Mobile UI Trends 2024 That Will Set You Apart

In the ever-evolving world of mobile app design, you often find yourself on a perpetual quest for that elusive spark of innovation. It’s a journey riddled with both exhilarating highs and perplexing challenges. You understand the thrill of crafting a pixel-perfect user interface that seamlessly melds aesthetics with functionality, and you’ve also tasted the bitterness of user experiences gone awry.

Every pixel and interaction can be the difference between conquering the market or fading into oblivion. It’s an intricate dance between creativity and usability, often set against tight deadlines and demanding clients.

To assist you in that dance, we’ve prepared mobile UI design trends of 2024 that are poised to revolutionize your approach and elevate your startup’s success. Welcome to the future of UI/UX, where innovation knows no bounds.

Trends in UI design

The Metaverse integration

The concept of AR&VR revolves around creating integrated immersive ecosystems where the boundaries between the virtual and real worlds blur, providing users with unique and engaging experiences.

It is the latest buzzword in tech, and integrating metaverse into your mobile UI can set you apart. With this trend, you offer an immersive experience where your clients interact with the digital world: learn skills, decorate surroundings, buy and sell crypto, hang out with friends, search, play, etc.

Famous companies like Facebook (now Meta) and Ikea are already using this UI trend. The latter created an Ikea Place app. It allows you to furnish your room in AR using Ikea furniture and check how it will fit in before buying it.

This UI design trend will most likely have a native economy where digital assets and experiences hold real-world value. So it’s another chance to create monetization strategies for your business.

Blockchain integration

In 2024, secure and tamper-proof data transactions within mobile apps are a must. This is particularly crucial for industries like finance and healthcare where a company’s reputation depends on cyber security.

Utilize blockchain’s decentralized nature to eliminate intermediaries, reducing transaction costs and increasing efficiency. You can also implement blockchain into UI design for secure and user-controlled identity verification. With this 2024 design trend, you ensure a seamless and secure login experience.

AI and Machine Learning

Personalization is key in UI/UX design. Using smart algorithms like ChatGPT, you help get a deeper understanding of client’s behavior, preferences, and pains. As a result, you provide tailored content and seamless experiences that equal engaged and satisfied users.

Together with analyzing large data, you can leverage AI-driven chatbots and virtual assistants to your advantage. For example, assist users during onboarding, making the process smoother and more user-friendly. Moreover, don’t forget voice and gesture recognition features to reach a broader target audience like people with special powers. As for competitors, you can notice this UI trend in Netflix and Amazon apps.

Touchless experiences

Post-pandemic, touchless experiences are still a trend in 2024. Contactless payment methods and gesture-based controls are making waves: around 150 million Americans have utilized mobile wallet payments at some point.

Together with reducing physical contact with the device because of possible diseases, you eliminate distractions and make mobile UI more intuitive.

This UI design trend also contributes to passwordless authentication methods, such as biometrics (fingerprint, facial recognition) and multi-factor authentication. Traditional passwords are vulnerable, and by eliminating them, you will hit two birds with one stone.

Multitouch and multiscreen interfaces

With the rise of foldable smartphones and dual-screen devices, multitouch and multiscreen interfaces are redefining how users engage with mobile apps. Microsoft Surface Duo, Google Pixel Fold, Huawei Mate Xs, and Samsung Galaxy Fold are prime examples of this trend.

Using multiple fingers or touch points on a screen, people get more immersive and functional experiences. Imagine watching videos and chatting with friends at the same time – it’s both fun and convenient.

While you design the user experience, take into consideration borderless screens. Bezel-less or edge-to-edge displays eliminate distractions caused by borders, maximizing screen real estate.

Brutalism and 3D elements

What’s brutalism? It’s a bold and unapologetic design language, that incorporates 3D elements, raw aesthetics, unconventional layouts, strong typography, and a rejection of excess gradients. Brutalism is a design philosophy that goes against the grain of sleek, minimalist designs. It captures the target audience’s attention, increasing retention and time spent in the mobile app.

3D elements are a trending UI design with depth and realism. You can apply it to icons, buttons, product items, and backgrounds to showcase more details. The voluminous elements also pop out in the plain designs, serving as guiding beacons in the frame.

Vintage and nostalgic design

Nostalgia embraces the aesthetics of the past, evoking feelings of familiarity. This design trend incorporates elements and visual styles reminiscent of past eras, such as the 80s and 90s, including retro color schemes, vintage typography, and pixel art.

Vintage-inspired UI designs bring back memories and create emotional connections. People will associate themselves with your app, as well as feel more comfortable while using it. Famous brands like Coca-Cola use this trend effectively. Recently, they released a drink inspired by the retro computer era:

Green UX

Sustainability is at the forefront of everyone’s minds. Just like green tech, green UX emphasizes eco-friendly design principles. On average, mobile applications emit 0.75 grams of ‘CO2 equivalent.’ Imagine a hypothetical base of 5 billion mobile people that use apps three hours per day — you get 6 percent of digital CO2 emissions.

To minimize environmental harm, consider factors like energy efficiency, carbon footprint, and resource consumption. Recycle and reuse digital assets, reducing waste in design and development. Take a look at brands like Patagonia and check how they use this 2024 design trend.

Privacy-centric design

Data privacy is non-negotiable. Privacy-centric design puts users in control of their personal data. It includes features like fine-grained privacy settings where people manage their information and location-sharing preferences.

When creating designs for mobile apps, aim to minimize the amount of personal data collected, only requesting information that is necessary for the functionality. Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature is a prime example.

Multi-channel interaction

As IoT devices proliferate, multi-channel interaction becomes a must-have. People check their shopping lists via smart speakers, check messages with wearables, etc. You should aim to provide users with a unified experience, regardless of the device or channel, such as smartphones, tablets, and desktops.

That’s why this UI trend suggests you adapt the interface to different screen sizes and orientations. Before diving into that, you need to understand the user journey across channels. When do they switch? Why may it be inconvenient? This helps in optimizing the UI to meet specific user needs at different touchpoints.

Conclusion

In a rapidly evolving tech landscape, staying updated on the latest mobile UI trends is not just a choice but a strategic imperative. They are not just passing fads; they represent the future of UI design. Embracing these trends can give your startup a competitive edge and help you create applications that are easy to use. And not just that, people will be able to reach their goals without entering the maze of the interface. 

Learning the trends is half of the challenge. Implementing them — is another. Contact us to create functional mobile apps for iOS or Android with the latest tendencies under the hood.