Top Design Trends In iOS App Development for 2020

Yes, the iOS mobile app development platform is inherently as versatile as it is powerful – but at the same time, you need to acknowledge that it is essentially locked in a permanent state of transformation. Every year, Apple releases multiple new iPhone and iPad models into the world, each with their own innovative new hardware advancements. This forces the platform itself to leap forward on a regular basis – and you absolutely have to leap with it, or you’ll quickly find yourself left behind.

With that in mind, here are some of the top design trends in iOS app development that you NEED to be aware of moving forward.

The Factors That Influence Future UI Design Trends

As a mobile app development company, maybe the most important set of trends for you to stay up-to-date with are those that involve the UI, or user interface. Remember: the goal of the user interface is ALWAYS to increase customer satisfaction by way of not only an improved appearance, but also through the optimization of the placement of objects and a simplification of the way information is transmitted via the app.

This, too, is undergoing a fairly significant transformation right before our very eyes.

In the past, UI best practices were all focused on beauty. Your app had to LOOK great while people used it. Today, however, getting your customers oriented to your UI means not beauty, but practicality and the speed at which information is conveyed.

To improve their UI efforts in 2020, mobile app development companies will need to focus on reducing the amount of time needed to complete each task on behalf of users. They will need to transfer the “main idea” behind the app in the shortest amount of time that they can.

Future UI design trends will all be targeting the implementation of these ideas. Each element in an app needs to do more than just “look good” – it has to extend the possibility of using the finished product as far as it can go.

Blurred Borders Bring New Benefits

Another major design trend in iOS app development to be aware of for 2020 has to do with the way that smartphone developers are increasingly experimenting with reducing the edges of device screens. Gone are the days where the screen was surrounded by huge bezels – today, they’re more round and those edges are moving back into the panel, if they exist at all.

This, of course, creates new challenges for web designers. Moving forward, the appearance of an iOS app will need to be able to adapt to ANY screen – both on older devices that still have bezels and newer devices that don’t.

Read more: 10 Advantages of iOS App Development for Businesses in 2019

The Rise of Animations and 3D Graphics

Another one of the most important upcoming UI design trends that should not be overlooked are animations, as they’re by far one of the most effective ways to convey information available to you today.

Even the simplest elements of an iOS app can still have sophisticated animations, effortlessly blurring the lines between a sleek look and visual appeal and the primary functionality that end users are after in the first place. Consider the way that a Web browser might transfer between tabs on a smartphone, for example. This level of dynamism not only allows you to attract the user’s attention, but also makes your iOS app far more memorable than its counterparts.

Along the same lines we have 3D graphics, something that admittedly requires a lot more resources on behalf of developers but that also pays big dividends in the long run in terms of iOS app user adoption.

3D design elements bring with them a wide range of advantages that can’t be ignored, including:

• Increasing your ability to compete with similar apps by way of a unique visual style.
• A simplification of the perception of information by the end user.
• Embracing the visual side of your end product.
• A simplification of the introduction of new design trends.
• Eliminating the need for physical prototypes.
• And much, much more.

However, it’s important to not “overdo” it on the 3D graphics as they can dramatically slow down loading times. Always select the most basic elements and never let 3D design get in the way of the functionality that users are there for in the first place.

A Better Placement of Navigation Elements

Finally, one of the most important iOS app development trends to be aware of for 2020 has to do with an adjustment in the placement of navigation elements for your finished product.

In the past, one of the main principles of iOS app UI design was to give users direct access to a navigation bar that was filled to the brim with every button they could ever want. However, while this may have made the app technically easier to use, it also ultimately hurt its long-term visual appeal.

Now, many iOS app development companies are hiding as many buttons as possible, usually behind some type of “Menu” button. Users still have access to all the buttons (and related functions) they need, but the maximum amount of essential information possible is placed on the primary screen.

Likewise, many device manufacturers are also getting rid of physical buttons altogether – meaning that you need to think about navigation less in terms of relying on something like a “Home” button and more as a gesture-based affair.

In the end, this level of compression of the way a user can navigate your app will ultimately improve the way people interact with it, thus increasing engagement across the board. It will take a shift in perspective, but it will also make things easier, too. It’s far more efficient to develop a “slender” interface that relies on a few key gestures rather than an entire user interface element that must be interacted with in a very precise way.

If you’d like to find out more information about some of the most important iOS app development design trends to be aware of in 2020, or if you have any additional questions you’d like to discuss in a bit more detail, please don’t delay – contact Pegasus One today.