Pandemic 2020 has brought many changes for different businesses, some have benefited a lot and here mobile apps can be a good example of digital prosperity. Nowadays, mobile usage has become the most popular. From conferencing and gaming to shopping and payment. Currently, more and more users are leaving most routine activities up to mobile apps.

The mobile development industry has rapidly succeeded, with 33 billion new apps downloaded, there were $28 billion purchases made, and users spent more than 180 billion hours on applications worldwide. The third quarter’s performance has turned out to be phenomenal in terms of year-by-year metrics, increasing consumer spending by 25 % and app time usage by 20 %.

The number of mobile applications is growing every day that’s why marketers are focused on mobile advertising.

Mobile app development enables organizations to reach their objectives of comparatively high standardization. Mobile applications bring high utility as they help enterprises and businesses to communicate with their clients and increase their reach by creating a modern UI/UX  on a small screen.

Most of the time it is hard to hire a development company that can be fully relied on and trusted with creating very useful apps with up-to-date technologies. Moreover, you need to find such business developers that will align your business demands and cutting-edge technologies. There are a few mobile development trends common for 2020 – 2021 listed below:

  1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) have been trying to become powerful tools for marketing for years. These technologies can help improve chatbots, make real-time translation much better, analyze customer behavior;
  2. Internet of Things (IoT) takes remote control of different types of equipment via the mobile application. Such technology will make consumers’ existence easier. All devices can be connected and controlled by the phone.
  3. Augmented reality and virtual reality (AR and VR) take the main role in lots of nowadays mobile applications and will proceed to allow brands to level up loyalty through product demos, interactive guides, virtual showrooms. Regarding TechCrunch AR mobile technology might be the driver of the AR/VR market.
  4. Blockchain is supposed to be a huge mobile development trend that will be integrated into modern apps for better security;
  5. Progressive web applications (PWA) might be used without being downloaded. They have shown good performance as expenses for development were lowered, meanwhile, the conversion was increased.
  6. Cross-platform mobile apps are supposed to go along with PWA. There will be full support for users on various operating systems and software platforms. In case the product can go together with a different OS, it will be easier to gain new customers.

Pandemic has also changed consumers’ behavior. And it is centered around deriving value from mobile services. People use mobile applications for different reasons including remote education, at-home shopping, family entertainment. That’s why mobile applications have become a significant revenue driver. On the average, time that people spend on mobile apps has grown 25 % compared to previous months. This has changed the users’ expectations.

  • Consumers are willing to stay informed these days, mostly about crisis and COVID, that’s why the most income will be coming from different apps.
  • Different education and business apps will be in high priority and demand. Meaning that working on different apps for remote work and engaging learning will mean a lot for Edtech’s success.
  • Shopping and delivery apps are leading to the high performance of e-commerce.
  • Mobile gaming keeps getting popular among users. Nowadays, mobile games are getting more popular. Consequently, marketers have more chances to increase their revenue on ad placement than ever before.

The market of mobile applications is changing all the time. This year the change has been dramatic. Regarding the statistics:

  • Mobile app revenue reached $53B in the global market in 2012. And in 4 years, by 2016, the number reached $63.7B;
  • One year after, in 2017, mobile app developers have launched monetization models into gaming apps and in-app advertising in non-gaming apps. That was done to boost mobile transactions.
  • In 2018 Google Play revenue reached $24.8B;
  • Sensor Tower’s data has demonstrated the mobile applications’ revenue of $ 39.7B. That has shown a 15.4% increase since the previous year;
  • Users spent more than $50B on the app stores. They have increased downloads by 25 %;
  • Mobile ad placements have increased up to 70 % in the pandemic period.

Ukraine has been known as a creative center that is full of skillful and agile specialists. It offers amazing opportunities for outsourcing and offers an affordable powerful workforce. The country’s potential in app development is growing pretty fast and establishing strong positions in the world. Currently, there are more than 100 mobile app development companies and most of them are EU or US-based with a remote team that specializes in app development and based in Ukraine. 

According to TechCrunch, every modern smartphone owner uses 30 mobile applications per month. Diving deeper into statistics, 49% of users check their most favorite apps more than 10 times a day, meanwhile, 21 % of Millenials check different apps more than 50 times a day. In the modern world, people love discovering apps these days, and below you can find the list of top 10 apps that have been released in 2020. You also can find and download them on App Store and Play Market.

1. HBO Max

HBO Max

This app represents a streaming app with a great variety of iconic and popular TV shows and movies. Users can download them and enjoy them from their phones.  The app is available on Android and IOS.

2. Watchworthy

Watchworthy

This app is free. It was designed to create customized TV recommendations which are based on the user’s rating. Also, the app is available on Android and IOS.

3. Money Safe Win

Money Safe Win

This is a financial app that helps users to control their finances and count expenses right from their checks. It is available on Android.

4. Fitness Coach

Fitness Coach

It is a well-designed fitness app with finished exercising programs which users can choose based on their goals. It is available on Android and IOS.

5. Tech With Cat

Tech With Cat

This is an educational application with good and useful tech tips and tricks which show the easier way of using common programs and tools. It is available on Android.

6. Pokemon Smile

Pokemon Smile

This is an AR app for children. It turns teeth brushing into a game with pokemon popping out. It is available on Android and IOS.

7. How we feel

How We Feel

This app allows users to track their health state with fast daily check-ins. The initial purpose of this app is to slow the spread of COVID-19. It is available on Android and IOS.

8. Anonymous Camera

Anonymous Camera

This app is made with machine learning technologies to let users make photos and videos anonymous to keep privacy. The app is available on IOS.

9. Photoshop Camera 

Photoshop Camera

This is a fresh app released by Adobe to let users fastly edit and enhance pictures with different tools and filters. It is available on Android and IOS.

10. Dolby On

Dolby On

This application is for YouTubers, bloggers, and musicians who look for quality and noise-free recording tools. It is available on Android and IOS.

However, what can we expect from the Mobile Application Industry?

When the pandemic started, it was thought that the year would have a long-lasting effect on the global market and the same would be for consumer mobile behavior.

A Ukrainian remote R&D center is concentrated in hiring IT & development talents, meanwhile, DNA325 matches US companies with Ukrainian teams to facilitate the process of producing very qualified digital products.

For some businesses, the pandemic year might have looked bad and profitless. At the same time, it provides lots of possibilities for growth as the mobile era is rising.