Did you in your wildest dreams imagine a scenario where you can disseminate behemoth data from your system to countless and infinite globally interconnected systems in a fraction of a second?

With the onset of 5G technology or the 5th generation wireless technology, this dream will turn into reality this year! 

We always remember the good old days that bring visible smiles on our faces. 2G, 3G and now 4G LTE are soon stated to become a part of our good old days. From the time we struggled even to send one email due to poor speed to a point when just a click can make the difference, we have come a long way. But while we move past ahead, we cannot forget how 4G LTE has left some sharp memories of delivering great experiences to users with fast speed, HD video streaming, a creamy and effortless video conferencing option especially for businesses and who can forget gaming. 4G LTE first went live in 2009 and technology for mobile application development takes a stride every 9 to 10 years. 

Now, 5G for mobile application development is the new brouhaha for the telecom industry and mobile app developers. If they are spirited and anxious about this, then they sure are expecting huge benefits out of this deployment. 

This article intends to address 5G technology along with its advantages and what it will be for mobile application development. 

What is 5G?

5G technology

Source: Devteam space

Doesn’t the image above sum up the concept of 5G.

Yes to a larger extent but in simple terms 5G technology is the next-generation mobile broadband network that will take the place or further amplify its predecessor 4G LTE connectivity. With 5G technology, you will experience faster download as well as upload speeds. It will also reduce the time devices take to communicate with each other exponentially. 

5G is not a modified version of 4G because it has been built on a different architecture, and with experts pouring in their observations, it is also stated to bring in the 4th industrial revolution! 

How fast is fast?

Now, with its claim to fame being speed, we must inform that its true speed will be dependent on infrastructure. Not that tests have not been conducted on its speed, and the results of these tests have exceeded brilliantly. 

In the testing ecosystem, 5G technology has managed to reach 1 terabit per second which is close to 65000 times faster than its forerunner 4G technology. The UK based EE network achieved 2.8 Gbps in a lab test stimulated to a realistic rundown. 

5g wireless

Source: Awwwards

A comparison with predecessors is mandatory just to capture the huge difference!

With the roll-out of 5G technology, it is estimated that about 1.1 billion devices will be running on 5G technology by 2025. 

5g application

Source: Appinventiv

The transitions which 5G technology is poised to bring is going to have a lasting effect across a number of industries in ways that are going to open doors to major changes and transformations to an extent that things that were always assumed to be too far fetched or ones belonging to a Steven Spielberg sci-fi movie. 

5G is about to bring a paradigm shift that will have a lasting effect on several industries. It will not just open its doors to innovation but will also transform hitherto technologies we thought existed only in Sci-Fi movies.

How 5G works?

Compared to 4G LTE, 5G works on three different spectrum bands which will have a huge effect on our everyday lives. 

The working of 5G is illustrated as a snap-shot enabling one to understand how it actually functions. 

Spectrum

Advantages of 5G technology

Speed is just one of the benefits

There is not a smidgen of doubt that when the internet speed is fast, it directly translates into faster loading times especially videos and blazingly huge files. Great news for everyone who is longing for speed and are tired of sluggish loading times that fail to redeem itself.

Close to zero latency

Who doesn’t like faster website loads? 

Businesses have now realised their control over crucial moments falls flat due to poor connectivity. With 5G comes a close to zero latency. 5G technology is all set to dominate the circles by shredding 4G’s 50 milliseconds average to a mere 1 millisecond which is a yardstick set by GSMA. 

Improved communication density

Connection density is a crucial parameter to judge a connection and it will hit you straight especially when you check your internet connectivity at a public event with swarms of people hovering around you. 4G supports 2,000 connected devices per .38 square miles. With the increasing per user connected devices, this figure will be lost in oblivion. 5G technology will play a major role because it has the capability to support up to 1 million connected devices in the territory which is wonderful news for IoT development. 

What does 5G mean for mobile application development?

5 G is a major technological paradigm that will not just influence wireless communication but will also change the cosmos of mobile applications forever. 

Let us check them one by one

Much-better speed

5G technology, although is not just about speed, its high download speed cannot be extracted out from its merits. The high download speed of the 5G technology will make it a lot easier for users to download applications in a jiffy regardless of the MB size of the apps. For those apps where marketers are reliant on in-app monetization based downloads, 5G is a great extension of what was in the past. One of the biggest perks of 5G technology for mobile application development is that users’ abandonment of the apps due to poor loading times is going to take a back seat thankfully!

Streaming videos and the wait associated with them will be a thing of the past now with the advent of 5G technology.

Rapid File transfers

Now that we have already seen that 5G is synonymous with rocket speed connectivity which will automatically transfer your files faster than they used to. Not just files, but at a fiery speed one can transfer money and just about everything with a blink. 5G technology will bring with it this huge benefit of speed that will provide mobile application development a drive to add further features especially for those businesses that can be conducted only with data transfers. A 490 Mbps browsing speed with 100 MBPS downloading speed clearly implies faster file transfer. 

AR/VR/MR augmentation

Many industries who thrive on AR, VR and even Mixed reality will witness the sea change that 5G technology is about to bring in mobile application development. Currently a host of industries especially the entertainment industry functions on these parameters under 4G technology. Thematically speaking, VR and AR involve much data processing which clogs the 4G networks. When these applications also interact with people spread across different geographical areas the load eventually increases. 5G technology will make it much easier for VR/MR & AR on mobile applications. 

We know that the future is bright for such apps and IT consulting and strategy Firms have always considered VR/AR/MR a force to reckon with. 

Don’t forget to read our blog on React 360 for creating impressive Virtual reality experiences. 

Easier Video streaming will be a major thing with respect to the 5g network because in 2018 60% of the traffic was due to videos. 

  • 5g network will have huge impacts considering the following as given below
  • With the popularity of video streaming already established, it is important to know that most of this makes use of a low definition format that is 360p or at the most a standard-definition format 480p. 
  • Various mobile users stick to these forms only because they do not want to deviate from their mobile plans. 
  • There are also several restrictions when it comes to video formats. 
  • 5G technology comes with low latency and lightning-fast speed is estimated to increase the mobile internet traffic in 2024 by 74% because by then several users will switch to 5G. An Ericsson report makes this crystal clear and paints an optimistic picture. 
  • Also as mentioned earlier buffering and streaming are soon going to become a thing of the past. 4k and 8k video streaming without any buffering involved are going to be a towering reality of the 5g network. 

Internet of Things (IoT)

This sure is exciting! 5G technology is going to have a bombastic impact on the Internet of Things. Currently with sensors that interact with each other gorge on tremendous resources impoverishing the LTE data capacity. 5G speed with low latency will power such communications between the sensors and the devices. Experts in emerging technologies estimate that by the end of 2020 there will be 20.5 million IoT devices. Between 2017 and 2025 businesses also are expected to pour close to $15 trillion in investments in IoT. 

IoT, especially in Asian countries, has not been deployed to its fullest abilities. Hopefully, with 5G technology the dreams of creating smarter cities will materialize due to more connected devices and faster loading speeds. 

Superior User Experience

With what we have seen and explored till now should be enough to pin your hopes on 5G we still believe that heightening user experience is going to be one big advantage for mobile application development companies like outs. The dividends of better user experience are clarity. You yourself are aware of how videos in 2G and LTE look or the music you listen on these two network connectivities, as you sensed are poles apart. But now there is no looking back especially when you stream your favorite music and a video on your app using a 5G network. 

Gaming

In gaming, VR and AR play a significant role and with 5G, the gaming experience is set to be a notch higher. Gaming needs high data transmission and what we experience right now are upgrades and patches which 5G will significantly impact in terms of gaming mobile application development. 3D gaming and immersive augmented reality will enhance the gaming app business like never before. 

Increase of Navigational mobile apps

For navigational apps, 5G technology will render them in a win-win situation with interminable communications. The tourism industry can see a major boost due to the power of 5G technology. For mobile app developers, it will open a world full of opportunities where they can get their imaginations running wild. 

Challenges with the implementation of 5G technology

  1. With greater speeds comes an increased number of connected devices which can expose a greater weakness of safety and security features
  2. Now Mobile app strategists will have to rethink a new business model that has been built around 5G technology
  3. Now Now, this is surely going to be a grave concern because 5F will divide the audience into those whose device is amicable with 5G while others may have only those devices that support 2G or the LTE versions. 

Summing up

To cut the long story short, 5G technology means higher speed, enviable bandwidths and a close to zero latency. All these and much more make 5g network extremely attractive for mobile application development. But great mobile user experience is beyond any wireless technology because building an app implies far greater responsibilities right from its inception to its publishing on platforms. 

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