Android Application Development Trends to Watch

Mobile application development is a hotter industry than ever. According to Google, Play has 1.5 billion downloads a month from its application store for the popular Android platform.

To succeed businesses need to be more in tune with their customers than ever. One way to miss the mark with your customers is to develop one-size-fits-all applications and not considering the differences of each platform. Savvy companies will adapt their application offerings to the particularities of each platform. When it comes to Google’s Android the Android application development trends will be driven in great part by the arrival of Android 5.0 (Lollipop).

Companies looking to build an Android application in 2015 should examine these trends and features and make sure to discuss them with their Android application developer.

Notifications

Notifications have been improved allowing users with the ability to see and interact with some notifications without having to unlock their Android device.   A sound notification strategy should include this new functionality to separate your Android application from your competitor’s.

Material Design

With Android 5 Google introduces Material Design. Google has upgraded many their popular applications such as G Mail to this new design style. Android users will expect other applications to be designed in line with Material Design standards.

Wearables

This year sales of wearables such as smart watches and personal fitness devices are going to explode.   The release of Apple Watch April will increase interest in all smart watch offerings including Android devices.  Android Wear was recently updated and has improved usability.   If you are planning on building and Android application you should consider including Android Wear support.

Keep in mind that with Android Wear your applications can do more than just show notifications. Over the course of the year we are sure to see several innovations as developers work to make their apps integrate with wearable devices.

Connectivity

Android 5 features are enhanced with Bluetooth Low Energy device support, this includes allowing an Android device to act as a beacon for other devices.   Retailers should pay special note to the connectivity features when planning apps and should evaluate ways to utilize this improved sharing capability.