The use of artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming increasingly widespread and mobile app development is no exception. Artificial intelligence is one of the most exciting innovations of the past few decades, and its applications are increasing rapidly.

Many technologies now rely on AI; self-driving cars, self-learning virtual assistants such as Siri or Cortana, and Netflix algorithms that suggest movies based on your previous viewing are just some examples. But did you know that artificial intelligence also plays an important role in designing mobile apps? 

Let’s look at some other interesting ways AI is impacting the design of mobile apps.

  1. Personalizing content

AI studies user behaviour not just on specific devices but across various platforms. This enables it to understand the user better and, based on its findings, to personalize future content that’s served to the user. For instance, which news article is shown to readers may vary from person to person because the AI has learnt about their preferences over time. The AI can also serve dynamic content to a user depending on which device they’re currently using. 

Here are some examples of this kind of AI:

PathFactory applies AI to your B2B website to provide buyers with a truly customized experience. It can be used to understand, tag, and sort your content then create hyper-personalized suggestions for each B2B buyer who visits your site.

Persado use artificial intelligence to deliver customised content at scale. It does this by personalising the communication you send to each customer. It evaluates which phrases resonate the best with various client demographics, and then offers that material to them each time they visit your site.

  1. Fixing bugs with Machine Learning

AI makes it easier to fix bugs in mobile apps thanks to machine learning (ML). In traditional methods, testers find defects after performing test cases manually, which is time-consuming and expensive. But with AI, after a set of test cases have been performed on a mobile app, ML makes it possible to monitor the application in the real world. When the app behaves unexpectedly, such as with crashes or bugs, the AI notifies developers about them within minutes. It can even provide information about the type and cause of crash, which makes fixes much easier for developers.

Code Defect AI is a tool that analyses existing code, detects potential problems in new code, and suggests tests to diagnose and cure mistakes using machine learning. Code Defect AI can help find problems in a program’s code by integrating with third-party analysis tools. Additionally, the Code Defect AI tool enables engineers to determine which features in the code should be prioritized for bug fixing.

  1. Predicting user behaviour and troubleshooting 

AI can predict user behaviour up to a certain extent and help in troubleshooting apps as well. For example, when you watch movies on your mobile device, it’s likely that your data usage will increase by 200–400% since video streaming uses a lot of bandwidth. AI can be programmed to recognize this behaviour and notify you about increased data usage, as well as report this data to third parties for marketing purposes.

  1. Learning users’ tastes based on their activity

AI-powered chatbots are becoming popular in mobile apps as they not only help users learn new features but also provide news on updates and product launches. They also make it easy for users to get instant support while using the app. Since these bots learn from conversations with users, they evolve over time and become smarter. So, next time you engage with a chatbot on Facebook or Whatsapp, you may find it more helpful than previously.

Reply.ai is a popular chatbot which provides assistance to a large number of customers while keeping the experience engaging and entertaining.

ManyChat is a chatbot for Facebook Messenger and a powerful platform for building enriching customer relationships.

  1. Detecting changes in app design and notifying developers

Mobile app designers and developers need to test various screens before the final version of an app is launched. This process involves testing on various devices – iPhone, Android or Windows – which require multiple emulators for different platforms. This is a tedious and time-consuming task as it involves installing and uninstalling apps every time they are launched.

Fortunately, AI-powered tools can detect changes in design across any device without requiring installation of separate emulators every time an app is tested. It can also notify developers about issues such as broken links and images, which saves further time.

TestCraft is an AI-powered test automation tool/platform based on Selenium for regression and continuous testing. It’s also used to track web applications. It reduces maintenance time and costs by automatically adapting to changes in the app. The best feature of TestCraft is that testers can graphically design automated tests using a drag-and-drop interface.

Functionize is the industry’s most powerful corporate AI-powered testing tool/platform. One of the best features of this tool is the simplicity of running a test; all you have to do is enter what you want to test in plain English, and the tool will generate functional test cases. It can run thousands of tests in minutes from any desktop or mobile browser.

  1. Simple and safe data capturing and extraction 

Mobile apps powered by AI make data capturing and extraction easier through the use of voice assistants. For instance, if you want to send a file from your laptop to mobile, you just need to tell Alexa or Google Home to do this. The corresponding mobile app installed on your phone will get triggered and download the file within seconds. This process is quite secure as it doesn’t involve the sharing of passwords and other sensitive personal information.

  1. Personalized push notifications

One of the most important features artificial intelligence offers developers and marketers is smart personalized push notifications that can increase user engagement by 15%. These notifications appear even when a user has switched to another app, thereby driving engagement and retention.

  1. Making apps more accessible and easier to navigate

AI enables developers to make their apps more accessible and easier to navigate for users with special needs by providing real-time help through voice assistants, chatbots etc. These tools can even change the way people interact with apps through text inputs (from keyboard to voice). 

Azure AI is making conversations, lectures, and meetings more accessible to people who are deaf or hard of hearing. By enabling conversations to be transcribed and translated in real-time, individuals can follow and fully engage with presentations.

  1. Improved customization

AI-powered chatbots enable marketers to customize push notifications, ads, and other calls-to-action across various platforms, such as Facebook and Google, so that users experience seamless navigation and engagement. The use of machine learning also helps in personalized recommendation systems, Natural Language Processing (NLP), etc.

10. Real-time translation

Mobile apps can integrate with AI tools such as Google Translate to translate text, voice, or images in real-time, which means that developers and marketers can access a wider audience.

11. Leakage and counterfeit detection

Mobile apps powered by AI can detect fake accounts, bots and any activity which may result in leakage of personal information or loss of money. Facebook uses an AI system to detect this kind of misinformation.

12. Data protection

Mobile apps with poor data protection are a big cause of worry for users as well as marketers as they put users’ sensitive data at risk. AI tools make it easy to ensure complete safety and security of data since they help in detecting suspicious behaviour from the moment an individual logs into an account. This helps in avoiding identity theft and data breaches.

13. Content analysis

AI tools can detect in-app user behaviour trends. This enables marketers to customise push notifications, ads and other offers. These tools also create heatmaps that tell developers which areas on screens, or which buttons, are getting more or less attention. This helps in improving the user interface and user experience.
Jarvis is an AI-powered tool to create and personalize content.

14. Predictive analytics for better business decisions

According to Gartner, by 2020 around 6 out of 10 business decisions were made using advanced analytics with the help of AI. These tools help businesses, entrepreneurs and app developers make product changes based on user behaviour and preferences and can help inform everything from pricing and marketing strategies to target audiences and features.

15. Enhanced performance and efficiency

Mobile apps powered by artificial intelligence complete tasks much more efficiently than humans. For instance, AI enabled chatbots can predict when a user will run out of service based on their geolocation and send an alert before the connection is cut off. 

16. Secure transactions and payment gateways

AI has made it much easier for app developers to protect users against unwanted charges. AI-powered payment gateways can securely store bank card information, meaning users don’t have to re-enter their card number every time they want to make purchases from your app. These gateways also make it easy for developers to integrate carrier billing, which lets people make purchases through their mobile plan without entering their credit card details.

Regardless of what critics may say, AI has brought unprecedented benefits to mobile app development in recent years. It has improved security, elevated search functionality, improved user experience and app efficiency, and routinely predicted user behaviour. 

Many mobile app companies are now successfully implementing AI-powered tools to increase engagement and, ultimately, revenue. If you’d like to see how the use of AI technology could take your app to the next level, get in touch with Appomate.