Sometimes innovations are so advanced that they spawn entirely new industries, but more commonly, new technology will upgrade or improve the old in some way without completely replacing it. 

5G is that kind of tech—big enough to make an impact on the mobile apps market while not overtaking everything instantly. 

The replacement of 4G is so important, however, that we can expect to see a lot of things we didn’t notice before changing.

In short, 5G mobile apps will be the source of some massive shifts in the app market. 

What will the biggest changes to 5g mobile application development be and are they positive or negative? Let’s take a look.

Table of Contents: 

1. The Biggest Impacts of 5G on Mobile Apps
2. Improved Connections/Speeds
3. Changes to Precision/Battery Life
4. Changes to Connection Density
5. How Can 5G Be Used in Tandem With Mobile Apps?
6. Autonomous Cars
7. Remote Surgeries
8. Smart Cities, 5G Drones
9. Smart Factories, Virtual Reality Improvements
10. How These Technologies Transfer Over to Mobile Apps
11. Driverless Ride Apps and Improves Connection Services
12. Virtual Reality Apps and Smart Farming/Logistics
13. Smart City Apps, Navigation Improvements, Entertainment Uses

Chapter #1: The Biggest Impacts of 5G on Mobile Apps and Technology

5G is a big upgrade in terms of cell phone service—it’s not just a minor upgrade over 4G. 

It’s estimated that by 2025, about 15% of all mobile devices are going to be using 5G or on 5G in some way. 

This ability to share information quickly in real-time between connected devices and networks is far more valuable than most people realize. 

It has applications across a large variety of devices and technologies, with mobile apps being some of them.

So just how big is the impact of 5G on apps going to be? 

In short, it’ll be significant due to the various aspects of 5G. 

Let’s go through some of the biggest points of 5G and why they’ll affect mobile app development in a huge way.

1.1 Vastly Improved Connections and Speeds

One of the biggest improvements of 5G lies in the sheer speed and connection strength that the technology possesses compared to 4G. 

On average, 4G has a latency speed of 50ms. This may not be too noticeable for the average person, but when times are faster, in the context of computer speed, it’s a really big deal.

It can have an enormous impact on things like autonomous vehicles, remote surgeries, and responsive augmented and virtual reality. 

A few other examples are things like an increase in the Internet of Things (IoT), connected mobile networks of all devices such as phones, laptops, tablets, etc.

1.2 Changes to Precision and Battery Life

Not only does 5G offer a significant advancement in terms of improving latency, that’s not the only part of a device it improves. 

5G is a much clearer and stronger connection, which means that the precision of the connection is much better. There are less mistakes and it runs on a higher, shorter frequency.

This also means that the battery life is better because the device has to struggle less to maintain the connection amongst lag and other interfering connection requests.

1.3 Changes to Connection Density

5G also changes the game by providing increased connection density, which means a device can handle more requests at once. 

This is ideal for technologies that require stronger, more steadier connections. Additionally, this further improves the IoT. 

Other notable changes that 5G may bring to mobile apps (and technology in general) are improvements to GPS performance and help with smoother streaming video apps. 

Photo Credit: visualcapitalist.com

Chapter #2: How Can 5G Be Used in Tandem With Mobile Apps?

So now we know some of the biggest improvements that 5G is going to make to technology, and mobile technology in particular. 

It’s stronger, faster, more flexible, and is opening up all kinds of doors in the mobile app development industry. 

It’s even going to add around $2.2 trillion to the global economy over the next 15 years: so there’s a win there, too.

How exactly can it be used, though? 

What are some examples of the kind of technology that it will enable? 

How powerful is it really?

Let’s look at some examples of emerging technologies in these fields and see what some of the biggest, newest applications of 5G look like.

PRO TIP:
When deciding on how to leverage 5G in your next mobile app, think about the various ways in which it can enhance your app and the value you’re trying to offer users.

2.1 Autonomous Cars

5G is such a powerful technology that’s starting to enable real future technologies like you’d see in a science fiction movie. 

One of the biggest examples of this is autonomous cars. 

We already have vehicles that can partially self-drive, but the advancements of 5G will make it so that robotic vehicles and drivers become a thing of the present instead of the future. 

This is a massive advancement: can you imagine an Uber that can get you a car at any time, even if there are no human drivers present?

2.2 Remote Surgery

Another major 5G application would be remote surgery. 

5G capabilities would allow surgeons, with the proper tools and a strong enough connection, to perform life-saving surgeries remotely. 

Doctors often have to travel to perform surgeries, as sometimes there aren’t specific specialists at your local hospital or region if your condition or injury is rare.

5G can potentially put an end to that. It can get the help to the person that needs it, when they need it the most. 

2.3 Smart Cities, 5G Drones

As if self-driving cars and remote surgery weren’t cool enough, 5G has the ability to enable a wealth of other technologies, many of which are enabled through interaction with the IoTs. 

One of these technologies would be “smart cities”: the idea of a ton of different devices connected to 5G, making a city run much smoother and more efficiently.

Examples of this are things like parking sensors or chips that help monitor traffic. 

We could have real-time traffic and parking assistance to cut down on commute times or parking issues in larger cities. 

Waste management, boosted by 5G, is another aspect of city life that would be improved by this kind of tech.

5G drones are yet another application of 5G. While drones certainly aren’t new, 5G capabilities will add more complexity and commonality to them. 

They’ll be able to operate with increased autonomy and efficiency, and will be far better at their jobs overall. You may see these appear more in smart cities.

2.4 Smart Factories, Virtual Reality Improvements

The last two important technologies to mention are smart factories and virtual reality improvements. 

Smart factories would use the same types of 5G technology to communicate with other devices and cause massive increases in productivity. 

This could be seen in various industries. Artificial intelligence would also be involved—speeding up and making processes more efficient by having access to more app’s data.

Photo Credit: lerablog.org

Responsive virtual reality—or real time virtual reality—is another technology enabled by 5G: allowing changes in AR and VR to happen near instantly, bringing it one step closer to reality, which could better enable mobile app gamers.

PRO TIP:
When utilizing 5G in VR, you can offer more high-resolution objects in your graphics to provide a richer user experience for those interacting with your app.

Chapter #3: How These Technologies Transfer over to Mobile Apps

So now we see the true potential of 5G and how powerful it is, what kind of technologies it enables, and just how far-reaching this new development could be worldwide. 

It could enable whole new industries while revitalizing stagnant ones overnight, and provide a new avenue for those with vision to leave their mark on the world.

But how does it affect the development of apps?

3.1 Driverless Ride Apps and Better Connection Services

A few easy ideas to imagine resulting from 5G are apps emerging from better connection services as well as driverless ride apps. 

Now, apps resulting from—or relying on—better connection services are pretty easy to understand in how they would function.

It’s all too easy to imagine some kind of future mobile device technology that would be able to connect you with anything you need. 

With a massively expanded IoT, improved information gathering is all but a guarantee. The more devices with good connections there are, the easier it is to find any kind of information.

3.2 Virtual Reality Apps, Smart Farming/Logistics

Some other apps that will rely on 5G capabilities are those revolving around either virtual reality or even smart farming and logistics. 

There’s no reason that the latter two can’t be used on a small scale, for either personal garden use or small patches of farming—and with logistics, customers could use apps that would allow them to truly track their packages in real time, perhaps with 5G drones.

All of this would be cool enough, but virtual reality apps would also be incredibly interesting. 

Currently, VR is an evolving concept, but the technology to boost it into something amazing just isn’t there yet. We’re still a few years off.

Once 5G really begins to be put into place and people upgrade to new devices using 5G, it’s going to be a huge game changer. 

VR will function better than ever before and will be able to be far more realistic. 

With these changes, expect to see future VR apps that allow for more detail and specific functions than ever before.

3.3 Smart City Apps, Navigation, Entertainment Uses

Finally, the last big noticeable uses of 5G in mobile apps that we can foresee in the near future involve things like smart city apps, navigation, and various entertainment uses. 

Smart City apps might involve various levels of navigation and information to assist the mobile device users with getting around the city and learning everything important about it.

As 5G becomes more complex, navigation is going to become more direct and even more accurate than it already is. 

Finally, various entertainment uses like improvements in gaming and social apps means that it’s going to be easier than ever to engage with others and stay entertained and involved with the day to day proceedings of everything happening around you, near and far.

Final Thoughts 

No matter what way you look at it, we’re in the midst of a giant technological shift that’s going to be happening over the next five to ten years in the global mobile industry. 

Not only are entirely new technologies and industries going to emerge from 5G technology, it’s not at all difficult to imagine how it’s going to affect current industries that already exist as time passes.

We can expect big advancements in mobile connectivity, automation, processing speeds, latency, and several other important aspects of technology that have built-in limitations from 4G and other technologies.

As this happens, it’s only natural that businesses and mobile app developers are going to have new and fresh ideas for 5G mobile apps.

Fortunately, our Simple Starter package can help get anyone moving on the 5G mobile app development process. This package includes technical documentation, wireframes, and user and market research.

What 5G benefit are you most excited to see in apps?