The Mobile App Development Trends to Watch in 2023

Over the last few years, computing has seen a significant shift, pivoting from your desktop to the palm of your hand. Although there is always a place for traditional PCs and laptops, mobile gaming, social apps, and hybrid apps have sparked the adoption of robust hybrid cloud/on-prem software.

As 2023 unfolds, app developers have to be aware of the trends in the mobile app space. Here are some of the most significant mobile app development trends in 2023.

Internet of Things (IoT) devices and networks

In 2023, IoT is continuing to emerge as a powerful driver in multiple industries due to the increased computing power of handheld, home, and business devices. Mobile app developers will be riding this trend over the next year and beyond, giving end users and businesses more versatile computing options.

Consider Climate LLC, for example. Climate LLC is a digital farming platform that allows users to control and monitor their operations in real time to maximize productivity. Climate LLC wanted to provide their customers with the most reliable way to deliver real-time updates and device status changes.

Rather than spending development time and resources building a system from scratch, Climate LLC relies on Presence to remotely monitor equipment usage and push out real-time updates as the device state changes, enabling them to make data-driven decisions.

Integrating chatbots in business apps

In 2023, companies are eager to provide end users with the ability to remain hyper-connected with their support systems and offerings, and nothing fits the bill quite like a chatbot. This is especially true for companies that have to field thousands of requests and questions every day — and may not have the people power to manage the influx of messages.

With a chatbot integrated into a business app, the bot can automatically respond to a considerable percentage of support inquiries and product questions.

This was the case for Swiggy. Swiggy is a delivery service in India that connects restaurants, customers, and delivery partners throughout the order and delivery process. The platform enables ordering from nearly 150,000 restaurants in over 500 cities and expanded to include pickup and delivery services for laundry and groceries.

Swiggy used to use a call center, but as they grew, that solution proved insufficient. Swiggy has been able to automate up to 70% of their customer support tickets and dramatically reduce their time to resolution since implementing a support chatbot built with PubNub. Prior to automation, the average time to resolution was approximately five minutes, but now, it only takes 30-40 seconds.

Interactive education apps

The ripple effect of COVID-19 has sent waves throughout both the education and mobile app development spaces, pushing the two toward each other. In 2023, mobile development is stepping up to meet the needs of this emerging synergy.

At the core of effective education apps is connectivity between teachers and learners. With the right features, educators can do more than conduct classes over Zoom. They can provide feedback, field questions, and enable group collaboration — all within a single mobile app.

This is what ClassDojo is doing right now. It provides virtual whiteboards that enable students to connect via a common workspace. Here, they can collaborate as they combine forces to produce higher quality work.

ClassDojo’s solution also sends popup messages from teachers to students through PubNub, managing hundreds of thousands of messages simultaneously.

Blurring the lines between mobile games and metaverses

The lines between mobile games and metaverses will get more and more nebulous as 2023 rolls on. Gamers are hungry for deeply immersive experiences that pull them out of their chairs and into virtual spaces with other gamers. Once in a game’s metaverse, the possibilities are nearly endless. 

For instance, in Sandbox, you can create your own characters and other objects, then sell them to your fellow gamers. The game My Neighbor Alice unites players in a farming metaverse where they grow crops and raise livestock while connecting with others.

Developers will be expanding gamers’ horizons even further in 2023. Pocket Gems, makers of War Dragons, has already done just that through in-game chat and updates. With the update feature, when users step away from their metaverse experience in War Dragons, they can still get updates about what’s happening in the game. This boosts engagement and keeps the game top of mind for subscribers.

The in-game chat capability enables players from all over the world to connect concurrently — without getting interrupted by latency issues.

Realistic virtual meeting spaces

With so many people connecting through screens instead of face to face during the COVID-19 pandemic, meetings between participants thousands of miles apart will continue to drive connectivity tech in 2023. Virtual meeting spaces sit at the intersection of the metaverse and business, enabling people to interact, create, and collaborate in an online space. 

App developers are wise to continue building solutions that enable features like the following:

1. Creating avatars. Each participant builds an avatar that represents them in the virtual world. They can then customize it however they’d like.

2. Unique virtual meeting spaces. Participants can meet in virtual offices, conference rooms, or even more creative options like art galleries or virtual representations of outdoor landmarks or landscapes.

3. Interacting with other participants. Once inside the virtual space, participants can interact with each other in real time. They can connect through voice, chat, or even live gestures.

4. Sharing content. The metaverse also allows participants to share content during the meeting, including presentations, documents, and videos. They can upload them into the virtual space and provide others access.

vFairs enables users to dive into these kinds of virtual features. vFairs is a platform for hosting virtual events that replicate real-world events as closely as possible. In this way, they enable an experience akin to attending events in person. The platform gives organizations of any size the ability to create immersive and seamless remote experiences that foster global connections between participants.

Using live chat provided by PubNub, the vFairs platform can host a variety of events, including conferences, trade shows, and online auctions.

Set the trend with PubNub

PubNub’s platform not only enables user interactions within your app but also gives you the ability to control IoT devices in real time, facilitate data streaming, and incorporate geolocation features. Sign up for a free trial or webinar today. Alternatively, you may contact our sales team to talk about your real-time project.