Future of Mobile: 3 Things Mary Meeker & Apple are Telling Us
Voice
According to the Mary Meeker Internet Report, voice should become the most efficient method of computing input because of its hands and vision free nature. Speech recognition accuracy was at 70% in 2010 and is now at 90% accuracy in 2016. As that percentage continues to rise, the 65% of smartphone owners who use a voice assistant will only continue to increase. Google search queries by voice are up 35 times since 2008.
Apple announced at their Worldwide Developers Conference that they will open Siri to developers. With endless possibilities, developers are extremely excited about the opportunity to incorporate voice control into their apps. Now users will be able to hail an Uber or pause a workout on Runkeeper.
Messaging
The Mary Meeker Internet Report informed readers that the home screen might soon be overtaken by their messages application as the go-to place for interaction. Since the inception of SMS, the ability to engage in creative ways continues to expand. The increased use of messaging also offers businesses a chance to increase customer app engagement. The top messaging apps currently consist of WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and WeChat. In addition, the amount of time spent on fewer apps continues to rise. The average user spends 80% of its mobile time in just three apps and only accesses 12 apps daily.
Potentially Apple’s biggest announcement was its vast expansion of its messaging component. The integrations of apps into iMessages will rise rapidly with their new software. The ability to play YouTube videos inline, pay a friend, or add full screen effects will come to an iPhone near you. Apple also announced that Emojis will appear 3 times larger and that there will be a new, creative feature known as Invisible Ink.
Image
The release of the Mary Meeker Internet Report informed readers that in five years at least 50% of searches will be made through images or speech. The era of image is upon us. Individuals that fall into the Gen Z range, those born between 1995 and 2015, will be known for their use of images. The rise of the smartphone and social media apps like Instagram have provided the means for an increased use of images for storytelling.
Fully embracing the era of image, Apple continued to show its focus on images at its Worldwide Developer Conference. Apple announced that they will begin organizing pictures based on facial recognition and on memories. The conference marked the biggest iOS release ever for Apple users. Now Apple consumers will have the ability to copy and paste images across all Apple software and products.
Conclusion
Two of the biggest mobile events of the year, the release of the Mary Meeker Internet Trends and the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, both went into great detail on three of the prominent areas of mobile’s future: voice, messaging, and image. It is clearly not by chance that both parties focused on the same areas. Follow us at Digital Turbine to see what might be next and to stay up to date on the latest mobile developments.
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