What to Expect in Mobile in 2015
February 3, 2015

Now that we are in the second month of 2015, hopefully you are able to write today’s date without cursing at yourself for mistakenly writing “2014,” and scribbling a 5 over that 4.

Even if you are, there’s a lot to expect in mobile in 2015. From wearable advances to mobile app evolution to changes in the way we make phone calls, here’s what we predict will happen in 2015 mobile.

WiFi Calling

For those who fight the good fight against low mobile reception, WiFi calling is the answer to boost mobile signal without draining battery life. As such, 2014 was a big year for WiFi calling as T-Mobile and Sprint made a push to expand coverage to hot spots with WiFi access. This means the pressure is on the remaining mobile carriers to support WiFi calling. Not only will mobile carriers support WiFi calling, but they’ll also promote the feature to fill in the missing spots on the map where reception is low and frustratingly not connected.

Wearables

app development companiesIt’s hard to imagine wearables truly taking a permanent hold on the appendages of America, but 2015 will be a big year for their advancement. Smart watches for example haven’t quite captivated consumers due to low battery life and overreliance on mobile phones themselves, however things are changing. Apple Watch is on its way, set to release in early 2015. This is an exciting move for the company that changed the way we listen to music and use telephones altogether. Not only that but consumer interest in the wearable subject has improved, as a Forrester survey of 4,500 US adults found that 42% of respondents would be interested in purchasing a wrist-based wearable. This is up 28% from 2013’s survey, a tangible nod that signs are pointing to wearable use. With the biggest companies putting skin in the game and consumer interest increasing, the wearable game is going to get a lot more interesting.

Mobile App Advertising

Mobile applications are positioned to play a larger role in the 2015 world of marketing. Mobile devices are used at a significantly higher rate than a desktop, and 80% of that mobile use is spent on apps. So it naturally makes sense that a mobile application would be used to promote businesses as well as offer important tracking user information. Vincent Tessier of LAPLACEMEDIA puts it well as he predicts, “For 2015, we expect that both programmatic and native advertising will dramatically change the face of the mobile advertising industry. Brand budgets will continue to rise as best practices from mobile pure players have been learned in terms of tracking and native, as well as programmatic is bringing effectiveness in reaching the right audience.”

Hardware Advances

The aforementioned Apple Watch is one such example of advances in mobile hardware that we can expect in 2015. Google is set to release its modular smartphone Project Ara, introducing users to the concept of swapping out components of the device they find useful or not.  Aside from the release of big projects from industry giants, we can expect to see more hardware integration as apps integrate with devices and utilities for everyday life. Expect to see more app integration with smart homes, medical devices, etc.

Apps Breaking Apart, Becoming Singularly Focused

We’ve traditionally been supporters of the concept of building apps incredibly skillful at one thing. You nor your app can be everything to everyone, and building applications that users love involves keeping it simple, usable and solving one problem exceptionally well. We are now seeing other companies realizing this seeming truth, as mobile apps are not only being built with a simple focus, but already successful apps are breaking their functionality apart into separate apps. As we recently mentioned, Facebook spun out their Messenger function into a separate app – and we can expect more of this looking into 2015.

2015 is shaping up to be an exciting year in mobile, app development, and technology in general. What are you looking forward to most in 2015 mobile? Let us know in the comments below.

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