So called trends of apps technologies 2017

... And most likely 2018

I was absolutely serious about writing an article about IT trends of 2018 and then I looked at one, then another, and then I checked the so called tends 2017. Honestly speaking, I was doing it without thinking and even started to write. But the thought that there was something wrong kept buzzling in my head and when I stopped in the middle I realized:

I want to change the name of the topic on “so called trends”. In other words: why we speak so much about same things again and again.

Artificial intelligence and machine learning

More and more companies today actively conduct virtual communication with their customers – does this sentence sound familiar to you?

All the talks about artificial intelligence being indispensable in serving this issue and of course including the unalterable example of personal assistants that are based on AI – the topic is as old as the sea (or at least became so since Siri was introduced).

Because now artificial intelligence is applied in the growing number of industries, the trend itself does not change but the list of industries does. First it was manufacturing and now it’s medicine, banking and so on.

Another hot topic – machine learning based on neural networks. MSQRD, Prisma, Google Quick Draw – all these apps are wowing us with their abilities but at the same time the mechanism is quite simple and the technology potential is far beyond selfie filters.

Is AI a really hot trend in fact? I doubt that. Neural networks are being used for years and are around us in everyday life.

I wanted to double-check myself and found like a dozen of almost same blog posts in various sources. So maybe that is where modern trends come from? A lack* of technical information in modern mass media?

*Well maybe I should reword it. Not ‘lack’, but ‘superfluity’.

Cloud technologies

We are receiving a lot of info into our smartphones and PCs and all this info requires a lot of memory. In order for our devices to function properly without failing, we were blessed with cloud technologies.

In addition to freeing the memory of the device, this approach to information storing is more secure and allows you to synchronize the application on several devices.

What’s most important about cloud technologies today is cloud computing that gives a push for the whole industry and significantly expands the opportunities for software and app development, at the same time allowing us to depend on the hardware much less than we are used to.

As for the benefits of cloud technology for the companies, this approach allows to minimize hardware maintenance costs, increase processing power, synchronize the application across multiple devices and provides high security for the user's personal data.

The most popular cloud services would be AWS (Amazon Web-Services), DigitalOcean, Vultr and Heroku. But there is one thing – cloud services are not so new (for example, the famous AWS was presented in 2006).

It seems that Cloud technologies as hot trend turns to be another "dead horse", which is dragged from one blog to another. Next time when you see a blog with “hottest IT trends” and cloud services listed in it, just think about that: almost all mobile apps today use cloud technologies. It’s not a trend anymore, but something essential for our lives today.

Application Designers

Another trend that has caused quite a lot of hype recently – app designers. They say that application designers enable small companies to build their own simple and standard apps without investing significant amount of money in custom development.

The software kits of these designers normally contain pre-packaged layouts, components, frameworks and services and allow users to create a simple application without special programming skills.

The use of application designer may seem as a good idea when your app does not need complex UX elements. The example of such designer is PowerApps by Microsoft. Also among the well-known designers are GoodBarber, Mobile Roadie and Mobincube.

However, custom mobile and web applications are still (and will be) widely used by the end users as they are more likely to fit all the requirements and deliver beautiful results.

I personally have not seen any successful (or at even working and being used) example of such app, neither have anyone I asked. So is it really a trend, or another global PR company?

VR / AR

Mobile technology does not stand still and the audience keeps demanding for more. All large screen resolutions and growing computing power of smartphones create a favorable environment for the development of Augmented- and Virtual Reality technologies. And, proven at first as entertainment for the geeks

(yay, an awesome way to play beloved video games!),

now VR is seems to confidently stepping into the masses.

The attention of such mastodons as YouTube, Netflix and Samsung is worth mentioning. The technology foresees a promising future, and it would be dumb not to notice its importance today.

Also keep in mind that VR is heavily used for gaming, which is the most profitable industry in mobile development nowadays, according to statistics by App Annie

(https://venturebeat.com/2016/02/10/mobile-games-hit-34-8b-in-2015-taking-85- of-all-app-revenues /).

AR appears to be no less promising technology for the same reasons. An example of PokemonGo's success is enough to confirm this. In addition, in the near future AR can be more popular since it does not require the use of additional equipment, the purchase of which keeps many users from diving into VR.

OK fine, VR is fun but I personally feel quite sick while using it. As for AR, it does sound promising but, in my opinion, too much investment in VR/AR technologies worldwide are going in the most basic (and vile) solutions: entertainment and advertising (what the hell is that, advertisement through VR, what is happening with that world?)

At the same moment there are really good ideas and research going on, that mass media seems to ignore for some reason. And we will get revenge for them in our next articles.

Summing up, all this “hottest trends” analysis inspired me to search for really cool and outstanding projects to write about.

Plus, we also have quite an impressive portfolio of interesting projects in Celadon. So in the nearest future I will share my finding with you and will explain why these projects are worth your time and attention.

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