IoT or Internet of Things term is used for a network of devices that contain embedded technology, which enables them to communicate and interact with each other through the use of internet. Any of your physical devices whether at home or office can connect and communicate using IoT. These devices can include appliances like AC, Refrigerator; lights, fire alarms and so many other kinds of devices you have which have been connected through internet. These devices can also include smart gadgets, which can be accessed and controlled even from a remote location using internet. This brings so many incredible benefits for the users and businesses.

Therefore, demand for IoT developer is increasing fast as IoT is becoming highly popular. IoT also brings ease of use and convenience to so many of its users. Due to its so many benefits, the demand for the apps for IoT devices is increasing rapidly which includes monitoring and control system for both enterprises and SMBs, navigation, computing and more. Recently many companies have introduced many devices which can be controlled through user’s smartphones.  After the release of Apple Watches, interest in high tech watches have also increased. This led to the launching of safety oriented watches for the aging population by Lively as part of their home monitoring kit which includes a wireless hub and sensors on various items in the home, allowing you to monitor an aging person’s activity. This watch monitors all of the vital signs of the person and records them to your phone for further analysis.

Hence IoT is spearheading new innovation with the ability to take any device or gadget you have at home or in office that runs on electricity, to be controlled by this new technology. IoT is evolving at a face pace and has already begun to impact so many areas of our lives and the way we work. Now we can see so many practical applications of IoT across various industries. There are various industries which have already started getting advantages of IoT like healthcare, energy, agriculture and more. It is progressing well with the introduction of connected cars, smart retail, smart cities and wearables. All of these fields are expected to see tremendous growth in the coming future.

Interaction of Mobile Application Development with IoT

Right now we are witnessing the convergence and interaction of Mobile App Development with IoT technology. We can easily see that IoT is getting sudden attention. It is making things very easy and it is really giving good results. The trend of connecting all kinds of physical devices to the internet and using a smartphone to control and monitor such devices is growing very fast. It seems that IoT is now at a perfect launch pad from where it can explode rapidly as soon as we bring more simplification and ease of use into it.

IoT is bringing a new kind of movement of app development. These apps combine many components like connected devices, sensors, cloud, networking and analytics. These components offer numerous combinations which will further lead to the creation of brand new mobile applications for so many different purposes. Google and Apple have both launched their own toolkits Brillo and Homekit respectively specially for IoT development.

As per reports, IoT started to get huge importance since last couple of years. It is estimated that by 2022 there will be around 1.5 billion IoT devices with mobile network connections which is quite a huge number.

How IoT is Different than Other Technologies?

IoT offers the following benefits some of which are unique: –
Efficiency, Safety and Comfort
Asset Tracking and Inventory Control
Better Decision Making
Higher Revenue Generation
By connecting your devices to your smartphone you can get complete control over features provided by all the different machines and gadgets. Accessing various devices via the internet means that the apps can push notifications directly to your phone. All of these things allows you to control things even when you are travelling and away.

Requirements For IoT Development: –

Software and Hardware Capabilities

The IoT network and the related software should be able to handle complex business operations and be compatible with mobile application solutions.

Choice of Programming Framework

You have to be sure about it prior to whether the app would be compatible with the existing IoT network or not while choosing the programming framework.

Compatible with License Agreements

IoT application must be compatible with the current licensing standards and agreements.

Reliable Connectivity

Mobile applications enabled for IoT require continuous and reliable connectivity.

Now let’s go more deeper and discuss what benefits IoT is offering for mobile app development industry, businesses and users.

Lowering the Cost of Mobile App Development

IoT can really give a boost to the brand and reduce the cost of mobile app development. IoT can allow mobile app developers to integrate so many components in a cost-effective manner. It can also make the applications more interactive and innovative. Thus, it is pertinent to say that IoT can save lots of money of developers and businesses.

Lead to Higher Security in Apps

IoT devices and networks deal with large amount of personalized data hence mobile app developers will work towards achieving high level of security which will also benefits mobile apps. Developers will work in such a way that personalized and confidential data don’t go into wrong hands. Therefore, IoT based mobile application solutions will provide more security.

Provides Valuable Insights

IoT is a network of connected devices, servers, sensors and other electronic or digital items or things. All of these devices collect and access important data, streamline it and make it in line and compatible with different devices and things. In this process, the IoT system can provide you with lots of valuable information and insights. You can use this information and insight to make accurate decisions in real time and simplify your complex business processes.

Development of Highly Convenient Apps

The development of IoT mobile applications leads to more convenience to the users. Now a day most of the people in the world prefer to use smartphones than laptops as we can do so many of our tasks by using mobile apps and we can carry our smartphones anywhere with us wherever we are going. That means, we can manage the entire IoT network at our home or at office in a much simpler way. Additional features like sending notifications and integration of social networks can also be provided in the IoT mobile applications.

Facilitates Customizable and Interactive Mobile Applications

IoT has the ability to make the mobile applications lot more interactive through the easy user interface. This technology also leads to high level of personalization as the mobile apps are installed in the personal smartphones and handle the personal data. This means there will be more chances of success of your business mobile app and it will be more relevant and uptodate and provide the required features. Hence IoT will lead to feature rich and futuristic mobile apps which will also give you the competitive advantage. IoT technology can also provide you with simple customization options for the enterprise mobile application and developers can develop such apps for connected devices.

Address a Niche Market

Although IoT has become very popular technology recently for mobile app development but still so many companies have not yet decided when they are going to incorporate it or use it. Hence if you integrate IoT in your business, certainly it will give you competitive edge and thus you can address and target a niche and special market that has started accepting and using IoT based mobile application solutions. You can hire IoT developers to integrate the important features of IoT into your business mobile app.

Bring More Efficiency in your Work

If you will use an IoT mobile application, then it will certainly increase the customer participation. IoT application generally provides an excellent user experience and helps the employees to work more efficiently. The IoT network is designed to simplify and automate the business processes. Hence it can certainly increase the productivity and efficiency within your organization. IoT mobile application can make the development process easier and convenient.

Location Independency

Good thing about IoT based mobile applications is that they can be used anywhere, irrespective of time and place. Even if you are travelling or far from the workplace still you can easily control the IoT ecosystem including the devices, software, networks and solutions through the mobile app. Hence we can say that IoT provides location independency.  You just need smart devices to run a mobile application based on IoT.

IoT Can Boost Many Sectors

You know why IoT is highly valuable for custom mobile application solution? It is because of the fact that this particular technology can affect and positively boost almost all domains and sectors of the economy. Whether you are in the healthcare sector, in retail or in agriculture, IoT can easily meet your business requirements and the personalized mobile applications can take full advantage of this latest technology. As IoT has so much to offer hence there will be more focus on improving the security aspect as well because IoT application are also vulnerable to cyber-attacks and hacking attempts.

Supports Easy Integration

IoT technology, devices and mobile applications can be easily integrated with other emerging technologies such as AR, VR and Machine Learning. Therefore, it is easy to integrate the features of these futuristic technologies into the mobile applications. However, IoT needs specialized knowledge for proper implementation. Hence there is a great opportunity for IoT mobile app developers with IoT experience as they can integrate these many technologies together into an app.

Conclusion

As we have just discussed there is a huge potential for IoT technology and IoT based mobile applications. They offer numerous benefits as explained above. IoT can be configured to bring revolutionary changes to the traditional mobile application development processes. By using the many advantages of IoT development, enterprise class mobile applications can increase the productivity and efficiency within their organizations and streamline the entire complex business processes. Good thing about IoT technology is still that you can control the entire IoT network wherever you are whether at home or office by just using your fingertips on your smartphones. If the mobile app development companies do hurry to understand and accept IoT technology within their organization, then surely it will bring lot more benefits and solutions to their problems for them.