In 2022, the app store will be dominated by startups and entrepreneurs who are looking to make a quick buck. The best way to do this is with a mobile app. But what type of apps should you invest in? That’s where we come in!
A new app will be released every 60 seconds
As mobile apps continue to grow in popularity and mobile technology becomes more prominent, mobile app trends are constantly on the rise. There’s no doubt that mobile apps will play a huge role in mobile-dominant societies like ours.
In fact, mobile apps aren’t just being used to get the latest news and updates from your favorite publications. They’re also being used for a number of mobile app development purposes, including mobile commerce and mobile marketing.
As mobile app development becomes more popular, a new mobile app will be released every 60 seconds on average in 2022. Even more impressive is that mobile apps have been forecasted to bring in $6 billion in revenue by 2020 .
Apps with chatbots will become more popular for customer service
In a world where social media and technology have become an integral part of our day-to-day lives, it’s no wonder that many people are turning to mobile apps for help in managing their busy schedules. For example: Facebook Messenger launched chatbot support back in 2016 with Apple releasing iOS 10 featuring Siri supporting third party bot later that same year! This trend is expected to continue as the usage rate over overtook what could be found through browsing from desktop computers or laptops – despite being less convenient at times when we need quick access information without having much time on hand (65%).
Chat apps like Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger will continue to grow in popularity
In 2022 chat apps will be continuing to grow in popularity as there is a large demand for instant messaging services.
In recent years social media has grown rapidly and so have chat applications because of this. According to research Facebook, WhatsApp, and Facebook messenger are used by more than 50% of all online adults which is a substantial amount compared to other messaging services such as telegram or signal. Combined, these three chat services have around 2 billion monthly active users worldwide. In Europe facebook messenger alone accounted for 54 million users whereas Whatsapp stood at 353,6 million monthly active users. This number is not set; however, it is expected to rise as Facebook continues its strategy of acquiring competing companies such as zen chat and what’s app. As Facebook and other social platforms continue to grow chat apps will become an increasingly reliable and essential communication tool.
This growth is partially due to the increase in mobile users as Facebook has proven that it can adapt to new technologies such as SMS or applications like Facebook messenger, which allows FB users to send messages for free instead of using their phone carrier’s plan. The strategy behind buying these chat apps was because traditional SMS would not be profitable anymore. This is why Facebook bought WhatsApp because Facebook could start charging companies for advertising on its chat app similar to how they charge them on Facebook and Instagram. By doing this Facebook and other social networks hope to make more money from existing internet users’ attention span; however, we do not know yet if there will be a rise in chat app usage.
So what’s the next step for Facebook, Google, and other social networks? It is to integrate chat services with their own social network which would lead to people spending more time on their platform (this has already happened to some extent). For example; Facebook owns WhatsApp and Facebook messenger therefore it can allow users of one service to access features of the other seamlessly. This makes using Facebook even more like a messaging platform than before because Facebook can continue to ‘own’ users/customers attention span. They do this by making chat apps part of their service so that they are almost indispensable in everyday internet use. With Facebook’s unmatched collection of data about its users, it is unlikely that another company will be able to replicate these strategies.
More companies will start using augmented reality, virtual reality, and mixed reality
Augmented reality (AR) is a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data.
Augmented reality is related to two largely synonymous terms: mixed reality and computer-mediated reality. All three terms are also sometimes referred to as simply “reality”.
The first augmented reality experience was created in the year 1968 through an augmented wristwatch that indicated the hour and minutes on its surface where words were projected at certain times of day. It presented status messages like: be at Joe’s Bar in 10 minutes” and ‘Good Morning’.” This augmented watch proved to be very successful because it blended in with normal activity, instead of interrupting it.
Now augmented reality is being used to provide users with an augmented view of their environment, whether it be through turn by turn directions on a phone or helping construction workers work more safely.
The augmented reality industry has boomed recently because certain companies have started using augmented reality to increase the efficiency of their employees. These apps are called Augmented Reality Apps and they are making augmented reality popular in the workplace.
Augmented Reality Apps are made up of 4 different types: -Mapping & Navigation -Training & education -Customer Service & Retail -Marketing
Each type has many subcategories that range from health care training to service technicians receiving step by step instructions to complete repairs all without ever having contact with a customer.
Global AR & VR product revenues are expected to grow from US $3.8 billion in 2017 to US $56.4 billion in 2022, a 71 percent compound annual growth rate. This includes enterprise and consumer segments.
Virtual reality (VR) is a computer-generated artificial environment that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world or imagined worlds. The effect is commonly created by VR headsets, sometimes called virtual-reality glasses or virtual goggles, which are wearable devices that use near-eye displays to generate stereoscopic images to create the illusion of 3D space. It creates life experiences that have never been had before—and can even be life-changing for many people.
Can virtual reality help solve some of the world’s biggest problems? Can it improve education? How should virtual reality be used in the classroom?
Virtual reality is already being used for educational purposes, from virtual tours of colleges to virtual field trips. The last few decades have seen virtual reality move from “a far-off fantasy to a practical tool for researchers and engineers.” For example, NASA uses virtual reality to train astronauts on how to walk again after landing back on Earth. This virtual environment helps them develop the crucial motor skills needed to climb out of a space capsule after a long mission. Virtual reality can also help students learn about history, science, and language. It’s also been tested as an effective teaching tool for helping children with autism improve social behaviors related to empathy and understanding others’ emotions.
Now that virtual-reality headsets are becoming more common, virtual reality is also being used in the classroom to enhance lessons. For example, virtual-reality headsets can make students feel like they are flying around a virtual globe or visiting other planets—all without leaving the classroom.
Another idea for virtual reality is to bring back course subjects that have lost their appeal, such as geography. With virtual reality, teachers could allow children to virtually visit every country in the world and learn about different cultures along with their history and politics by simply putting on a headset. It doesn’t stop there – virtual reality has even been implemented into military training programs because it allows soldiers to be immersed in simulations of real-life scenarios before actually entering them.
Virtual reality may seem like science fiction now, but experts say virtual reality will become a standard classroom tool in the near future, much like virtual reality headsets that can be used for gaming.
VR has potential but it is still not an efficient learning tool yet because there are still kinks to work out such as motion sickness and virtual-reality glasses that don’t look too clunky. Virtual reality seems like the next big step in education since we now have virtual field trips. However, virtual-reality glasses need to improve before virtual reality can truly revolutionize education.
Apparently, mixed reality (MR) has become increasingly popular within the past year. The term mixed reality describes an environment where real and virtual objects interact with each other to create new experiences in which physical and virtual elements take part simultaneously (Virtual Reality), also known as augmented reality (AR).
The digital world embedded into real life is giving us mixed feelings, especially when it comes to mixed reality apps. On one side, we are curious about possibilities for our lives; on the other side, we are afraid of how machines will take over. Some people say that mixed reality could be beneficial while others say that mixed reality can put you in great danger.
However, mixed reality means mixing the everyday world around us with digital information or virtual objects through a mixed-reality computing platform. In mixed reality, the digital world is mixed with real-time and where physical and virtual objects coexist and interact with each other in real-time.
In this article, we will discuss mixed reality apps that are already out there for you to explore the new mixed reality world!
The term mixed reality was created by Paul Milgram and Fumio Kishino in 1990 to describe a mixed media environment where users can see 3D computer graphics (CG) objects superimposed onto live footage of the real world recorded by video cameras. The word mixed means something like “derived from many sources”, so the mixed reality is an augmented view of our world.
According to Microsoft, MR is made up of two components: mixed reality and mixed reality computing. Mixed reality is a broad concept that refers to the merging of real and virtual worlds to produce new environments and visualizations where physical and digital objects coexist and interact in real-time. Mixed reality encompasses every technology that interacts with the user to generate a mixed reality experience.
Computerized mixed-reality systems first appeared as early as 1983. The first head-mounted display was created by Ivan Sutherland, however, it wasn’t until 1991 when mixed-reality experiences were truly presented thanks to Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories (MERL). In their demo, they showed how telepresence could be mixed with a remote collaboration between two locations. Since then, mixed reality has been used in many ways such as education, entertainment, training, and more.
In mixed reality, virtual objects can be mixed with real ones in a shared environment where users can see the physical and virtual objects at the same time. As a result of mixed reality apps, any surface or environment can become an interactive experience that responds to the user’s gestures, voice commands, and even thoughts.
To make mixed reality possible for its users, Microsoft has created HoloLens which is a mixed-reality headset that allows you to play games where 2D screens are replaced with 3D holographic images while being fully immersed into the mixed-reality world. HoloLens features spatial sound technology that enables you to hear holograms from anywhere in the room so if you’re making a mixed-reality app, you have to consider this when designing mixed-reality games.
Mixed reality is not just for entertainment purposes, mixed reality apps are also being developed in many other areas such as medicine, architecture, design, sports training, education, etc.
According to futurism.com, mixed reality has already been used in the medical field where surgeons are using mixed-reality headsets to improve their skills through mixed-reality simulations. Furthermore, mixed-reality health care apps are helping patients monitor chronic conditions by providing them with daily reports on how they’re doing while seeing their vital stats mixed into 3D environments that can be controlled by voice commands or hand gestures. Mixed reality will also benefit the educational field where students can be taught using mixed reality devices which can be mixed with real objects to provide realistic experiences where they can learn how to operate machinery, diagnose a disease or explore the solar system.
The following mixed reality apps are currently available on Windows Store:
1- HoloTour – take a tour of the world’s most famous places in mixed reality for free! This app uses 3D mixed-reality technology to transform your living room into an immersive experience so you can travel around the world without leaving home. It also comes with 360-degree videos that allow you to visit landmarks like The Eiffel Tower in Paris or even watch an erupting volcano like Mount Etna which is located in Sicily, Italy.
2- HoloGrid: Monster Battle (Free) – play ahead of its time holographic monster-battling mixed reality game! The graphics of HoloGrid: Monster Battle are powered by Unreal technology which makes it possible for you to play a holographic mixed-reality card game where you pit your mixed monsters against your opponent’s mixed monsters. This mixed reality app shows how mixed reality can change the gaming industry as it provides a fully immersed gaming experience with high-quality graphics, sound, and gameplay that will teleport you into the future of gaming.
3- Actiongram – create mixed-reality videos using this app that allows you to place virtual objects into real environments then record everything on video. Actiongram uses mixed reality to come up with unique stories where virtual characters interact with real people in real places. For instance, there are mixed reality videos where mixed characters react to real-life situations mixed with mixed media like mixed animated stickers and objects.
4- HoloStudio –make your own mixed reality stories by creating holograms of anything you like such as people, animals, or objects which you can use to make mixed animations and video clips! This mixed reality app also features a holographic camera that lets you create 3D holograms of yourself and your friends so they can be interacted with afterward.
5- Microsoft Remote Assist – remote assist is a mixed reality app for HoloLens that enables manufacturers to collaborate remotely in mixed reality with guidance from experts at Microsoft thus allowing technicians to fix problems faster while being guided by the person who’s far away from them. With Mixed Reality Capture, Remote Assist mixed reality recording mixed media like mixed animations and mixed videos to help technicians understand how to fix different issues.
Voice-controlled assistants will become more common on mobile devices
Voice-controlled assistants like Siri, Cortana, and their ilk are going to become a lot more common on mobile devices as the industry moves away from physical buttons.
Last month the Voice UI group at Microsoft published some new data on some of their user studies comparing voice assistants with touch controls on mobile devices.
In this context “voice assistant” means headless interactions with services that follow spoken commands, requests for information, and so forth without requiring a screen or keyboard. Voice UI is the research arm of Microsoft’s Xbox division which focuses on human computer interaction using speech recognition technologies. This study analyzed how people interact with voice assistants compared to touch interfaces on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. The study also included desktop monitors which allowed input via mice or touch pads.
For all scenarios they measured the time required to begin using an app after it had been installed. Voice assistants provide a different interface model than touch, and knowing how often people will need to use certain apps in daily life can be important for developers deciding what type of interface is best suited for their product.
“What we found surprised us,” Microsoft writes in their Voice UI blog . “Entering text on mobile devices with touch screens was actually slower than using voice recognition technologies.” Voice control proved faster than both direct-touch interaction and traditional keyboard entry when trying to launch applications, even on desktop computers. Furthermore, accuracy for voice commands proved comparable or superior compared with direct-touch input accuracy. Touch was more accurate than voice command on mobile activities like typing emails or browsing the web. Voice control was better on desktop activities like using spreadsheets or photo editing software. Voice control proved comparable with direct-touch input when it came to tasks like scrolling through social media feeds, but far more efficient than either direct touch or keyboards for tasks like opening photos, deleting email drafts, and sharing content.
“Our findings indicate that voice assistants have the potential to greatly improve the mobile user experience,” Microsoft continues in their blog post . “Voice is a powerful tool that can help people accomplish common activities faster.” The study’s results were consistent across age groups and genders, though younger users tend to prefer touch interfaces while older users are generally more comfortable with voice commands no matter what kind of device they’re being used with. Voice control was also more accurate when voice assistants had access to context information like location or calendar data, potentially due to better noise filtering compared with non-assistant devices. “Voice is a powerful tool that can help people accomplish common activities faster,” Microsoft concludes in their blog post . Voice control for mobile devices offers simplicity and speed of use while touch interfaces are still preferred for web browsing thanks to their accuracy. Voice control has the potential to revolutionize how users interact with mobile devices, but must be carefully designed so they don’t lead to user frustration over inaccuracy. For more on this topic, including full details of the study’s methods and results, see Voice UI’s blog post . The Voice UI group at Microsoft publishes regular research on Voice UI technologies for mobile devices including Siri, Cortana, and Alexa.
Mobile payment systems are predicted to overtake cash transactions by 2022
Mobile payment systems are predicted to overtake cash transactions by 2022, according to Reuters . Mobile payment options like Apple Pay and Android Pay allow consumers to remove cash from their wallets, but this article suggests that there is more hype than substance behind the trend. Mobile payments only account for around 1% of global retail sales at the moment.
There are several factors impacting this slow adoption rate. For one, retailers do not have enough incentive to replace cash registers with expensive mobile transaction solutions because they do not save enough time or money compared to just using mounds of paper receipts. Another issue is that some consumers still prefer paying in cash – having extra money on hand appeals to some people who don’t fully trust the safety of online banking services. Mobile payment apps also do not integrate with public transit, and there is no widespread discount for using them in the same way that debit cards provide a break on bank fees. Mobile transactions are also more expensive for retailers, who must pay around 2% of the value sold when consumers use their phones to make payments instead of cash.
The future may be bright for mobile payment systems, though. Mobile transactions are currently popular with young people in urban areas – they are expected to grow much faster than other forms of commerce thanks to millennials’ comfort with technology. Mobile payment processing companies are also working towards expanding their services to offer money transfers, lending options, or other financial services that could boost adoption rates significantly by 2022 when cash usage is predicted to drop below 50%.
Although many people are skeptical of mobile payment options, the trend towards them is strong and some experts predict that they will eventually overtake cash. Mobile technology has already transformed many industries – this may be just one more example of how it can completely change the way we do business.
Conclusion:
With the new app releases, chatbots for customer service, and voice-controlled assistants taking over mobile devices in our daily lives, we can assume that marketing will also need to change. We’ve seen this start with visual content like augmented reality ads popping up on billboards around major cities or virtual reality videos of products being created by companies. As more people get used to these types of advertising methods, you might find it beneficial to jump on board now rather than later.
What do you think? Will your business be using any of these technologies soon? Let us know!