Integration of AI in Mobile Apps

Mobile apps have become an integral part of our daily lives, offering convenience and connectivity at our fingertips. On average, a user spends 4.8 hours per day on a mobile app. However, many apps still struggle to increase user engagement, whether it is the time spent by the user in the app or the volume of app-based transactions. For a long time, app developers have sought avenues to boost the daily active user (DAU) or monthly active user (MAU) metric through various interventions such as personalized notifications, gamification, and personalization, aimed at providing quick wins to users and ensuring their continued usage.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing this landscape, offering innovative solutions to enhance user experience and engagement. By leveraging AI, apps can analyze sensor data, location information, and past user behavior to understand context and anticipate user needs. This contextual awareness allows apps to deliver personalized content, increasing user satisfaction and loyalty.

Popular apps across various categories have already leveraged AI to personalize user experience and boost DAUs. Social media platforms like Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) create personalized feeds, streaming services like Netflix and Prime recommend movies users might like, shopping apps like Amazon suggest products users might want, and even to-do list apps prioritize tasks based on user data – all with the goal of keeping users engaged and bringing them back for more.

With the advent of generative AI and overall advancements in AI, we can now leverage it to personalize and shape a user’s “moments” and “micro-journeys”. This is different from the current personalization paradigm, where historical data is analyzed to predict what the user will like. With moment personalization, the app can analyze the “current” context and tailor content for the user to engage with instantly.

For example, a fitness app can read multiple data points such as a user’s health, day-specific calorie budget, and current heart rate to quickly create a workout routine that the user can do immediately to meet their health goals. If the app detects that the user has been inactive and hasn’t completed their calorie burn budget, instead of a generic reminder to move, the app can create a 10-minute routine that the user can do at their convenience. Similarly, if the app knows that the user is staying at a hotel with a gym, it can suggest alternative gym routines. AI can also create customized workout videos, providing step-by-step guides that are far more personalized than generic stock videos. This ability to create bespoke content in real-time opens up endless possibilities for personalized user experiences, making interactions more meaningful and engaging.

We can now safely imagine a shopping app that designs clothes based on our style, or a newsfeed that tailors articles to our reading history and preferences, all in real time. This technology allows apps to personalize everything from content and recommendations to the user interface, creating a truly unique and engaging experience for each user.

AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants represent another significant advancement in mobile apps. These assistants can simulate the personalized service found in upscale retail environments, providing tailored recommendations and assistance to users. Unlike traditional chatbots that answer simple FAQs, these AI-powered bots can understand individual tastes, preferences, and social contexts to provide critical feedback and help users make informed decisions. For example, when buying a laptop, a user can ask, “Which laptop would you recommend for me?” The virtual assistant will analyze the user’s profession, requirements, and budget to suggest suitable options, performing an intelligent search that goes beyond basic keyword matching. With voice-first devices like Alexa and Google Home, app developers can leverage these highly connected and impactful voice bots for an all-encompassing experience.

This naturally leads to another important area where AI is making a significant impact—accessibility. Traditional accessibility features like screen readers provide basic support by reading alternative text. However, multimodal AI models can enhance this experience by providing a more natural and interactive form of communication. AI can generate audio descriptions of the content on the screen. Voice bots can engage users in dynamic conversations, making the app experience feel more integrated and less like a series of workaround solutions. For visually-impaired users, this means a more engaging and natural way to interact with mobile apps, significantly improving their user experience.

Using AI in mobile apps is no longer an option; it is becoming a necessity. Over time, users will come to “expect” these personalized experiences, and this is the new normal. In a way, AI is actually redefining the boundaries of how users interact with apps. As AI continues to evolve, its role in improving mobile app experiences will grow, setting new standards for convenience, personalization, and user interaction.

This article is written by Shouvik Majumdar, Senior Director, Front-end Engineering at Ascendian.