How To Build Interactive Apps For Foldable Smartphones: Tips For Beginners
Do you know? More than 60% of online searches are made through smartphones as stated in a report by IAB.
2019 was the eventful year of innovations that witnessed the entrance of foldable smartphones in the tech space. In b/w the hustle and bustle of trending tech updates, these handheld foldable gadgets are being in talks for several years.
The idea of presenting a compact version of smart mobile phones with foldable screens infused huge anticipation among tech enthusiasts. Recalling the journey from keypad phones to flip mobile devices and touchscreen smartphones, this gadget evolved as a game-changing technology with a remarkable history in human existence.
Discover Some Stats On the State of Foldable Smartphones
The intense craze for foldable mobile devices became a token of inspiration for the tech giants who decided to work on this utilitarian concept. All the rumors turned into reality when Google joined hands with the leading smartphone makers Samsung to roll out the most awaited innovation for smartphone users.
Since the proposed model is in talks of the town for long, other mobile phone manufacturers also joined the race of creating the first-ever foldable smartphone every user wants. However, somewhere and somehow all these circumstances have greatly influenced the areas of mobile app development.
Before we jump on the impact of foldable mobile phones on mobile app development industry, let’s gather some interesting yet important statistics on the topic:
- More than 3.2 billion people are active smartphone users in 2019 and this count is projected to reach a graph of 3.8 billion by the end of the year 2021.
- Smartphone users tend to spend more than 90% of their time on apps. An average individual uses 30 apps regularly.
- 77% of Android users & 76% of iOS users expect longer battery life with their smartphones.
- Over 17% of Android & 19% of iPhone owners admire foldable design whereas better camera (57%-iPhone, 52%-Android), 5G compatibility (37%- iPhone, 40%- Android), & bigger screen size (34%- iPhone, 31%- Android) are the three key features that every US smartphone user wants in their mobile device.
- According to Statista’s predictions, the estimated number of shipments of foldable smartphones will reach 13.6 million in the year 2020 and this count is expected to increase to 30.1 million and 50.1 million during the years 2021 and 2022 respectively.
The above stats reflect that those foldable smartphones will make a great hit once they start interacting with users. The gradual rise in the demands for the devices from this specific category not only drives a wave of technological disruption but also encourages the rapid adoption of innovations in no time.
Impact of Foldable Smartphones On the Mobile App Development Process
The rising popularity of foldable mobile phones altered the entire mobile app development process for major platforms, Android &iOS. As you’re already aware of this fact that the process of creating an app for a device with a single screen differs from the steps taken for building apps for both small & large screens, you can imagine the impact of foldable smartphones on our mobile app development strategy.
All your efforts will go in vain if you neglect things that users are expecting from you. It sounds more relevant to prioritize user experience for developing apps specifically for foldable devices. Since people are most likely to use foldable smartphones to view live content in a larger format, mobile app developers shall need to fold their sleeves to face the challenges for crafting video streaming apps with features to stream high-quality content on foldable mobile phones. Here are more app categories to consider for getting a clear picture of how foldable gadgets are transforming their development process:
- Banking apps must be designed to reflect multiple account details across the multi-window app screen of the foldable device.
- Users will get a customized view of a complete month while using calendar apps on a smartphone with a foldable screen.
- It will be possible for content creators to access different applications at once to perform multiple tasks at once on their foldable mobile phones.
- Even those basic business apps would come up with advanced features & functionalities like checking your emails while scrolling a document on the same screen.
Designing & Development Process for Foldable Mobile Phone Apps
The enthusiasm for building apps for foldable smartphones pushed you to transform your style of creating a mobile app. Your familiarity with the potentials of foldable gadgets also inspires you to know more about the impact of this tech innovation on the mobile app development process.
Keep your fingers crossed as all of those experienced players in the mobile app development industry are adhering to these steps to strategize for building foldable mobile phone apps in a step-by-by manner:
Continuity of the Application
App screen continuity for foldable smartphones is all about allowing automatic & flawless transition from one to another screen without interruption or lags. To render better continuity of your app, you must focus on dynamic resizing to make the app resizable that will result in improved compatibility regardless of the platforms and functionalities of the device used.
Your App Must be Resizable
Though we’re talking about foldable smartphones, their screen size is comparatively larger than mobile phones with the touchscreen of standard size. However, the handy foldable devices feature multi-window support that makes them more interactive and user-friendly. Here comes the necessity to make your app resizable to meet the multi-window mode of a foldable device and this can be done effortlessly by using the “resizeableActivity=true” code.
Screen Ratio Matters A Lot
One of the crucial factors affecting the mobile app development process is screen type. Some manufacturers are working on high, wide, and thin screens while several smartphone makers are opting for bulky yet short screens for their foldable versions.
Most mobile app developers try maxAspect ratio and minAspectRatio to testify the lowest and highest ratios handled by the app as it is vital to ensure that the mobile app is compatible with multiple devices of varied screen ratios.
Multi-Window Support is a Key
One more feature of foldable mobile phones is multi-window support. Having your app with multi-screen support will be the first step to achieve the success with your goals for constructive mobile app development for foldable. This will enable users to access your apps while performing multiple activities simultaneously at the same time.
Focus on Multi-Resume Feature
The next ladder to strategic mobile app development for foldable smartphones is equipping your app with a multi-resume feature. It is frustrating when one app gets paused in amidst of the task you’re doing on the other app. To combat such issues, you must ensure that your app comes with multi-resume support.
Multi-Display
Android 10’s OS version goes well with the multi-display add-on that brings more than one screen for foldable screens. This feature will allow users to move from one display to another as similar to multi-resume functionality as defined in the last pointer.
For multi-display compatibility, your app must automatically run a specific display the moment when it is launched on the screen. If you’re building an app for Android foldable smartphones then you should be ready to make updates to layouts & resources for displays alongside focusing on display cutouts, use of secondary screens, activity vs app context.
Test, Test, & Test
If you’re ready to release your very first mobile application for foldable mobile phone users then take a time to think again! Opt for the testing process before launching your app to the store. This will let you identify the issues related to configurations and fix the lags in multi-window & multi-resume, screen ratios, & other features elaborated above.
Final Words
You may find it a bit challenging with so many alternations but the truth reveals that creating apps for foldable devices is not an alien practice. Its concept is quite similar to what app creators are already doing. With a squad of professional and skilled programmers, developing apps for foldable smartphones turn more productive & lesser daunting for every mobile app,
