Internet Of Things: How IoT Is Changing Mobile App Development?

 

In August 2020, Gartner published Gartner’s Hype Cycle, which shows the cycle of technology maturity and demonstrates which technologies are at the peak of attention, which will be in demand soon, and which are gradually disappearing.

The various technologies related to IoT mobile app development have been at their peak for the fourth year in this Hype Cycle. But what’s the Internet of Things (IoT)? How can we use this in everyday life? And what can we expect IoT will do in the future?

Explore our smart technology insights on IoT to build better customer experiences.

Halfway To The Finish Line

The concept of the Internet of Things emerged in 1999 as part of an MIT project for Procter & Gamble. They implemented radio frequency RFID tags to improve supply chain management.

As Wikipedia says, “IoT is the concept of a network of physical objects that interact with each other without human assistance. They exchange data, analyze statistics, and sometimes even make decisions on their own. "

Back in 2008-2009. the number of connected devices has exceeded the world's population. So, it wouldn’t be wrong to say that we are already living in a connected world. McKinsey predicts that IoT will contribute between $3.9 trillion to $11.1 trillion by 2025. In comparison, the global economy is predicted to reach about $ 80 trillion. 

Analysts paint such exponential growth in the number of connected devices:

The concept of IoT has penetrated all walks of life: traffic management systems, connected cars, power grids, devices for analyzing medical indicators, household appliances, and user trackers.

Mobile Applications And The Internet Of Things (IoT)

Mobile applications have become the central interface for human interaction with “smart systems”.  For example, you can brew coffee without leaving the couch in a smart coffee maker or watch what is left in your smart refrigerator right from the store. But the IoT mobile application concept doesn’t only penetrate the B2C segment.

Many gas pipeline networks are already hung with control sensors, and it is not enough for engineers to have a single control point. They need mobile applications so they can receive up-to-date data and interact with the system anywhere they want.

What Can You Do With An IoT Mobile App?

1. Observe (readings of devices, sensors, video).
2. Analyze (build graphs and reports).
3. Manage (open / close, turn on / off, trigger an alarm, send messages, and many other actions).

How to Develop the IoT Mobile App?

To develop an IoT app you only need to come up with an idea and features that you wish to include in your app. And you can outsource app development to expert application developers. However, before doing that you need to understand the technical aspects of IoT.

Here are 4 basic elements of an IoT system:

1. Software: The IoT app developed is the software. The app should be operating on the cloud to manage and monitor all IoT devices connected with this app. 
2. Hardware: The sensors and physical components in the IoT devices are included in the hardware of IoT.
3. Cloud: To process and arrange the data collected by the software (mobile app) from the hardware (connected IoT devices), the cloud acts as the most crucial technology.
4. Network: The network is the main link between the data collected by the cloud from the software to the hardware and vice versa.

You may like: 10 ways cloud computing increases business productivity

How IoT Benefits Mobile App Development?

IoT is changing mobile app development in countless ways, some of these are:

• Enhanced Security: Since there is a constant exchange of data between IoT-connected devices, it becomes imperative for the developers to ensure that private and personal user data doesn’t fall into the wrong hands. This results in secure mobile app development.
  
  Also Read: The Need for Cryptography in IoT
• Ease of Integration with Multiple Technologies: As the continued evolution of technology makes integration inescapable, mobile apps must be compatible with modern technologies. IoT apps can easily be integrated with advanced technologies like AI and Virtual Reality.
• Collecting Insights: IoT-enabled apps make it easier for companies to gather valuable insights about app usage. These insights are helpful in a lot of ways: delivering personalized content, improving user experience, and much more.

There is no doubt that IoT can bring revolution to the mobile app development sector. And companies in different industries that wish to benefit from it can engage the services of a trusted IoT mobile app development company.

What Does The Future Hold?

With solutions like Alexa and Google Assistant, IoT is becoming mainstream. 

Experts predict a wide range of adoption of IoT in 2024:

• A lot of cool gadgets in the B2C segment. We will see how everything becomes "smart": toothbrushes, coffee makers, devices for animals - fantasies are endless. The development of B2C IoT devices is getting cheaper every year. With the help of ready-made boards, any enthusiast today can create their own "smart" systems and connect them to the network.
• Hundreds of platforms for storing and working with IoT data. They already exist, but there are more and more of them. 
• Big data and Machine learning. Big data and machine learning will be increasingly relevant. In the future, "huge data" awaits us. 

“Big Data and IoT together have the potential to boost app performance and fuel consumer engagement like never before.” Quoted from (How Big Data & IoT Are Winning The Mobile App Development Industry).

Smart systems affect all spheres of life and sectors of the economy. And everywhere mobile devices become the connecting link. Will it always be this way? Hard to tell. But creating mobile apps is getting more and more interesting. If you are interested in developing IoT mobile apps, schedule a call with us.

Also Read: IOT MOBILE APPS – BENEFITS, CHALLENGES, AND EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW