The mobile app industry has been on a tear, and it hasn’t gone unnoticed by our team at Ansa. Mobile apps hold more processing power and functionality than ever before, transforming not just personal communication but entire industries. 

We recognize the critical role mobile apps play in driving forward technological innovation and user engagement. Below, we explore the current trends, challenges, and opportunities in mobile app development, underscoring why tools that improve development velocity, uptime, and security are essential components that drive the efficiency and success of mobile applications. 

Mobile-First World

The pandemic has notably accelerated the shift towards mobile-first strategies across various industries. This shift is evident in the significant portion of consumer interactions and transactions now occurring on mobile platforms. Research by AppsFlyer highlights that in companies with over 1,000 employees, more than 40% of customers engage through mobile devices. Similarly, over 40% of sales are conducted through these platforms. This trend is mirrored in the growth of mobile commerce sales, which constitute a growing share of overall e-commerce sales. Furthermore, the importance of mobile is underscored by Google's completion of mobile-first indexing last year, emphasizing the need for web content to be optimized for mobile users. 

Enterprises are not only using mobile platforms for customer acquisition but are increasingly relying on them for customer retention. With the goal for more than half of enterprises being to handle over 75% of their functionality via mobile apps, the trajectory is clear: mobile engagement is set to increase. 

Aging Demographics

As a population, we are increasingly relying on our smartphones, as evidenced by the majority of internet traffic coming from mobile devices now. This is only set to grow as younger generations continue to increase their average daily screen time. As a result,  the scope of business conducted through mobile apps will only continue to expand over time. This comprehensive shift towards mobile platforms reflects the evolving consumer preferences and the technological advancements that enable more sophisticated and user-friendly mobile experiences.

The Cost of Poor Mobile Experiences 

Although mobile apps provide many benefits for organizations, there is a high bar for positive mobile experiences. Many of today’s users are unforgiving. They will abandon apps if they take too long to load or download, and even more users will uninstall an app if they experience freezes or crashes. These performance issues impact a company’s bottom line through lost sales and higher customer acquisition costs. In addition to monetary consequences, a bad mobile experience can impact a brand’s reputation. Frustrated users leave negative reviews or vent about poor experiences on social media, shaking trust with new and prospective users. These negative impacts are further exacerbated when you include the monetary and reputational risks of security breaches through mobile applications. 

It is clear that the stakes are high, so we’re excited by companies innovating in these areas:

Areas of Opportunities

App Development and Testing: Building an effective mobile application is challenging. Developers need to account for complex state management, intermittent connectivity, multiple app versions, and more. Similarly, testers need to account for quality assurance across a myriad of devices, screen sizes/resolutions, operating systems, operating system versions, and varying network conditions. Given the negative impact of poor mobile experiences, combined with the lack of agility when deploying mobile applications, it is critical to mitigate as many bugs as possible prior to releasing

Observability: Once in production, mobile developers need tooling to troubleshoot and remediate errors more quickly. The longer an application is down, the more lost revenue it accumulates and the more frustration users build, causing long-term brand impacts. While there are a plethora of observability vendors across traditional APM and core infrastructure, mobile developers need equally strong options for their unique workflows.

Security: Mobile devices store our sensitive personal information, making mobile applications a prime target for cyber attacks. Many popular restaurants, including McDonald’s and Dunkin’ Donuts, have already suffered mobile app breaches, and T-Mobile’s app recently displayed other customer information without even suffering a breach. With how much is at stake, it is imperative that companies implement proper security posture within mobile applications to protect user data and corporate reputation.

Overall, there are many areas within mobile application development that require better tooling and are poised to create strong value for both companies and consumers. If you’re innovating in the space, please reach out to josh@ansa.co