Sustainable application development: Trends and strategies

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Anyone interested in developing their e-commerce or other services needs to be aware of the future trends, particularly the evident shift in user interest from websites to applications. According to statistics, an average of 85% of the worldwide population owns a smartphone, and 88% of the four hours spent on the internet is attributed to mobile usage. Investing a reasonable amount of money in app development is justified and is likely to yield positive returns. Let’s delve into sustainable application development, along with current trends and strategies employed by app developers.

What is sustainable application development?

When the phrase “sustainable development” is used in the context of applications, some may feel surprised and a bit confused; however, the use of these words is not accidental. When pro-ecological activities and the search for sustainable products to reduce greenhouse gases are considered, the need for sustainable applications is not typically mentioned as a priority. Analyzing current trends, it may be qualified as a big mistake, given the significant amount of time committed to their use.

What are the features of sustainable application development? It must be durable, designed to be used for a long time, not just for a few months, and then replaced by a different and new one. Minimal consumption of the mobile phone or other devices needs to be taken into consideration as well, to avoid contributing to electronic waste. The perfect synergy would be a focus on environmentally friendly practices indirectly promoted by the use of the app.

It needs to be clearly stated that the applications do not create pollution directly, by harmful emissions, or by deforestation. The biggest concern relates to the way people massively use devices and hardware, causing a high carbon footprint.

Strategies for sustainable application development

All computer specialists aim to deliver the best quality product, providing a positive user experience, and leading to returns. Facing current trends and the needs of a polluted world, app developers are obliged to consider the impact that devices, software, and applications have on the environment and to try to maximise their efforts toward sustainable application development.

The first step could be the planning and analysis of what part of the application may increase the carbon footprint. Developers can also assess the tools and platforms they use for the development of applications to reduce the use of energy during the process.

#1 Code Optimization

One of the greatest benefits of devices that are called energy efficient is the reduced level of energy use. To achieve it in the case of an application, the optimisation of code is required to make it highly energy efficient.

With less energy used by the application, the user’s device battery will be saved, which can greatly expand its lifespan and limit the charging frequency. There are a few steps to be taken, with the elimination of redundant codes at the beginning, accompanied by efficient algorithms and data structures. I/O operations, CPU, and network requests should be reduced too, and together with caching mechanisms and profiling for tracking bottlenecks, this can greatly optimise the code.

#2 Cloud computing

Cloud computing is not a new strategy, with nearly 75% of technology providers trying to switch to this storage type. The data centres are also great consumers of energy, and to store the increasing amount of data, their power-intensive hardware is necessary. However, the demand for anything evokes action, and the project to create green cloud computing has already been initiated. The need to optimise the work of servers and other hardware will help to create cloud computing centres, taking the need for high energy use away from private homes and companies.

To reduce energy use, more efficient collaborative systems are used, with power management strategies, renewable sources of energy, and consolidation of hardware and servers.

#3 Education on sustainability

Developers can provide the most energy-efficient software, but it will be difficult to take full advantage of that without knowledge of sustainability. This is the reason the education of users is equally important to the need for app optimisation. Sustainable application developers should put extra effort into raising awareness of what sustainability is and that the products they use can greatly reduce the carbon footprint. It may also be crucial to explain to users how to use other software and hardware responsibly.

Simply put, it can be achieved by adding an in-built section with tips on sustainable and energy-efficient ways of using applications. The influence can be even broader, with the promotion of eco-friendly practices concerning other categories of life too.

Further development of applications

Looking at the present trends, it is possible to predict a few directions in which applications may develop. 

Firstly, application efficiency will expand with the 5G technology due to faster data speeds and low latency. Also, the use of Artificial Intelligence makes the apps more intuitive, and more things are suggested by apps by use of prediction based on analysis of users’ activity. 

Without a doubt, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality started being used in applications, moving shopping or tourism to a completely new level. With the possibility of voice recognition, voice-activated apps are not anything surprising. And last but not least, there must be a space for blockchain technology, connected with cryptocurrency but also with decentralisation of apps for more efficient transfer and security.