A few years ago, you had a big system if you had a thousand simultaneous users. Today, it means you have a moderately successful app or website. Your users place additional demands on your ecosystem now — in large part due to the limitations of the mobile devices they have. What does this mean for the future of mobile and web development? Here are five things that every mobile development leader should know about their ecosystems:

  1. The future front end will approach mobile only. There will always be bigger screens, but count on most users navigating with gestures.
  2. Privacy legislation continues to expand. Ask for permission, and then prove you have it. If you haven’t already been asked for proof, you will be.
  3. Don’t rely on the network. Even as network infrastructure grows, it’s going to leave some people behind. Those in more rural areas will be underserved, while those in dense urban areas may find networks oversaturated. In either case, you have to design for delayed or lost network traffic.
  4. Use public hyperscalers to scale your mobile app. Mobile apps can trigger spikes in demand well beyond your current capacity. A single update might result in millions of devices trying to get in touch with your servers at the same time. You can’t afford to keep capacity around for events like that.
  5. APIs are under attack. Transparent HTTPS proxying and client-side decompilers mean your mobile app is in the hands of thousands of dedicated attackers who are looking through your code for the next way to breach your systems. Your app won’t keep you safe — you have to lock down the back end.

Learn More About How Mobile Devices Fit In Your Ecosystem

These days, it’s easy to build a system that scales to a thousand users. You need to be ready for millions of users across a diverse ecosystem if you’re planning for success. To understand deeper, read The Top Five Facts Mobile Development Leaders Should Know About Ecosystems.