Web App Development Trends and Technologies to Watch in 2024

When you use Google Search to look for information on the internet, you are interacting with a web app. Indeed, most of the internet traffic is generated by web apps and a majority of time spent on the internet is on web apps; without them life and the internet would be completely different.

 

Staying abreast and keeping track of the future developments in web apps are crucial, not only because web apps have a disproportionate impact on the internet but also since it is a tightly-contested space where little advantage can yield compound positive results. 

 

This is what the following sections of this article will seek to do: keep you informed of the directions of change in the rapidly moving web app development scenario. This will enable you to incorporate emerging technologies into your web apps, and also ensure that you do not get swept over by the wave of changes unaware.

 

You will learn about the most important developments in the web app sphere, the trends and the technologies to watch, and the future of web app development in 2024 and beyond.

Web app is not a nascent industry, but it is by no means saturated. Moreover, new technologies are constantly popping up and old ones not only continuously revolving but evolving. Here, we will discuss some hot and some not-so-hot-but-relevant trends and technologies in web app development we need to watch out for in 2024.

Artificial intelligence (AI) was the talk of the town in late 2022 and early 2023, so much so that it has now become a banal topic. But that in no way diminishes its significance. It is not without reason that corporations big and small are incorporating AI into their products. The number of companies adopting AI in 2022 more than doubled since 2017.

 

Incorporating AI into your web apps offers numerous benefits. Some of them are as follows:

 

- Provide personalized customer experience: AI can help improve customer experience by providing content customized for the user by learning customer behavior and preferences. This is crucial in order to increase engagement and retain customers. According to a research by McKinsey, 71% of consumers expect companies to provide personalized interaction; and 76% get frustrated when that is not the case.

 

- Fraud prevention: AI can help detect anomalous activity patterns and sudden change in user behavior. This information can be used to identify potential fraud or security threats, and to take steps to mitigate the risk.

 

- Data analysis: AI can help process and analyze large quantities of data in real-time. This can facilitate data-driven decisions and provide insights on the web app, and aid web app development. McKinsey reports that using predictive analytics can help outperform competitors and increase profitability. Using AI for predictive analysis would supercharge this.

Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) always seem ready for maturation but never quite. They persistently appear futuristic and thus remain there—in the future. The future may finally arrive, in 2024, with Apple, a market mover, introducing a VR headset in 2023. Building these immersive technologies into your web apps can be advantageous in more ways than one.

 

VR and AR can not only increase engagement rate but also enhance the speed of knowledge acquisition about products and services. This is particularly salient where attention has become a scarce commodity.

 

With VR and AR, enhanced product visualization is possible. You can also create virtual tours, offer interactive training simulations and product demos, and deliver unique user experiences.

A progressive web app (PWA) is a type of web application that leverages modern web technologies to deliver an app-like experience to users, blurring the line between web and native mobile applications. PWAs are designed to be reliable, fast, and engaging, providing a seamless experience across different devices and platforms. They offer most of the upsides of native apps with much less downsides.

 

 

PWAs have been shown to boost engagement and reduce bounce rate by 137% and 43%, respectively. Ibibo, a travel booking portal, saw an increase in conversion rate of 60% and 20% increase in logged-in users by building a PWA. Embracing PWA could be a secret to sustained growth; or arresting flagging growth.

The trend of merging the virtual world with the real world will continue, perhaps picking up pace. In 2024, appliances and gadgets become even more connected and integrated. This offers plenty of scopes for web app development.

 

Some of the ways in which the internet of things (IoT) could benefit the web app development include:

 

- Real-time data: IoT devices can collect and transmit real-time data to web apps. This data can be used to provide users with up-to-date information, such as the weather forecast, traffic conditions, or the status of their home appliances.

 

- Personalization: IoT devices can be used to personalize web apps. For example, a web app could use data from a user's fitness tracker to recommend workout routines or from a user's smart thermostat to recommend energy-saving tips.

 

- Automation: IoT devices can be used to automate tasks. A web app could, for instance, use data from a user's smart doorbell to automatically send a notification when someone arrives at their door.

As the push against over-centralization in Web 2.0 continues, the appeal of decentralization, transparency and control over personal data—essences of Web 3.0—will grow. Investors are already betting Web 3.0 to be the future of the internet; they might well be right.

 

 

Progression of the web | Source

 

The push is not just from small players. Some big names in Web 2.0, such as Reddit and Discord, have explored the possibility of incorporating Web 3.0 technologies into their platforms. Expect the trend to continue in 2024. The reason is not just to appear cool to consumers.

 

Web 3.0 has plenty of advantages over its predecessors. Improved data security, scalability, and privacy are a few. For example, decentralization can mitigate common issues that plague centralized systems such as distributed denial of service, commonly known as DDoS attack.

 

Another important factor in Web 3.0 is its trustability due to its transparency—which has been severely wanting in Web 2.0.

Passwords have always been bane, prone to be forgotten if they are strong, vulnerable if they are weak. With passkeys, they’d be done away for good.

 

In 2024, we could see wider adoption of passkeys, becoming the default authentication method in a number of popular apps and services. Passkeys are not only more convenient, they are also more secure and resistant to phishing. 

 

Adopting passkey support will improve user experience and reduce the chance of their sensitive information being stolen—which is one of the biggest security issues, and contribute to over 60% of security breaches.

Quantum computing could be the next big thing after AI. The concept of quantum computing is not new; quantum computers have been around for decades. But they have so far been the reserve of governments and multibillion corporations due to their ridiculously high cost.

 

But that does not mean we should not be ready for them and keep our eye on their development. Mainstream adoption of quantum computers has far-reaching implications—positive as well as negative.

 

Quantum computing could develop new types of encryption and cryptography which are much stronger and resistant to hacking. But they also pose greater threats if they are in the hands of bad actors. Quantum computers could be used to break current standards of encryption, including cryptography. This calls for the need to develop new encryption models resistant even to quantum computers.

As voice becomes the dominant mode of web search and interaction with the web developers need to put more emphasis on voice search optimization and making content conversational. According to a survey by PwC, 71% of consumers say that they prefer voice search over text; and about 50% of all consumers in the US use voice search on a daily basis. 

 

This will only grow as voice search is more natural and convenient. Thus optimizing web app content for voice search is crucial. There are a number of things we can do. Here are a few:

 

- Use natural language keywords;

 

- Use long-tail keywords that people are more likely to use;

 

- Use a conversational tone and provide content in the way people speak;

 

Anticipate user questions and answer them.

In a world of disparate screen sizes, making a separate website or web app version for each screen resolution is highly impractical, if not infeasible. So, should we focus on the dominant screen size and ignore audiences from other devices? No, not really.

 

With responsive web design (RWD), we can create a website that responds to user’s behavior based on screen size, orientation of the device, and device platform. RWD uses flexible grids and layouts and fluid images to ensure that the website’s content is readable and usable regardless of the device being used.

 

RWD improves user experience, reduces development costs, and increases accessibility. Using RWD in your web apps will ensure that your content is compatible with all devices but also optimized for social media platforms which often have their own rules. According to a study by Visual Objects, 81% of people visit a business’s website from social media. Keeping your website and web app optimized for all devices and platforms cannot be overlooked.

The democratization of programming will continue unabated in 2024. No-code and low-code, as the names imply, allow users to create programs without having to write code, or with little coding. They provide individuals and organizations with the ability to reimagine and re-design business processes with minimal expertise in programming.

 

Generative AI has given this a new boost, allowing users to generate snippets of code by using natural language prompts. Generative AI bridges the gap between no-code and low-code environments, removing the need to write code, and allows more people to create and participate in creating web apps.

WebAssembly, often abbreviated as Wasm, is a binary instruction format for a stack-based virtual machine. It is designed as a portable target for the compilation of high-level languages like C, C++, Rust, and others, enabling deployment on the web for client and server applications. The main goal of WebAssembly is to improve the performance of web applications by allowing code execution at near-native speed.

 

WebAssembly offers a number of exciting benefits. It is fast and efficient, safe; independent of hardware, platform, and language; and portable, broadly supported across all modern hardware.

 

WebAssembly is a promising technology that enables developers to build powerful and efficient web applications for a wide range of platforms. We could see more widespread adoption of WebAssembly in 2024. Its continued development and adoption will have a significant impact on the future of web app development.

With several trends and technologies shaping the web application development companies in India and around the globe, and the web app development industry generally, the future remains cloudy. But it is not dark. The internet and the web are changing—for the better—and web apps stand to gain. 

 

The trends and technologies outlined here are some of the substantial ones that will heighten the evolution of and add excitement in web development. New technologies such as blockchain, virtual reality, and augmented reality will open up doors to several opportunities for web app developers. The future of web app development will be characterized by more interactive, dynamic, and secure applications. This is thanks to emerging technologies and changing consumer demands and expectations. 

 

But, this also calls for the need of web app developers and web application development companies to stay up-to-date with the latest advancements and adopt them to remain competitive in this ever-evolving landscape. Adopting and incorporating new technologies into web apps is fraught with risks but strategic adoption of new technologies is necessary in order to avoid becoming obsolete.