The booming rise in smartphone numbers all over the world has also led to a surge in the number of apps that people use on them. Google Play houses 2.2 million while the Apple App Store has a mammoth 2 million apps – and this number will not slowdown any time soon.

• A comScore report says that mobile users surpassed desktop users way back in 2014

• Gartner predicts that more than 268 billion downloads will generate $77 billion worth of revenue in 2017

Cloud-based apps and services have gathered increased importance over 2016 and here are some of the key mobile app development trends to look out for in 2017.

1 # Location-Based Services (LBS) to continue its rise

2 # Integration of Augmented Reality (AR) into utility apps

3 # Android Instant Apps to become a common trend

4 # Embedded AI within apps to become a norm

5 # IoT app integrations to continue unchallenged

6 # Application security to be more important than ever before

(Read full article authored by Jayavardhan BN, CEO & Co-founder, Hashtaag)