The year 2016 is coming to an end. On this occasion, we have prepared a ranking of the 5 most important trends that have significantly influenced the mobile market for you.
➡ The future belongs to beacons
Beacons – small transmitters that allow communication with smartphones – have opened up entirely new possibilities for us. They are already used in stores and museums, among other places. It is estimated that by the end of 2018, the number of active devices based on this technology is expected to exceed 3.5 million.
In the Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow, it's enough to install an app at the entrance, and thanks to a Bluetooth connection, you'll receive detailed information and be guided through the exhibition. Installing beacons in stores, in turn, offers marketing value. As studies show, as many as 40% of customers search for competitive offers online while shopping in physical stores. There are many applications for beacons – their development is only a matter of time.
➡ Emojis, nicknames, and emoticons
Social media are growing stronger. Currently, as many as 1.97 billion people worldwide use mobile social media. In 2016 alone, their number increased by 17%.
Developers of social media apps constantly ensure the attractiveness of their solutions. An example of this is Messenger, which has been enriched with new features – changing the chat window color, assigning nicknames, or choosing emojis. The use of emoticons has also changed – just send a heart or a snowman in a conversation, and then… see for yourself.
➡ Shopping on social media
The possibility of comfortable, fast shopping is becoming increasingly important. Using online stores has become completely obvious to us. This year, we could observe the expansion of the e-commerce market to include the ability to order products through social media portals. Options like this are offered by Instagram and Pinterest, among others.
Shopping with a smartphone has become extremely popular. It is predicted that as early as next year, about 50% of retail transactions will be made this way. What's more, we willingly use this tool for pre-holiday shopping. Research conducted by Deloitte shows that one in ten Poles will buy a Christmas present using a mobile device.
➡ #VSCOcam
The year 2016 definitely belonged to photo editing apps. Instagram photos are a thing of the past. Today, VSCO Cam is winning the hearts of internet users. The program allows not only to take photos but also to subject them to fairly advanced editing. The hashtag “VSCOCam” is breaking popularity records on social media.
And what else? Many have trusted Adobe's apps – the mobile version of Photoshop (Adobe Photoshop Express) and Lightroom (Adobe Photoshop Lightroom). The programs offer the ability to crop, rotate, reduce noise, or apply filters. The latter is enriched with functions for changing color temperature, white balance, or manipulating curves. Importantly, these apps are completely free.
➡ Gotta catch 'em all!
We've known for a long time that the world has gone crazy for mobile games. But how can we get their users to not isolate themselves at home and encourage them to spend time actively? The creators of the popular game Pokemon GO perfectly solved this problem. Its phenomenon has become the subject of many articles, which have attempted to answer the question of what contributed to the game's enormous popularity. At one point, YouTube was filled with recordings (both real and those that deviated more from reality) showing people walking in search of Pokemon. Between July 16 and July 23, the game was launched an average of 15 times a day – for a total of about 36 minutes. Today, the popularity of Pokemon GO is declining. Players now only turn it on for 18 minutes a day.
The year 2016 wasn't just about new apps. Mandatory registration of prepaid numbers was also important for phone users. For this occasion, operators prepared bonuses – mainly in the form of funds to be used for calls or data packages. The new iPhone 7 was also launched, and Samsung fans went crazy for the models with curved screens. Google VR is also gaining increasing popularity.
And you, dear Vikings, what changes in the mobile world do you consider most important?
