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What Stats Show Us About Mobile App Trends in Q4, 2018

by Adedolapo Olisa

October 29, 2018

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Mobile apps are being put to use every day by consumers; to play games, connect with friends, order food, send money and so much more. Business-wise, they have become important channels for enterprises and organisations that seek better communication with their customers.

In early 2017, mobile apps have grown to account for about half of global internet traffic. It is expected to continue to grow just as rapidly. But how exactly do people use mobile apps?

Suggested Read: Steps to Building a Mobile App for Your Business

The Manifest conducted a survey in 2018.  Its first report focused on social media apps and analysed how people use apps. It also focused on which types of apps are frequently used and why apps get deleted. Their findings reported that social media apps dominate usage. 39% of smartphone owners listed social media apps as their most frequently used type of apps. Since their unveiling, social media apps — Instagram, Snapchat etc. — have received a rapid boom in the amount of people logging on, and they are still receiving massive followership. Communication/messaging apps like Whatsapp and gaming Apps are tied at 10%, while retail apps are at 7%.

In Other findings,  the largest percentage of respondents (32%) say they open any kind of app on their phones 1-10 times per day. But it is likely they underreported their app usage behavior.

However, over one-fifth (21%) of millennials — persons born between the years 1981 and 1997 — say they open any app more than 50 times a day, compared to only 2% of baby boomers — folks born between 1946-1964. A full quarter of respondents (25%) were reported to have deleted an app simply because their phone’s storage space was full and they needed space.

Everyday, the mobile app industry improves its services. Apps are updated and users are advised to upgrade their apps for higher satisfaction. This year, there has been a notable introduction of new innovations from the mobile app industry, particularly in this fourth quarter. Let’s dive in and see what mobile-app magic awaits us in this last quarter.

Trends in VR & AR (Virtual and Augmented Reality):

In 2017, VR & AR began to stretch beyond the borders of entertainment and gaming. Not only did we see the market become high in demand by consumers, it was also embraced by businesses. This became evident after Apple and other conglomerate businesses began to incorporate the technology into their products. The new tech became their new USP (Unique Selling Point) and it initiated a new way in which mobiles operate. Fastforward to 2018, businesses could use the technology to  showcase products in real-time to clients. It was also used to improve branding and marketing tactics, and train employees. You can expect to see a lot more of the tech in the last quarter of this year.

Trends in Mobile Payments:

In the final quarter of last year (2017), a lot of banks connected with mobile payment technologies. This proved to be a successful investment for both online and mobile banking. As such, it’s only proper to see the trend become even more mainstream this quarter. Customers can now use their mobiles to make everyday financial transactions, including an increasing number of retailers. An example of successful businesses helping to pioneer this trend into the mainstream market would be ‘Apple Pay’. Apple Pay acts as a digital wallet service for users with Apple devices. This is something Android has also incorporated into its devices — ‘Android Pay’. Mobile payments are becoming more widespread in general. Although it has been available within the U.K for a while, the technology is rapidly becoming mainstream in other parts of the world.

Suggested Read: How to Build a Mobile-based Business

Trends in Face I.D Technology:

When it comes to Face I.D, technology couldn’t be more effective in securing personal data. With Apple waiting for facial recognition technology to become globally operative, the company has again reformed the way people interact with their devices. People have embraced this innovation by adopting the system as a form of security identity. This year, we’ll see other competing businesses looking to take advantage of the massive success of the Face ID trend.

Cloud Driven Mobile Apps (now trending):

Everyone has heard about the cloud technology and how it’s impacting our  lives. Today, cloud computing has finally found its place with mobile apps. Hence, we can expect powerful mobile apps that directly fetch data from cloud and take minimum space in your smartphone internal memory.

Google Drive, Dropbox, & OneDrive are only the tip of the iceberg. A Cisco research stated that globally, cloud apps will drive 90% of total mobile data traffic by 2019. It also reported that Mobile cloud traffic will increase by 11-fold with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 60%.

This clearly indicates that the mobile app trends, related to the cloud, is here to stay.

Charisol gives you insights and practical ways, proven with stats, to enhance your business, ranging from choosing the best software or app — whether mobile or not — for your business, to tips for online business growth,  recruiting and supervising your employees for maximum productivity, and necessary digital skills you should have either as an entrepreneur or an employee — all to empower you with knowledge that makes you a better business or career personSee here for more insightful pieces.

 

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Adedolapo Olisa

Adedolapo Olisa

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