How is IoT Redefining the Way We Interact With Mobile Applications?
Reading Time: 4 minutes In today’s digitally-driven and the highly interconnected world, mobile applications have become as common and essential as oxygen, especially for forward-looking and innovative businesses.
From reshaping the way people conduct businesses to the way they perform their day-to-day chores, emerging technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) is allowing for mobile app development that connects people to technologies like never before.
According to Statista, the installed base of the Internet of Things devices is forecasted to grow to approximately 31 billion globally by 2020.These IoT enabled devices needs to communicate and connect via mobile applications which in turn will lead to an increase in IoT app development.
IoT devices are making inroads into various business verticals from healthcare to consumer products and from retail to agriculture. By connecting physical hardware devices to a mobile application using IoT app development, developers are able to merge the physical and virtual world more than ever before.
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This integration enables a completely different kind of interaction by the user with everyday appliances or devices in their home including but not limited to TVs, Refrigerators, Microwave, Thermostats, Lighting and a whole lot more.
Mobile applications in an IoT world act as gateways that connect multiple devices across business verticals that you may use in your day to day life. Mobile applications can have greater power and flexibility than just streaming music from a server or connecting with your friends over social media or playing games.
IoT devices and mobile applications coupled together can make your lives easier and more streamlined, saving you time for things that matter the most for you.
Let’s take a look at some of the different ways IoT redefines the traditional uses and interaction with mobile applications on your smartphone leading to a connected life:
- Traditionally Air Conditioners are controlled using IR based remote controls. With the proliferation of IoT technologies, there are numerous mobile apps connecting to your ACs enabling you to control them over Wi-Fi/Bluetooth using a slick UI. Using the mobile app, you can control all the normal aspects of the AC like temperature, toggle between different modes etc.
To add to it, you can also instruct your AC to turn on when you’re near your home/office and turn off when you’re away from it.
This is made possible by sharing your smartphone’s GPS location with the AC. This, in turn, leads to reduced AC costs. On your mobile app, you can also analyze your AC usage using daily graphs and data. - Thermostats are another physical device that has been transformed using IoT. Mobile apps can connect and control a smart thermostat.
A prime example is the Nest thermostat by Google. It connects to a smartphone app that can control its temperature and learn from its user’s preferences and set temperatures accordingly.
With the smartphone app, you can set schedules to follow for the thermostat. For instance, you can instruct it to cool down at night before you sleep and heat up during the morning before you wake up. Because the Nest thermostat is an IoT enabled device, it can further connect to a temperature sensor and Google Home to deliver a truly connected thermostat. - Cars and Mobile apps are getting connected with IoT technologies too. Car companies are building interactive mobile app experiences to control various aspects of a car.
Tesla, the leading electric car manufacturer has a connected mobile app for Android and iOS that enables Tesla car owners to control AC temperature and flow, lock/unlock doors, track car location, monitor electric battery usage and estimate mileage. All this is made possible with the evolution of IoT technologies. - Healthcare and fitness industries are connecting patients and health data using IoT devices too. Wearables like fitness trackers and bands are integrated with a mobile app to track and transmit valuable data like heart rate, sleep patterns and daily calorie burn. This is then analyzed by your mobile app to chart out a pattern to help you lead a better and healthy lifestyle.
- Retail is another business vertical taking advantage of IoT to interact and target with potential shoppers. This is done using beacon technology or proximity marketing.
Sending offer or sale notifications to shoppers when they’re in the vicinity of your shop is made possible by connecting beacons to mobile apps and transmitting information using wireless technologies like Bluetooth or similar. - The agriculture sector is also seeing a change in processes with connected mobile apps and IoT. Things such as automated sprinklers to set the correct watering schedule and monitoring soil moisture by connecting IoT sensors to mobile apps leads to increased production for farmers and smarter decisions.
- The education sector is getting smarter and more connected with mobile apps and IoT devices. Building safer campuses using smart security cameras that can detect motion to wireless door locks to secure access and smart whiteboards all lead to a more connected and enriching experience for both teachers and students.
We’re experiencing an innovative evolution of living in a connected world. A world consisting of internet-enabled connected devices controlled using your smartphone. This will continue to grow as we solve complex challenges and make our lives efficient with IoT. Fueling this growth will be the underlying gateways or controllers in the form of mobile apps. IoT app development will continue to be the focus for enterprises and businesses in the coming years as we discover more uses of connecting physical hardware with mobile apps.
Author Bio: Shahid Mansuri Co-founded Peerbits, one of the leading IoT mobile app development company in the USA, in 2011. His visionary leadership and flamboyant management style have yield fruitful results for the company. He believes in sharing his strong knowledge base with a leaned concentration on entrepreneurship and business. Being an avid nature lover, he likes to flaunt his pajamas on the beach during the vacations.
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