Mobile App Development: What It Can Accomplish

It may be hard to imagine, but just 16 years ago, there was no such thing as an App Store [1]. Mobile app development has seen extraordinary growth as a subsection of the vast tech industry. The Google Play Store alone offers over 1.6 million apps [2].

As the world’s population has come to rely on smartphones to help complete almost any task, unlimited possibilities exist for applications. You'll find an app whether you want to find love, test a recipe, translate a phrase, balance your chequebook, or do one of the myriad other tasks. Explore some examples of mobile apps that rose to prominence and discover how to begin developing apps yourself.

Apps, apps, and more apps

The average person installs about 18 apps on their phone at any one time, with an estimated 97.6 percent of smartphone users using apps of some kind [3]. Many apps cost money to download and offer in-app purchases, so app lovers spent USD 35.34 billion in app stores worldwide in the second quarter of 2024 alone [4].

The consumer demand for readily available information, services, products, and experiences is only rising—and so is the need for educated, trained, and tech-savvy professionals ready to lead mobile app development projects. The India Times reports robust job growth in 2025 of 15 to 20 percent in the IT sector, with more demand for specialised skills [5].

All it takes is the proper training to bring a mobile app from the idea stage to launch. With skills, education, and experience, you can deliver some extremely impressive results.

The best mobile apps meet the needs of a targeted audience so that the launch can command the attention of audiences in a competitive marketplace. Noteworthy apps can prove their value in a way that makes them a pleasure. As you build your tech skills and understand the market, you can begin learning how to develop apps that serve your users’ needs and provide a great user experience.

These mobile apps create solutions

Most people have a phone filled with their favourite apps. Some are so universal that it is easy to forget they were designed and maintained by developers who use their creativity to benefit millions of users. Take a look at some examples of noteworthy apps: 

Facebook

As of April 2024, Facebook had 3,065 million monthly users, the highest of all social media platforms [6]. This may be largely due to the steps its app developers have taken to create a convenient, localised user experience and provide an engaging platform for its users to connect with each other. 

Mobile app development as an industry grew along a similar timeline as the company, with Facebook purchasing the equally successful Instagram [6] in 2012. Social media has become more sophisticated over the years; imagining a MySpace app is hard. However, the fact that app developers created an intuitive and lucrative mobile platform allowed the company to propel forward into its latest incarnation, Meta.

YouTube

Born from an interest in seeing the infamous “wardrobe malfunction” between Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake at the 2004 Super Bowl game in the United States, YouTube capitalised on curiosity and its founders’ code-writing abilities. YouTube is a social platform that allows users to share their videos on everything from home movies to DIY to music to yoga. 

Today, YouTube is the second-largest search engine after Google [7]. Users watch five billion videos every day, and 70 percent of those are on mobile smart devices [7]. In addition, users can earn money from their videos by capitalising on influencer marketing and ad revenue.

Angry Birds

Released as an iOS app in 2009, Angry Birds is now a franchise stretching beyond its humble Finnish beginnings. What may initially seem like a silly game has turned its company, Rovio Entertainment Corporation, into a thriving success by contributing to its more than five billion downloads across the company's game catalogue [8].

From the addictive, puzzle-style app came a movie, a line of plush toys, cartoons, television shows, films, and even a cookbook. 

Google Maps

Since drivers first took to the roads and began to journey away from home, they needed a map handy to find their destination. The days of unfolding and folding a collection of glove box maps are now gone—today, anyone with a smartphone can have a map in their pocket. Google Maps met this need by launching its mobile app 2007 for Blackberry and Palm devices. It was available for Android phones in 2008, and in 2012 the company released an iOS app [9].

Of course, this app is much more than an overview of street grids and highways. Today, Google Maps provides real-time traffic information and a platform for user reviews and business listings worldwide. Spoken navigation was revolutionary, and the platform continues to innovate the app.

Fortnite

Birds are nice, but Fortnite’s fighting game has become one of the most popular mobile gaming apps worldwide. Since becoming available on iOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch, it has set records regarding traffic on the platform Akamai. As of December 2024, Fortnight's top 10 players earn between 1.24 and 3.73 billion USD annually [10].

Revolut

Financial technology is booming worldwide, and fintech companies are at the helm. One problem that global citizens often face is the ability to move currency—to pay for work or services—in modern ways. The app Revolut has worked to solve that problem, and as a result, its founder is worth 7.9 billion USD [11].

The idea to provide a global financial app for people to manage their funds through a single platform anywhere on the planet was a disruptive concept in the financial industry. These breakthrough ideas originated from tech pros skilled at making them a reality. 

Noom

Noom is a weight-loss app that launched in 2017 [12]. It is different from other food-tracker apps in that it focuses more on helping users change their behaviours and attitudes towards food. As a result, it can encompass many different audiences within the health industry.

As the pandemic’s stay-at-home mandates resulted in weight gain for many, the demand for Noom surged in 2020. Downloads and subscriptions brought in 400 million USD in revenue and helped thousands of people get healthier [12].

Zoom

If you didn’t use the Zoom app before the COVID-19 pandemic began, you most likely did afterwards. The company counted more than 300 million daily meeting participants in April 2020 [13], and the app itself was downloaded 740 million times in 2020 [13].

This explosive growth proved that hard work and creativity can fill a need exactly when people demand it the most. With a third-quarter fiscal year 2025 revenue of USD 1,177.5 million, Zoom expects its total fiscal year 2025 to be over 4 billion USD [14]. 

Five traits of a successful mobile app

Mobile app developers don’t just set out to make an app that will be popular and lucrative, although that’s a motivator for some. Instead, the most successful apps usually result from creative ideas that find innovative solutions to common problems. Five traits of a successful app are as follows:

• An ability to meet the needs of a targeted audience

• Doing something that hasn’t been done before or doing it in a different way

• Available on both iOS and Android

• Easy to navigate and use

• Functions well and has a user-friendly interface

Benefits of mobile app development

Many companies don’t need convincing that mobile app development will dramatically enhance the reach of their service or products. Businesses can improve efficiency by leveraging the latest technology, especially concerning customer service. Apps can be secure and scalable, collecting big data and using algorithms and artificial intelligence to help decision-makers maximise their investments.

The benefits are also apparent for those looking to enter this tech field. Payscale India reports that the average yearly pay for a developer is ₹548,049 [15]. You can work on app development remotely, meaning it’s possible to live almost anywhere in the world and enjoy the benefits of this growing industry.

Learn how to start in mobile app development

Skills

While technology is continually changing, you’ll find software and tools you must master to succeed in the industry. Some of the more popular frameworks in 2024 include:

• React Native

• Flutter

• Xamarin

• Ionic

• Intel XDK

• Corona SDK

Prospective employers won’t necessarily take a candidate’s word for their aptitude. Instead, creating a portfolio of work demonstrating a command of the tools and programming languages necessary to create a mobile app is crucial. In addition, your projects should showcase your debugging and troubleshooting skills and ability to create good UX/UI designs. 

Qualifications

Most mobile app developers have a Bachelor of Technology degree in computer science engineering, a bachelor’s degree in computer science, or a similar degree. From there, you may choose to gain experience through internships where you can learn from experienced developers.

Conversely, you can simply branch off and work as a freelancer. If this is your goal, creating a portfolio of work, including apps of all kinds, will make it easier to land projects.

Credentials

Consider working towards some relevant certifications or certificates to show your app development skills and boost your resume. Examples include:

• Certified Internet Web Professionals (CIW) Mobile Application Developer

• Meta Android Developer Professional Certificate

• GIAC Mobile Device Security Analyst (GMOB)

Next steps to mobile app development with Coursera

Mobile app development is an in-demand, highly skilled technical career. You’ll find you need a range of technical and workplace skills, qualifications, and experience to master mobile app development; technology continually changes and improves. On Coursera, you can find hundreds of courses and Guided Projects to help you begin building foundational knowledge for mobile app development. Earning a Google UX Design Professional Certificate, gaining a Specialisation in iOS Development for Creative Entrepreneurs, and exploring algorithmic programming techniques with the Data Structures and Algorithms Specialisation are great places to start.

Get started by browsing the offerings on Coursera to gain the skills you’ll need to meet tomorrow’s needs today.