Latest iOS App Development Trends For Businesses In 2018

The fourth quarter of 2017 saw over 46.68 million iPhones shipped all around the world.

With the launch of iPhone X, these numbers are not going down anytime soon, making Apple the second largest smartphone vendor worldwide, surpassed only by Huawei. Apple offers several interesting features for iOS app  developers  to build better apps, both business-wise and profit-wise.

iOS app development is always trending; thanks to Apple and its fantastic product demand. What keeps BluEnt's iOS app developers up and running is the exciting trends which make the app all the more attractive, efficient and user-friendly. We sat down with our in-house development team to discuss what iOS development trends will be all the rage in 2018.

Here's our cumulated list.

Perceptive apps with augmented reality in iOS apps

The iOS 11 was launched in September 2017 and its major hype was the ability to create apps with augmented reality. We did a piece when iOS 11 was released. Read about iOS app development services ! So, how does Apple intend to do this? Apple's ARKit with support from Amazon's Sumerian Application platform is going to give developers the powers to create 3D apps rich with AR and VR for iPad and iPhone. With the release of iOS 11, ARKit framework has already started receiving investments from big giants. The framework merges digital information and objects with its surroundings; bringing apps beyond screen. The toolkit has distinct attributes which make it highly lucrative for all iOS based app development experts.

It is only a matter of time before we see some hand-crafted AR apps coming out!

Contextual Learning & Artificial Intelligence have made Siri smarter

Apple's products are incomplete without Siri. Our favorite personal assistant from Apple has made us wanting for more ever since she was introduced to us. Notably, Apple has been upping their stance on how intelligent Siri can get over the years.

iOS 11 has given Siri the ability to learn contextually. Siri offers GPS pins during messages and acts as your personal task manager for accessing Citi Mobile App or QR Codes for WeChat; thanks to AI derived wisdom. As Siri grows smarter, our developers believe that more and more apps will feature her to give users a better app surfing experience.

The war of Android vs iOS will soon be over with Cross Platform Native App Development

Should I go for android app development or iOS application development?

Android vs iOS has been the bone of contention for businesses for over half a decade now. As more businesses understand that both platforms have their own virtues and failings, the focus is shifting from platform specific app development to cross-platform development.

Sandeep Kumar, Chief Developer, iOS App Dev Team remarks, "Out of the 10 requests we get building iOS apps for businesses, we advise them to get cross-platform apps built, unless really specified otherwise. Already platforms like Xamarin and React Native are triumphing native and hybrid applications. They're clearly better in terms of cost, performance and user experience. I see 2018 to be a year of cross-platform enterprise apps."

Core Machine Learning will help create more robust apps

Apple has introduced Core ML, a machine learning framework. iOS developers can use Core ML while developing various feature rich applications with just a few lines of code. ML modules include several fantastic features such as face detection, barcode detection, face tracking, object tracking and more. The framework has several libraries with computer vision techniques for processing natural language, face detection and game development. Using Core ML while creating iOS applications means that the apps will be highly interactive and intuitive. With Apple's Core ML framework already being used by Siri, Camera and QuickType, we can expect more third party machine learning frameworks to come into play; followed by intelligent apps on Apple Store.

Swift4 – Harnessing the power of Apple's very own in 2018

Swift has constantly been improving its stance on being the preferred app development language. According to Apple, Swift is not only powerful, it is easy to learn too. The recently introduced Swift4 has all the strengths of Swift3 and is capable of creating highly scalable and robust iPhone apps.

Swfit4 has several useful features including:

• Enhanced dictionary and creation of set types

• Smart key paths for extensible, type-safe and efficient key-value coding

• Exclusive memory access

Our developers predict that creating iOS applications would be more productive, faster, easier and safer with Swift4.

The wonder that is Apple HomeKit

HomeKit framework has been specifically designed for smart homes and the way they interact with each other.

With the intervention of Apple's iOS apps, you can use Siri to command various devices in your home to communicate with each other. This is especially helpful for app designers in automation segments that can create centralized apps for streamlining your home appliances. It is estimated that the IoT and connected things will likely reach 50 billion by 2020 and 2018 seems to be the year things speed up!

Apple Pay – A safer payment alternative

Apple Pay is a digital wallet and mobile payment service which allows iOS users to perform transactions from iPhone, iPad, Mac and iWatch. Apple Pay is accepted by 36% US merchants and about 2 million small businesses. 2015-16 saw a 500% increase in Apple Pay transactions. Judging by these numbers, our developers are optimistic about more third party apps integrating and facilitating their users with the option to use Apple Pay. You can book air tickets, buy event passes and send and receive money through Apple Pay. And as is always the case, it is highly secure.

New trends equal new opportunities! iOS 11 has a lot to offer. With the updated iOS app development trends, 2018 is going to be an pretty exciting year for all app developers and businesses out there. If you're a developer, get in touch to discuss any amazing idea you may have. If you're a business searching for iPhone app development services, ping us with your requirements and we'd be happy to help you out!

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