The Future Demands for Wearable Apps and Challenges

Wearables like smartwatches have come a long way. Casio’s calculator watches were an innovation of the time. On today’s advanced watches, you can even call Cox customer support number over voice command from your smartwatch. As wearable devices are getting more advanced features, the mobile applications that connect them to your phones also require development. Statista reported that by the end of this year (2022), there will be more than 1 billion smart wearables. So, the demand for these products is growing and creating a massive need for applications that link these devices to smartphones.  

Introduction to a Wearable App 

Wearable devices are smart devices that people can wear. Common devices of such examples are Apple Watch, Samsung Galaxy Watches, and different fitness trackers. These wearables can perform several functions like recording your pulse, tracking your fitness activities, and even sending commands to your smartphones. They are attached to a smartphone through Bluetooth. An application that shows you the data from your smart device on your phone screen is a wearable app. Two popular examples of wearable apps are Galaxy Wearable and Watch app.  

These are just two examples. There are many other smartwatches and fitness trackers from other companies that use their custom-built applications. Besides this category of products, there are medical devices like wearable glucometers that send readings to your mobile devices. They also require an app that shows readings on your phones. So, there is a massive demand for wearable apps to support such smart machines. 

Future Requirements for Wearable Apps 

Where wearable manufacturers are adding new features to their devices, the applications need to accommodate those additions too. Other than adding new features to applications of wearables, the software should also be responsive to different actions. There may also be requirements for smarter UI and UX. Lastly, the privacy and security of users will be factors that would need the attention of app developers. 

Adjustments for New Features 

The new generation of smartwatches like Fossil gen 5 smartwatch, Samsung Galaxy Watch 4, and newer Apple watches support NFC. You can make payments directly from watches without contact using near-field communication technology. To adjust to these features, many changes are expected to the application. These changes may include safety features and integrations with bank applications.  

NFC is just one example. There could be many other advanced features or even upgraded versions of the current ones.  

Smarter UI and UX  

With smarter wearables coming to the market, the user interface (UI) and user experience (UX) will need tweaks and upgrades too. The initial versions of the binding applications of currently popular wearables were different from what you see today. Innovations to the apps’ UI and UX have made them more user-friendly over time. With new features coming to wearables, the UI/UX designers have to continuously refine them. So, these are some departments of wearable apps that continuously require work from app developers. 

Maintenance and Updates 

Like other mobile applications on Play Store and App Store, companies roll out new updates for wearable apps. These new updates often have fixes for bugs in the previous versions of the application. Also, these updates make the apps less vulnerable to already known threats. Maintenance and security updates require continued efforts from application developers. So, this is another aspect that both future and current wearable app developers understand.  

Security and Privacy 

Wearables are IoT devices that require an internet connection for most functionalities. So, these devices and their mobile applications are vulnerable to many online attacks and data breaches. With technologies like NFC payments, security becomes even more important. A user’s credit card details and other information for payments could be at risk.  

In addition, other things like the user’s location and habits could be tracked by an unwanted third party. These are just a few examples of the vulnerabilities of wearables and their apps could face. There could be many other aspects and security concerns that app developers have to consider in the future. 

Data ownership and use of responsible AI could be implemented too. So, many challenges are waiting for future wearable app developers in these two departments.  

Conclusion 

Wearable apps are smart applications that display the data from your smart wearable devices. With the increasing popularity of such products, the requirements for the development of these apps are more than ever. These new apps require changes to UI/UX and maintenance updates. At the same time, there are challenges in making changes for new features and better security.