Every Successful product grows into an app economy and every successful app into a platform economy

When the web revolution just started little did we expect that we would one day hold smartphones with processors much faster than the first-gen computers. Today’s powerful smartphones now house full software products that run as fast and smooth as on a computer. Using software products, i.e., apps, on mobile phones may not be very different for the users. However, from the creators, it demands a giant shift – a shift that opens many opportunities, but only after they cross the technical constraints.

Smart Mobile phones have become so indispensable that it is not a surprise some regard them as an extension of themselves. They’ve become our primary source of edutainment and infotainment, more so during the pandemic. Their increased use doesn’t go away with the pandemic but surely will continue and grow. With phones being handy and also as powerful as a computer, naturally, app versions are being released for most softwares designed to be run on computers. The change, however, is mutual. Many successful and purposeful apps are also transitioning into full-fledged software products with increased functionalities.

The foundation of these changes lies in fast-advancing technologies that are propelling makers of software (both apps and computer software) to continuously innovate. These innovations help digitally transform several industries and domains. They will continue to bring many more advancements to the mobile app ecosystem in the coming years.

coMakeIT with its deep product engineering capabilities has helped several customers in building mobile apps and transitioning them to computer software products. The apps span across diverse domains like FinTech, EdTech, AgriTech, Proptech, Insurance, etc. Some examples are a mobile app for the real-estate sector built to protect people, equipment, and properties on-site, a student support portal to answer different needs of children, a touchless food ordering and payment solution, a consumer app to manage receipts, etc. 

With all the huge popularity and demand for Apps and our vast experience in building and scaling them up, we’re writing a series of blogs to share our views, processes, and analysis of the mobile app ecosystem.  This blog briefly outlines the new features technical advancements are bringing to the apps. The subsequent ones will analyze the ecosystem from various standpoints like marketing, design, deployment, etc.

Why are we creating Apps?

Apps are an important way companies respond to threats. Paradoxically, most visible disruptions are rooted in some app. Examples are many, Airbnb, Netflix, Spotify, DropBox, etc. To battle disruptions, many companies, including enterprises, are engaging with customers through mobile apps. They are used to understanding customers’ needs, assessing their interests, communicating with customers, and receiving and resolving complaints more easily. In fact, they are at the forefront of customer experience innovation. They’ve become an important source of infomediation that companies use to generate future revenue and value.

Apps also help in digitalizing a business. Though the pandemic brought many uncertainties, to sustain, many companies had to use the opportunity to digitally transform. Apps have been indispensable in bringing this crucial and necessary change. And they’re propelling even more changes.

How are Apps changing?

2022 is a crucial year for mobile app creators for several reasons. The digital ecosystem is recovering from many disruptions including the uncertainties of the pandemic. New technologies like Blockchain, VR, AI, ML, 5G, IoT, Beacon, Cloud, etc are swiftly crafting new innovation paths. For the past two years, compelled by the social-distancing conditions imposed by the pandemic, we started using our smartphone for new purposes like to search for information, for entertainment, to make purchases, communicate, etc through several apps. The higher usability is propelling several structural changes in mobile phones, like having add-on VR abilities, or foldable/expandable and bigger screens.

Here are some ways we think software products, especially apps, are going to change.

Becoming Software products that communicate better – Not just companies, our homes are also getting digitalized. We’ve started using smart versions of several everyday things like watches, TVs, Phones, Vacuum cleaners, dishwashers, washing machines, coffee makers. Several versions of apps are being developed to work on multiple devices like smartphones and smartwatches. They’re acquiring new functionalities like language processing abilities to follow verbal instructions. Apps share the data they record or collect. They can also consolidate data to present a holistic picture to us. As such apps grow, they will form many more connections to simplify and consolidate common processes.

Better Security – NFTs, and Cryptocurrencies created a lot of buzz in the previous year. Hence, Blockchain, the technology underlying them, is fast gaining popularity. It not only enables payments in cryptocurrencies, but it can also be used in making mobile apps more secure, transparent, and reliable. 

Advanced features like multi-factor authentication, i.e., authenticating in several ways like voice, fingerprint, iris scan, face, are being added to make applications more secure.

Lean, but strong – Apps are digitally transforming new domains and expanding the digital vortex. Remote work perpetuated the new culture of working from anywhere and from any device. The added security also made it possible. When complete and heavy software is not needed, a part of it is containerized as an app to provide users more convenience and flexibility. This is especially useful in non-software sectors like healthcare, real estate, etc, that are using software for tracking, logistics, workforce management, etc.

More personalized and human – Gone are those days when customer care automation meant waiting in line for half an hour listening to some meaningless music or noise. Valuing customers’ time and convenience is very important for any business. Instead of calling customer care or checking the website, customers prefer lodging complaints through apps. With the help of Artificial Intelligence and data sharing, Chatbots in apps gather issues, understand, and give accurate information. Apps are becoming simpler, to-the-point, and extendable.

For customers’ needs – Several On-demand apps are blooming to answer localized as well as globalized needs. They not only connect sellers of stuff to buyers but are increasingly built to connect service providers to service seekers. These digital marketplaces are not always giants like Amazon or Alibaba but are many times local and small, fixed to a domain/industry or geography. With advancements in Natural Language Processing, some of them are built in local languages. Thanks to them, the app world is becoming inclusive and available even to non-elite users.

Smart Marketing solutions – Marketing is the domain that is going to be revolutionized by apps. Several new advancements like Virtual Reality, Beacon, etc are being used in apps to help customers make the most appropriate shopping decisions. These apps also help the companies understand and evaluate their customers’ preferences and needs better.

Many advancing technologies are revolutionizing the app space, the most notable of them are IoT, Blockchain, Microservices, Artificial intelligence, Natural Language Processing, Virtual Reality, Beacon, etc. No one or even one team can be the master of all these technologies. So, clearly, collaborations with technology experts are essential to build or scale up today’s apps.

coMakeIT helped in building small, dedicated teams for several small and medium-size software businesses. We helped many entrepreneurs and innovators scale up their software products and build their own IP. Many of them grew with us into bigger teams and even full-fledged offshore development centers and software companies. For more info on such strategic collaborations, please mail us at info@xebia.com