The App Development Roadmap 2020 - What to consider when it comes to developing or commissioning a world-class app in 2020 and beyond - indiespring
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The App Development
Roadmap 2020
What to consider when it comes to developing or
commissioning a world-class app in 2020 and beyond.
1Foreword
What makes a great app? Fulfilling your customer’s need So what’s changing? As is the case with any digital
and a great user experience are the two biggest traits economy, the app marketplace is constantly evolving
your app needs to demonstrate, but there’s a lot more to with new trends, new rules, new tools and new players.
think about as the fast moving app economy continues These constant changes impact the way you have to
to evolve. Whether you’re launching or running an approach building, launching, marketing and maintaining
existing app that is consumer facing or adding value to your app. This report will explore the important changes
users within your business, there are a lot of questions that have taken place in 2019 and will continue to
that you need to be asking when it comes to ensuring influence the world of app development in 2020
your app has a successful impact. and beyond.
How can you ensure your app gets the prominent For anybody facing the increasingly challenging task
position it deserves in the app store chart? How can of commissioning or running a successful app, The
you be certain you’re providing a world-class user App Development Roadmap 2020 will serve as your
experience? And how can you make sure users continue trusty guide when it comes to what to consider and
to open and engage with your app instead of dropping how to think ahead to ensure your app is delivering
off or, worse, removing it from their device? Which new on your business goals as well as generating a buzz
technologies and middlewares are worth investing your and achieving strong downloads and increasing
time in and which are worth bypassing completely? For engagement. We have highlighted four key areas
those who aren’t at the forefront of app development, we believe you need to be focussed on as we move
those questions can be difficult to answer, especially at a into 2020.
time when the app marketplace is becoming increasingly
difficult to navigate. Rob Sandbach
Managing Director, Indiespring
Contents
1. Fragmentation of the marketplace and devices 3
2. Adoption and improvement of mobile analytical tools 4
3. Cross platform app development changing the game 5
4. Growing awareness and driving user engagement 6
5. Customer insights 7
The App Development Roadmap 2020 21. Fragmentation of the marketplace
The app marketplace isn’t as simple as it once was.
For some time Apple and Android have been the only
platforms app owners have had to consider but this is
all beginning to change, particularly on the Android side
of things. Following Huawei’s ban from the Google Play
Store, the Chinese technology giant is launching its own
operating system named HarmonyOS complete with its
own app store.
Amazon has also taken baby steps towards launching
its own app store for Kindle and a wider Amazon app
store could create further fragmentation down the line.
Compared to Apple, Google has an obvious problem
curbing fragmentation, in the Android Ecosystem. Third
party manufacturers that have their own app stores
- including the likes of Samsung, Sony and LG - are
driving that fragmentation but Google’s ‘Project Mainline’
aims to improve this by enabling security, privacy and
consistency to be updated through its Play Store.
The broadening of the marketplace and the emergence
of different platforms are factors that now have to
be taken into consideration when it comes to app
development, not only to ensure they’re available
to smartphone users across all platforms but also
to ensure they are providing the best possible user Apple has demonstrated, and Apple tightening its
experience which takes advantage of the native benefits policies even further.
on each platform.
Developers are having to think about these policies
It’s not just the marketplace that’s becoming more and how the apps they build comply across different
fragmented. The proliferation of new devices that platforms. For example, apps that are required to run
apps are accessed through should also be taken into constantly in the background can be removed from
consideration as users adopt these devices. Developers the app store due to excessive battery usage. Being
should be beginning to think about smart speakers, aware of these less documented limitations will be
smart televisions, connected cars, home assistants critical when adding new features or bringing innovative
and wearables. How users want and need to interact solutions to market.
with apps through the growing range of devices
is adding increasing complexity to app development All of these elements are driving the fragmentation of
with different interfaces, expectations and the app marketplace and developers have already had
implementation possibilities. to take a lot more into consideration in 2019. In 2020 it’s
likely the rate of fragmentation will only intensify as the
On top of all of this, changing app store policies are distance between the various operating systems, app
bringing greater complexity and uncertainty to the stores and device types grows wider. App owners will
marketplace. What is and isn’t allowed on different have to ensure they’re partnered with developers who
platforms is frequently changing with Google updating are fully clued up when it comes to the fast-changing
its policies to be more in-line with the stringent policies development of the app marketplace.
The App Development Roadmap 2020 32. Maturing of mobile analytical tools
It’s widely accepted that mobile apps are required to be from the very outset of building and testing an app to
simple to use, but a world class user experience can’t help iron out any bugs before its release. New bugs
be realised if you’re not able to monitor and analyse can be a common occurrence as apps evolve and
the performance of the app “in the field”. Without become updated with new features and upgrades, so
performance analytics and crash notifications, the ongoing performance and crash monitoring is essential
quality of the user experience can quickly deteriorate and throughout any app’s lifespan.
if you as the owner of the app aren’t aware, you cannot
act quickly to resolve the issues that are impacting While Firebase is one popular example of a performance
the experience. If those issues aren’t swiftly resolved, analytics platform, there are numerous different
users will become frustrated which can very quickly solutions available such as Amplitude, Mixpanel and
lead to them ceasing to engage and using a competitor Keen. Moving forward, it will pay to ensure the solution
app instead. you’ve chosen to help manage and maintain your app’s
performance is one of the front runners as these will
There’s a growing variety of multiplatform solutions that be the ones that become the de-facto solutions over
provide performance analytics and these will become the coming years and will ensure the best possible user
increasingly crucial to monitoring and maintaining experience within your app.
a great user experience. Solutions like Google’s
Firebase provide a range of tools that essentially track A secondary consideration is being sure your
app performance, provide tools to test alternative development team and environment is setup to support
implementations and notify the app owner when the the rapid releases required to really benefit from the
app crashes on any user’s device, providing insight into “test-measure-implement” loop. There is no value in
what has gone wrong and why. These tools support analysis that isn’t followed up with action.
a “test-measure-implement” loop that allows apps to
iterate quickly with data driven decision making which
keeps them ahead of the competition. Protecting the
user experience in this way keeps engagement rates
healthy and avoids a flurry of bad reviews on the app
store. Performance and analytics tools should be used
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The App Development Roadmap 2020 43. Cross platform app development changing the game
Cross platform app development has matured as a A further benefit of the cross-platform approach is
cost-effective and less complex way of developing apps faster speed to market which supports the modern agile
for both Apple and Android’s platforms compared to development methodology and iterative development.
native development. Native development requires the Cross platform developers working with cross platform
same app to be built from scratch for each platform app solutions are able to bring new products and
which is a longer, more expensive and more complex features to all platforms more quickly. The previous
process that might not be required for most applications challenges with cross platform development are being
in 2020. As the app marketplace continues to fragment, eroded away as devices become more powerful and
cross-platform development will become increasingly the technology matures. Download sizes become less
popular as an alternative to developing the same app of an issue as 5G becomes the norm and poor app
over and over for each platform, especially as new performance is negated with more powerful devices and
platforms begin to emerge and the technologies mature now native user interfaces are possible whilst sharing all
to lessen the performance and interface implications other code between platforms.
previously present.
There is an emerging movement of developers building
Cross Platform App solutions such as Xamarin & world class apps through a hybrid approach using native
React Native are the enablers of the cross platform interfaces on-top of a shared codebase, meaning the
approach. It also enables more budget to be spent on finished product has the best possible interface on each
great features across all platforms which is a typical operating system and greater features and functionality
constraint of native development where balancing thanks to benefits of cross platform development.
the quality of features and user experience across all
platforms can quickly become a challenge. Once the It’s likely that in 2020 we’ll see a growing number of
app is launched across all platforms, any subsequent apps developed in Cross Platform App solutions and
updates are shared across all platforms too, removing older web based hybrid solutions such as PhoneGap
the complexity of issuing the update to each becoming less popular.
platform individually.
The App Development Roadmap 2020 54. Growing awareness and driving user engagement
The fragmentation of the app marketplace will make it When it comes to engagement, the entire user
increasingly challenging to market your app across each experience needs to be made as frictionless as possible.
platform such as Apple’s App Store, Google’s Play Store From the outset, when your successful marketing
and Huawei’s APPGallery. The number of apps currently strategy leads to users downloading and opening
available across Apple and Android grows rapidly year the app, as many pain points as possible need to be
on year so fighting for a space in the app store charts, removed from the onboarding process. Instead of
making users take notice of your app and download is making users go through a clunky, long-winded sign-up
shaping up to become a significant hurdle. And then process that involves laborious form filling and requires
there are further challenges to consider, such as making them to leave them app and open an email to verify
sure users actually open and engage with the app for a their account, there are far simpler processes that can
prolonged period of time. be implemented such as a single sign-in process of a
magic link. This simplification of processes needs to
To generate a buzz and encourage downloads, you be thought about throughout the entire user journey,
need to consider how well you know the expanding and from the onboarding stage all the way through the app
fragmenting marketplace. Many businesses possess including the core interface and every feature, ease of
an acute awareness of the Apple and Android platforms use is paramount to engagement.
but are less aware of the ongoing changes taking
place within those platforms. Moving forward it will be As more and more apps come to market with many
important to consider the level of insight and expertise competing to provide similar uses, getting your app
your development team has when it comes to the noticed and ensuring it provides the best possible
ever-changing marketplace. Working with a development experience matters more than ever. Understanding how
team that can consult on a strategic level rather than to achieve this in 2020 and beyond will require expert
one that simply has the ability to code an app will be input. A trial and error approach simply won’t suffice but
crucial to getting your app in front of users and onto partnering with development experts who understand
their devices. both emerging changes and the changes that will take
place further down the line will be essential.
The App Development Roadmap 2020 65. Customer insights
Jane Smith
Insurance information
Customer insight on accessibility
Typically apps are thought of as simple tools and issues
such as accessibility requirements are often overlooked. 4 yrs
But these wider issues are being thought about more,
and the more readily these issues are addressed, the
more app owners can ensure all users are getting a
valuable and satisfactory experience from the app. This
can include ensuring vision impaired or colour blind
users can easily navigate and operate an app just as
effectively as the next person.
Interlink Software focuses on achieving IT/business
alignment for its customers. Interlink enlisted Indiespring
to assist in the development of an app that notifies IT
staff when an incident is raised on their company’s IT
system. This enables IT staff to fix the issue as quickly
as possible, reducing system downtime. But together
Indiespring and Interlink have gone one step further.
This innovative project also addresses accessibility
issues for vision-impaired users, providing reporting on Customer insight on hyper-personalisation
accessibility issues which helps to ensure all users can
access the system. Smartphones are becoming increasingly smart and in
terms of development, companies are beginning to think
further outside the box when it comes to what uses they
can provide, the value they can bring to both users and
businesses and the wider social and economic benefits
Text size they can provide. In Trak Global’s case this means safer
roads, fairer insurance policies and a more profitable
A A A insurance industry.
Trak Global works with businesses in the insurance and
Colour filters mobility industries. In both industries, apps are moving
beyond simply allowing users access to documents
Red such as insurance policies or rental bookings on their
smartphones. The company enlisted Indiespring to help
Orange
develop a truly innovative solution that tracks customers’
Yellow driving behaviours and feeds that data back to insurers.
Green
The analytics inform the insurer if the driver should
Blue earn a discount through their safe and careful
driving, meaning each individual insurance policy is
Purple
personalised to each customer based on their style
of driving. As a result, drivers are incentivised to drive
safely and insurers implementing the app are paying
out less claims.
Reduce white point
Invert colours
Increase contrast 7Conclusion
There’s plenty to think about in 2020 and beyond, Mastering marketing, onboarding, performance and user
but app owners need to be taking these points into experience isn’t something that can quickly be learned
consideration now if they are to deliver digital products or realised. By the time a business with acute knowledge
that will remain relevant this time next year. Navigating of app development and management thinks it has a
the growing, increasingly competitive and increasingly grasp on how it all works, everything will have changed.
fragmenting marketplace is a challenge that can be Change is constant in the world of development and this
overcome by enlisting a development team that knows is why expertise is so important.
the marketplace inside out, that can anticipate the
changes on the horizon and has the ability to overcome Now more than ever, it’s vital to engage with an app
existing and pressing changes. development partner that truly understands this
constantly changing landscape and can provide the right
Understanding the rising tide of analytic tools and judgements and valuable consultancy around which
identifying which of those tools are worth implementing devices, which marketplaces, which Cross Platform App
will also come down to engaging with developers solutions you need to think about, what will and won’t
who can read the marketplace and quickly identify pass app store regulation, and what further value your
the frontrunners. When it comes to deciding whether app can provide to stand out in an increasingly crowded
a native, cross-platform or hybrid approach will give marketplace. App development can’t be thought of as an
your app the best chance at performing well across internal side project – more than ever you need expert
all platforms, you need to decide where you want the guidance to ensure your app is acknowledged, engaged
strengths to be in your app: a strong user interface, a with and is valuable to its users.
greater range of features across both platforms or the
best of both, across all platforms.You can also read
