The dawn of wearable technology kindled curiosity about its relevance and potential from consumers, businesses and the development team. Although people have been exploring wearable technology for a long time, it has started burgeoning recently.
At present, wearables like FitBit, Google Glass, Apple Watch are the new trendsetters in the technology aisle, as you can see most of them on wrists these days. They are small, elegant and valuable and exceptionally trendy. These products have dominancy on the technology buffs, and, soon, the segment will undoubtedly dominate the market.
The fusion of technology with fashion helped users to improve their health. This technology is on constant rise and for unprecedented results.
Wearable Market Key Insights
Is the Global Wearables Market all about the wrist?
At present, the latest technology is all about what you wear. The emerging technologies are not moored to smartphone devices. Technology has made it’s path to almost everything that you utilize in your daily life.
Let’s have a peek.
According to Statista,
Revenue in the wearable space is projected to reach $17,834 million in 2021.
The wearable user penetration will be 5.3% in 2021 and is predicted to rise 4.8% by 2024.
The revenue is assumed to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2021-2024) of 0.04%, resulting in a projected market volume of $ 17,854 million by 2024.
The average revenue per user (ARPU) is forecasted to be $44.70.
The substantial Key Figures Based On The Research Of Statista
The ear-worn wearable is the most extensive product category in the wearable device market.
In 2021, the predicted spending on smartwatches is $25.83 billion compared to $21.76 billion in 2020.
Head-mounted displays like Playstations VR headset are expected to witness spending growth in the near future.
The predicted end-user spending on wearable devices in 2020 will be $93.86 billion.
The Perks Of Creating A Wearable App
Despite the nuances taking place in wearable app development, partnering with the right app development company offers you a handful of benefits.
#Benefit 1: Fitness
The initial objective behind building a wearable app is fitness and health. They keep track of the fitness activity, totally walked steps, the number of stairs climbed, track heart rate, total calories burned, healthy sleep hours and many more to the list.
It has become essentially important in a fast-moving and busy lifestyle.
#Benefit 2: Fashion
Wearables are up for grabs in the fashion industry. Numerous big brands like Levis are stepping ahead with devices like Pants, suits and other clothing accessories. Even in the coming time, there is a fair chance of clothes with an innovative fabric that will enhance the blood flow.
The fashion industry is integrating this technology into its products.
#Benefit 3: Gaming
The gaming industry has always been come-at-able for the emerging technologies like AR, VR, IoT and now it’s bringing in wearable technology. Myriad apps are already created by experienced app development companies in Dubai and across which work well with all gaming gadgets.
So, if you are of the mind of developing a gaming app, make sure the app created supports gadgets like eye-wears to come up with real-life graphics.
#Benefit 4: Insurance
Integrating insurance with wearable technology offers easy access to biometric and data from the policyholders. With access to such information, insurers can ensure underwriting accuracy, prevent fraud claims, and improve customer engagement.
For example, there is a partnership between Fitbit and Unitedhealthcare allowing the former to give healthcare credits as a reward to users who track activities in their Fitbit devices. Also, Aetna builds an app named attain, which offers Apple Watch to the users by making them pay for it to indulge in healthy activities like workout sessions or getting enough sleep.
These are the two examples of wearables' benefits in collecting data, especially for the insurance space.
#Benefit 5: Health
A wearable app proves to be of great help in the health industry. It helps doctors to keep track of the patient's vitals and diagnose any disease. Besides, using wearable embedded with Artificial Intelligence and Big Data tools helps in clutching comprehensive data of the patients. Even app developers can use the same data to evaluate the patient's disease.
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Early and easy prediction of diseases avails predictive care and remote tracking of patients with this trending technology. Numerous smartwatches can detect early signs of underlying disease like Strokes, Parkinson's, some signs of Alzheimer, and cancer-related because of the smartwatch sensor.
The Challenges Of Wearable App Development
Even though some great benefits are aligned with these small devices, the Android and iOS app developers face some major challenges while creating the best wearable apps. They are:
#Challenge 1: Platform Particularity
The cross-platform capability of apps is a must-have for wearables. Google Glass is a glaring example of why apps created for a specific device fail to garner popularity compared to cross-platform apps. With more options arriving for wearables every other day increasing the competition, the apps which do jell well with multiple devices are bound to stay ahead.
#Challenge 2: Frequent and Fast Update Of Apps
With the advancement in technology, there is a continuous emergence of new wearables in the market, powered by new technology and programming languages. The apps which can be easily updated and pushed into new platforms and devices will always stay ahead in the competition, ensuring long term success.
#Challenge 3: Battery Issue
Most of the wearable apps available in the market have a short battery life which makes them a constant with problems. Pebble is a prominent example in which the screen stays constantly on. The professionals need to resolve the issue to uphold the efficacy of the devices.
#Challenge 4: User Interface
Wearables have a small screen size compared to smartphones and tabs, and thus, user interaction in the former also differs. This looks for alternatives for app development approaches to streamline the user experience. Also, despite you partnering with iOS geeks or Android app developers, the focus should be on simple and faster interactions, passive data collection and speech focused commands.
Moreover, keep in mind, wearables usually lack space for flashy icons and detailed navigation.
#Challenge 5: Functionality
The two most essential qualities of wearable are their ease of use and mobility. Apps must add cost-effectiveness and convenience to the devices. Indeed, rather than swapping other devices' solutions, developers should pay attention to what the consumer wishes for.
#Challenge 6: Data Security
Most people are still resistant to invest in wearables because of data security and privacy concerns; presently, these drivers need opt-in-privacy settings and transparent communication to improve user experience.
Though the data sharing feature of wearables has its own perks, appropriate security measures are also needed to increase user confidence and safeguard sensitive information.
#Challenge 7: Tethered Devices
Relying on wearables limited functionality, and smaller screens made wearables tethered devices. They rely on other more significant devices to access all the app features. Eventually, this makes them useless when the smartphones or tablets to which the wearables are connected stop working or run out of a battery.
Wearables connected through Bluetooth are needed to stay in a range that often leads to tether breaking scenarios.
The Different Types Of Wearable Technology
Smart Clothing
Smart clothing offers better and comprehensive details of the user’s body temperature than the watch or other small devices. This is beneficial for both - medical care and lifestyle improvement. Smart clothing consists of a shirt that can detect a respiratory disease or smart shoes that can track running form.
Besides, there are also siren socks that can diagnose foot ulcers. To add, there are also smart swimsuits that suggest when a user should apply sunscreen according to the rising temperature. These are some instances of smart clothing.
To stay abreast the competitiveness, many clothing brands are using smart clothing for branding and promotion.
Smart Watches
Smartwatches are the most commonly known and used accessories in today’s time. Smartwatches easily connect to the smartphone, allowing the user to read and send messages or even make a call through the app.
The user no longer needs to hold the phone or stay connected to the phone to check the messages or other notifications.
Smart Jewellery
Smart jewellery is an ideal blend of fashion and technology.
James Bond movies are an excerpt of smart jewellery. It can track your health status, record data and can also be viewed later on mobile devices.
For example, a smart ring is a small wearable with which the user can use daily as a fashion accessory and simultaneously collect fitness data. Even opting for the right Android app development can result in creating smart bangles or smart bracelets.
Fitness Trackers
It’s quintessential in today’s life. It has helped a behemoth set of users in maintaining their good health. This small device can perform various functions like several steps walked, number of stairs climbed, heart rate and much more.
There is a subtle difference between fitness trackers and smartwatches, which is blurring. Well, yes, the fitness trackers are tiny in size and also a little less expensive but receive notification and alerts just like a smartwatch.
Head Mounted Display
There is no rocket science behind this device. It's the same as the name suggests. These are to be considered as a headgear as they present a view of what’s going on your mobile. This way the user doesn’t need to look down on the phone or even on the smartwatch.
Head-mounted displays offer unparalleled experiences of working with technologies like AR or VR.
Undeniably, it’s a growing market with lots of potential. This is why numerous trending apps are opting for compatibility with these devices. So, if you are looking to develop a wearable app, you must learn about these unskippable features.
The Unskippable Features For A Successful Wearable App
Personalized Notifications
Indeed, these tiny devices can’t integrate big and detailed notifications on the screen for the users to view. Therefore, such apps must customize their notifications in a word or two. The device would not be able to show long notifications on the screen.
Adhering to these aspects in mind, design the customized notification. Yet, another option is to use a voice memo or coloured lighting for notification.
User-Friendly Interface
It’s imperative to design the app in a way that users can access the screen easily. The app requires you to be lightweight to manage the accelerated pace, easy uploading, and respond to the functions faster.
AR Via App
Numerous features can bring the experience of augmented reality to this app. It includes maps and GPS, voice commands, tracking health-related data like body temperature. Also, it’s available in games and multimedia.
Data Security
For storing data, the Cloud will be an initial choice for the repository and the transfer of data to these devices. It acts as the principal storage for data. This eventually makes it crucial for the developers to follow security protocols and make the app a safe and secure choice.
Besides, features like hand gesture facilities or voice recognition have easy access to all the data on the Cloud without breaking any security protocol. Thus, make sure to ask your solution provider about including two-factor authentication, secure browsers, safe cloud access and lastly, secure mail apps.
Finally...
Though wearable app development sounds to be onerous, still it’s rewarding.
With advancements in technology, the app development companies in Dubai stay abreast to address the challenges. As the metric for a successful business varies directly on staying updated with the trends, you need to update your app frequently to keep the user engaged.
