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Mobile apps have redefined the purpose of mobile phones. With mobile apps, users can get more done with their smartphones than make phone calls or text. With the emergence of smartphones, two popular mobile app development platforms lead the mobile app market today – Android and iOS. Android takes a larger share of the market as it is an open-source OS that many popular mobile phone companies like Samsung, OnePlus, and others use to power their smartphones, whereas iOS is closed source and only runs on Apple devices.
However, iOS app development is still very popular and in demand. The future of iOS app development seems promising and filled with many exciting benchmarks and updates. Before we dive into iOS app development’s future, we should understand why iOS is so popular and beneficial for both developers and clients alike.
iOS popularity 2022 – Market Stats and Facts
Here are some facts that prove the popularity of iOS development from the most credible sources –
- iPhone owners show more loyalty to Apple than Android owners to their devices. In a survey, 92% of iPhone owners mentioned they would buy Apple devices only compared to 77 per cent for Samsung.
- On average, there are 25,000 new iOS apps released monthly.
- Gaming apps are the most popular games available for iOS apps.
- iOS app users are more likely to spend on app purchases than Android apps.
Why iOS is the ideal platform for your mobile app?
Despite having such a significantly lesser share in the overall mobile app platform market, iOS is still at times better at generating revenues for clients than Android. Why is that? Many benefits and features of iOS app development give it an edge over other platforms. Here are some of the key features that distinguish an iOS app –
1. Higher Quality Standards
iOS app development follows coding best practices and the Apple app guidelines offer a great set of suggestions and rules that helps developer build high-grade, secure mobile apps. Unlike Android, the screening process for which apps are allowed to be published on App Store is more scrutinized.
2. Better App Revenues
Even though iOS has a lesser than 15 per cent market share, it has proven to be better at revenue generation for clients. Part reason for this is who the 15 per cent market consists of. iPhone is more popular in high-income regions like Japan, the US, and the UK. People living in such regions have higher incomes and better purchasing power, so they are more willing to pay for app purchases if it enhances their user experience with the app.
3. Top-Notch Apps across domains
Irrespective of what type of app you want to build, iOS app development gives developers access to some of the best design patterns, libraries, frameworks and other resources to build a top-notch iOS app that delivers incomparable user experience and an intuitive user interface.
4. Ideal for both Enterprise and B2C apps
iOS app development is reliable enough for brands to build mobile apps for their customers and internal business use due to its appealing UI and robust security features. Hence, it can be used for your internal enterprise needs and develop a client-facing mobile app.
iOS App Development Trends 2022
iOS has been a future-driven platform that keeps simplistic design and implementation in mind. Here are some of the most exciting iOS app development trends or the future of iOS app development you should be aware of. Hire iOS developers who keep up with the latest iOS app development trends and are skilled enough to implement them in your project –
1. Upcoming Swift 6
Swift is Apple’s iOS user interface toolkit that lets developers design iOS apps declaratively. The current stable release for Swift is 5.6.1. Swift 5 brought many exciting new features to iOS development, such as –
- Unavailability Condition
- Temporary uninitialized buffers
- Incremental migration to concurrency checking
- Type Placeholders
Although Swift 6 isn’t entirely revealed yet, it is expected to come with Package Manager, Memory Ownership Model, quicker build development, better debugging support and many other promising updates.
2. Security and Privacy Improvements
iOS has always been known for its robust security and reliable privacy protocols to safeguard sensitive user data and protect their Apple devices from malware, data theft, and other vulnerabilities. Despite creating a reliable and appreciated secure platform, Apple keeps striving to continuously improve and update its security and privacy protocols to ensure its users’ safety to the best of their abilities. This is why it can only be expected that Apple will continue to push implementations like ASWebAuthenticationSession to improve the authentication sign-in process across various iOS devices.
3. AIML Impact on iOS app development
AIML (artificial intelligence and machine learning) is aiding businesses across industries across the globe. iOS app development is not behind on this wagon, and there are already many successful integrations of AIML with iOS app development. By leveraging concepts of Machine Learning, NLP, and Deep Learning, iOS app development will reach a whole new level. By integrating AIML, developers will be able to provide better features to the users while writing lesser lines of code, ultimately resulting in lightweight and faster to market apps. Integration of these AIML features with Apple’s voice assistant Siri can also open up doors to a whole new level of personalization and convenience for the users.
4. iOS in the Internet of Things
IoT has been around for some years, but the integration of IoT in our everyday lives will only increase whether it’s for daily use or business processes. IoT is helping remote work become more accessible while also helping huge labour-intensive businesses to automate their business processes to a great extent. iOS has been adapting to IoT ever since it released its wearable device called Apple Watch and other products like Apple TV. The Apple ecosystem is one of its kind, and the way users can operate, share and utilize their Apple products is only going to further improve with future updates.
5. Augmented Reality in iOS
Another futuristic update in iOS will be the use of Augmented Reality. Apple already has ARKit, its augmented reality platform for iOS app development. Using ARKit, developers can add 3d objects and characters to any AR environment created on an Apple device. It comes feature-packed with scene processing, capture, display and other such features. Apple recently hinted ARKit 4, which will introduce a feature called Depth API, among other new features.
Final Words
The future of iOS app development seems promising and exciting for both developers and clients alike. Make sure to hire iOS app developers from a trusted and experienced app development company that can keep up with the latest updates on the platform. Have a basic understanding of these concepts yourself to better plan your iOS app as per the latest trends and market requirements.
