5 Predictions for the Future of IoT and Mobile App Integration

Connecting the Internet of Things (IoT) and mobile apps makes perfect sense. 

Smartphones offer IoT solutions to total portability. The user can manage IoT devices effortlessly via a mobile app, which makes everything more familiar. 

On the other hand, IoT will take mobile app development to a whole new level. Businesses around the world are closely watching and waiting to see what they can control with a smartphone. IoT app development is already showing the real potential to become a multi-million industry. But it’s not just about the money: the range of exciting devices and equipment that can be brought online increases every day. 

Care to guess how apps and IoT can work together? Here are some of the best predictions that represent real-world applications of IoT technologies. 

1. The Rise of Automotive Apps

IoT automotive apps are becoming a serious deal for auto manufacturers. With companies like Tesla setting the tone by releasing connected, autonomous vehicles, the time when these apps will become a norm is quickly approaching. 

IoT automotive apps make perfect sense, too. The very promise of IoT is to help people with handling tasks they do every day, and let’s face it, we spend a lot of time in our cars. IoT takes this one further by automating maintenance, infotainment tasks, safety procedures, and diagnostics. 

We Connect from Volkswagen is a great example of an IoT automotive app available for Android and iOS users. 

Here are just some of the features We Connect has for drivers and passengers:

• Control of doors and lights
• Call roadside assistance 
• Activate the online anti-theft alarm
• Control the infotainment system
• Get real-time traffic information

2. More Apps in Industrial Production Management

The rapidly approaching industry 4.0 is already changing the way manufacturers run plants and factories. IoT sensors are now used to track both moving and non-moving assets and people on the production floor to improve their management and usage.  

A smartphone app can display the movement of the connected equipment and people inside production facilities. For plant managers, it could be a blessing. Having an app collecting the movement data from assets helps to: 

• Track shift performance
• Identifies employees or assets entering restricted areas
• Find the location of an employee in real-time in case of the need to reassign them to another task
• Monitor manufacturing flow by tracking product parts of equipment like toolboxes.

3. Improved Retail Shopping Experience 

Retail is another industry where the combination of IoT and mobile apps is going to make a difference. Although we’ve seen only a few really good cases so far, it’s clear that the technology will be popular among retailers. 

The Amazon Go store is the best example here.

The retail giant has used IoT sensors, cameras, and other equipment in a brick-and-mortar store to eliminate checkout lines. A customer enters the store scanning the Amazon Go special app’s barcode, takes the products, and leaves. 

After the customer exits the store, the app sends them a receipt. The concept, enabled by IoT and AI technologies, takes the traditional convenience store shopping experience up several notches.  

“While we’re still yet to see other retailers launching similar stores, one thing is for sure: people appreciate the convenience,” writes Sam Singer, a digital marketing expert from TrustMyPaper. “Amazon Go stores, for one, have thousands of overwhelmingly positive reviews from shoppers.”  

Needless to say, other companies simply can’t afford to lose an opportunity to improve the shopping experience with IoT. Combining the advantages of mobile self-service apps with connected devices is an opportunity that’s too good to pass up. 

4. More Use Cases in Home Automation

Wireless kitchen appliances, smart mirrors, video doorbells, smart lightning, robotic vacuum cleaners – home automation technology is already used by millions around the world. The overall awareness of tools like AI-powered voice assistants increases rapidly. As the technology matures, there seems to be little doubt over the future of smart home systems. 

Current home automation systems are an impressive combination of IoT components, apps, and physical equipment. Although the apps perform very complex operations, they’re incredibly user-friendly and easy-to-use. 

For example, Google Home, like many other home automation solutions, requires a simple setup of smart home devices. The user is guided throughout the process of adding and configuring IoT devices, so every family member can easily use the app to control them later. 

The user experience and functionality of apps driving home automation solutions will play an important role in their adoption in 2020 and beyond. Writing services like Studicus, Grammarly, and WowGrade are increasingly used for UX and app content writing to make them as clear and easier to use as possible. 

There are some emerging trends that are likely to advance home automation in the future. 

They include:

• A greater role for AI software
• More use cases in security and surveillance
• More control over home objects (voice-controlled smart showers, shape-shifting furniture, etc.)
• More health-related devices (smart sensors and cameras in refrigerators suggesting product alternatives and reminding them to do shopping)

5. More IoT Wearables for Everyday Use

Mobile app development services have been experiencing increased demand in the creation of apps not only for simple applications like fitness trackers, but smart homes, sleep quality assessment tools, and others. IoT has been playing a major role in all of this, providing new opportunities and making wearables get better and more functional. 

According to a recent Clutch survey, about 35 percent of people now own a wearable device. Smartwatches and fitness trackers are the most popular wearables that people use in daily life. More than 90 percent of the surveyed said they have their wearables connected to a smartphone via an app. 

Another survey conducted by Ericsson pointed out how the integration of IoT wearables and mobile apps will develop in the future. Here are the most important points: 

• 6 out of 10 smartphone users say that the use of wearables will soon expand beyond wellness and health industries
• 74 percent of smartphone uses agree that wearables will help them to connect with other physical devices around them
• The majority of those surveyed think that wearables will only become mainstream beyond 2020
• 43 percent of smartphone users say wearables will replace smartphones.

With so many smartphone users preferring wearables, we should see more effort to make the technology smarter and more useful. After 2020, the adoption of the technology should increase, as more use cases and functions emerge. 

IoT App Development: Not Just Hype Anymore

The integration of IoT and apps is a powerful combination responsible for amazing use cases in many industries. The benefits for users we just described showed once again how mobile app development has progressed with IoT. Soon, we should see more interesting developments in all the above-mentioned industries, so 2020 – and beyond – should be very exciting.