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What comes to mind when you hear the word “blockchain?” If you’re like most people, blockchain has become synonymous with cryptocurrency. And with good reason. Powered by Bitcoin, Litecoin, and other IPO backed cryptocurrencies, blockchain has become an incredible emerging technology. And now, thanks to blockchain application development, it’s ready to reshape even more industries.
With a remarkable ability to bring complicated, encrypted data streams together in a secure mesh, blockchain provides many solutions for a variety of mobile apps. In fact, enterprises in the healthcare, fintech, automotive, and media industries have already taken notice. What’s more, Statista forecasts that blockchain technology revenues will climb to over $39 billion by 2025.
In this post, we’ll take a look at the basics of how blockchain works, as well as some of the benefits it can bring to mobile app development. Benefits such as more secure data, improved transparency, and reliability.
Put simply, a blockchain is a system that records data in a way that makes it nearly impossible to hack, cheat, or change.
In other words, blockchain acts as a digital ledger, powered by a computer network, that collectively sends and parses data constantly. Every change to the information is transmitted to every computer on the network and all data is updated simultaneously. This decentralization of data ensures security at every stage, and keeps each data block connected to each other using cryptographic principles.
The easiest way to understand how blockchain works is to imagine it as a ledger. In fact, it is a ledger, just in digital form. Information changes are transmitted to the entire network, where values are adjusted throughout.
Mobile technology can benefit from this kind of systematic approach. The vast majority of systems, including mobile networks, utilize a client and server side system. A user’s phone, and the mobile apps on it, act as the client. A central server distributes data when the client requests it. Currently, mobile networks are under a lot of stress as millions of users flood the channels to access information. This stress on the system sometimes results in lost data. Blockchain application development offers more advanced storage and data streaming, improving on this shortcoming.
One of the central – and growing – concerns of both mobile app developers and users alike is security.
Data breaches make headlines all over the world. It’s not surprising many people prefer to stay away from apps they think may not be secure enough. Or where they fear there could be a data breach that leads to an invasion of privacy.
However, with blockchain application development, apps can ensure improved data privacy while making the app itself more secure. Blockchain encryption, which utilizes timestamps on every transaction, is known to be impassable and essentially “hack-proof.”
Additionally, there are fewer chances for third-party apps to create problems and overrun security with a fully decentralized system.
Today, mobile app developers create digital ID management apps for a host of industries. These are especially useful in the fintech and healthcare industries. The need for this is due to organizations, such as governments, banks, medical practices, and others, using users’ personal digital identity – something created on the blocks of the blockchain.
Since each block in the chain has their unique characteristics, and is highly reliable, registering personal information, either publicly or privately, is simple and secure.
Encryption is an important part of today’s digital world, and blockchain application development makes encryption extremely complex. It’s so complicated that it makes it impossible for anyone without a decryption key to get around the system. This makes blockchain ideal for any system that needs to grant access to multiple users, but also requires verification of information that is adjusted.
A prime example of this comes from the legal and fintech sectors. In these industries it’s common to need multiple signatures on a document or contract. Utilizing blockchain, this information can be edited and accessed all at once by many different parties without the need to communicate with one another. An analysis of the blockchain to see the adjustments that have been made is the only verification that is required.
Related to how blockchain has an impact on security is its effect on transparency. Thanks to the way blockchain records each transaction, both developers and users can track the information and see every step involved in the process. The technology literally excludes the possibility of fraudulent or fabricated information.
Records go back as long as the blockchain ledger has existed, which means the entire process can be analyzed. This makes it simple to track, verify, and secure the categorization and storage of information, all at once. The entire system is tamper-proof.
Additionally, this also helps enterprises build trust with their users. Users can be confident in their ability to safely and reliably make transactions through your app without fear of a loss of valuable data. And since the system is scalable it works for multiple users at once.
Not only can blockchain technology make your mobile app more secure, it can also help it to run efficiently. This is largely due to the structure of the blockchain itself; the powerful and reliable architecture is dispersed across the entire network. The same data is copied across multiple devices in different settings.
Thanks to this decentralized system, there is a significantly smaller chance of system crashes or collapses.
Another major advantage blockchain application development brings is its simplicity. At first glance, blockchain may seem complex to the uninitiated. But the truth is, it’s remarkably easy to use, is user-friendly, is simple to convert, and easy to use in mobile app development. It also happens to be more affordable than other mobile development software.
As technology grows more sophisticated, it requires more time, money, and effort to use, integrate, maintain, and change. Basically, complicated techniques add to growing app development and maintenance costs. Blockchain can help businesses shed higher costs by offering a more “feature-rich” mobile app experience.
One of the major ways blockchain is proving itself to be the future of app development is its incredible flexibility. Thanks to how the technology works, developers or enterprises planning to maximize the reach and visibility of their mobile apps have a significant number of opportunities to explore.
Blockchain application development is able to handle evolving needs better than previous technologies. With blockchain as the underlying technology, changes are easier and a more experiential app can be delivered.
One example of this is smart contracts. These improve the validation of mobile app users and make their transactions faster and more efficient. It won’t be long before smart contracts within apps reduce operational costs and increase the value of the app for users.
As these benefits clearly show, blockchain application development is driving innovations across business processes, security, transparency, and efficiency for users – all at once. What’s more, the technology is constantly evolving to address more mobile app related issues. According to some projections, a blockchain-based app store may even replace the Apple Store and Google Play and become the premiere way users search for, buy, and download mobile apps.
Now, it is almost a guarantee that blockchain technology will become even more widespread as it matures and evolves. The simplicity of its use and access, without additional resources, is simply too tempting to pass up.
Clearbridge Mobile is an award-winning, full-stack mobile app development company dedicated to helping companies strategize, develop, and scale dynamic mobile app solutions that enhance business performance and enable innovative growth opportunities.
