the developers’ job to take advantage of it to offer more immersive experiences to users and include additional information. Additionally, applications will have to adapt to a screen that can be folded.
8. Advanced Customization
One of the biggest trends in app design right now is this. Taking advantage of technology to design highly customizable applications provides great user satisfaction. The fact that the user can customize their experience with the application makes them feel more in control.
Personalization can be extended to many different areas, some examples are the following, although with the development of machine learning and artificial intelligence the possibilities for personalization are enormous.
The user’s location : Providing relevant content based on location will make the user get the most out of it.
The design of the interface: giving the user the ability to adapt the typography, font size, colors, etc. can greatly improve your user experience. It must be taken into account that there will be users with less vision, color blindness, left-handedness, etc. and that they can adapt the content strongly encourages their interaction with the app.
The content offered: that the application offers one content or another depending on the user’s tastes is a great advance. This is possible thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) and allows consumers to be offered content tailored to their tastes. An example is Spotify, which creates personal playlists for users based on the music they usually listen to.
9. Integration with Wearables
Wearables are smart devices capable of telling you how much time until you reach your destination, the weather forecast or reminding you to take your medication at a specific time. They can be worn on the body or on clothing, as in the case of jewelry or smart glasses.
Applications designed for these devices (especially in the field of sports and health) must offer enough content and at the correct speed, so that the user can digest it at a quick glance. This means that typography, color contrast and context are especially important for design and development. Additionally, they apply machine learning and use IoT.
10. Access without Passwords
Advances in security have meant that we use passwords less and less. Access to most applications is done through biometric authentication , such as facial recognition or fingerprint, so it will be very important to take this into account when designing apps.
Trends in mobile applications have taken a pretty big turn in recent years. The mobile app market is constantly evolving, which is why it is very important to be aware of the latest trends and advances in the design and development of mobile applications . As you can see, most of these trends are focused on facilitating user interaction, making their lives simpler and easily covering their needs.
About the Guest Author
Glad you are reading this. I’m Yokesh Shankar, the COO at Sparkout Tech, one of the primary founders of a highly creative space. I’m more associated with digital transformation solutions for global issues. Nurturing in Fintech, Supply chain, AR VR solutions, Real estate, and other sectors vitalizing new-age technology, I see this space as a forum to share and seek information. Writing and reading give me more clarity about what I need.
