2017 is spinning up and it's time to make predictions on what mobile app trends will rule the world this year. Many tendencies emerged years ago, however, it took time for them to expand and they are gaining true power over the minds of consumers and entrepreneurs only now.

We already reviewed many of these new technologies in our blog and in this article you will find links for a more in-depth look at them. Let's get started!

VR and AR are not just on the rise. They are skyrocketing!

We all remember last year's craze with Pokemon GO and endless tirades about virtual reality. In 2017, virtual and augmented reality is not something outstanding anymore, people now take this technology as a matter of course. Increasingly more websites start offering a VR version that works right in the browser of your smartphone (for example, the Kievstar website). Games, applications for Cardboard and full-fledged VR headsets like Oculus and HTC Vive, online broadcasts and 360-degree short films that are already receiving Oscar nominations, 3D performances like the one given by Seether and Saint Asonia... VR-supported content is growing exponentially. And, thanks to the increasing power of mobile devices, it's getting better in quality. So, if previously VR technology by itself was able to impress users, then in 2017 a high-quality VR content is gaining traction.

More Unity applications!

The capacity of devices has made a huge leap forward, thus mobile app developers no longer need to fuss about it and can use Unity 3D. This game engine is perfectly suited for cross platform mobile development, which smoothly closes the issue with multiplatformity. It's a great relief for Android developers: the problem of multiple screen resolutions is solved with just a few clicks in Unity.

Certainly, for iOS apps it's a matter of debate, because native (Swift or Objective-C) apps are optimized much better. However, it's questionable if the difference in performance will be noticeable on powerful devices like iPhone 6 and 7. In any case, an attractive app development cost as well as possibility to write apps once and launch them for multiple devices are already drawing attention of companies that make apps. So, Unity has rightfully earned its place in our list of mobile app development trends for 2017.

Swift will come in full force!

Swift has been repeatedly recognized as a more friendly programming language as compared to Objective-C. It will not fully replace Objective-C but will continue to grow and evolve. Last year's release of the app, that makes it easy to learn Swift for anyone, has made itself felt. There will be more Swift developers and the number of Swift-based applications will grow too. This is a fair compensation for Unity's invasion in the world of Apple (unless, of course, someone believes in the difference in optimization).

Machine learning keeps on progressing

Virtual assistants like Siri and Cortana, content identification in Google Now, recognizing text and images with your smartphone's camera - all these is artificial intelligence. Last year, this direction got a new kick start due to updates in the operating systems of mobile devices and the release of various components for the smart home on both Apple and Android platforms.

There are more and more applications with neural networks like Prisma or Artisto. Trainable artificial intelligence appears in video games. It adapts to users' needs by memorizing their preferences and habits. This technology provides great opportunities for both users and developers - soon each service will be able to interact with virtual assistants and artificial intelligence will do most of work which is currently performed manually.

Beacons! Beacons are everywhere!

Beacons technology is spreading ever wider and getting closer to consumers. Therefore, more consumer-oriented features and apps are being developed, starting from usual virtual guides or information resources and ending with games with geolocation and more advanced apps. It's unlikely that they will cause a technical revolution. However, beacons are penetrating more areas of life where people can benefit from receiving all the necessary information right on the place without connecting to the Internet.

Mobile commerce

Technologies like Google Wallet and Apple Pay are gradually taking the place of usual plastic cards. It's much easier to make purchases with them, just click a couple of buttons and the product is yours! The tendency to make purchases on mobile devices has almost doubled in 2014 and has been steadily moving up since then.

If we add up the potential of spreading m-commerce to the devices like smartwatch, we will see that this trend will continue to grow for a very long time.

Security

Self-destructing messages, encrypted communication and complete confidentiality - this is what users really lack of and we can see it in mobile trends. These features were provided in updates of Apple's and Google's instant messengers and that's why the applications like Snapchat and Telegram are so popular. People no longer want to hear about data leakage and hacked accounts. And as long as this is in demand, this tendency will only increase.

These are the main mobile technology trends for now. Knowing them will help you to create interesting and trending mobile apps in full compliance with modern standards!