If you work in mobile or responsive and pay attention to your device analytics, it's probably not surprising to you that iPhone loyalty in the US is at an all-time high. Of course, as a friendly reminder, Android still reigns supreme in the global market — something to be very mindful of for those working on international apps. But what's probably the most interesting out of this data are the motivations for defecting (or not) and which brands still get the lion's share (again, device analytics).

With the past year of virtual & hybrid school formats, it's good to know that tech companies are considering teacher recognition as a problem to be solved. A notoriously underpaid profession here in the US, I'd be interested to see if teacher portfolios are a something that could be turned into an additional revenue stream. And, even though the coinciding app updates would have been better served this time last year — and hopefully this pandemic will be the last we see in our lifetimes — I don't think we've seen the end of virtual days.

As a designer who focuses on mobile, I'm constantly paying attention to the device layer because of its relationship to the application layer — which is where I work. And the Secure Element tech that Android has recently formed an alliance around has certainly piqued my interest (head tilts, doggy ear perks up). Mobile IDs and digital keys are just the start of the possibilities. What I'm most interested in are the things we haven't even dreamt up yet.

Along with the relationship between hardware and software, I'm also very intrigued by the constant improvements to device ecosystems and interconnectedness. It's the type of thing that makes your head want to explode (thank goodness for service blueprints!), but when done right can inspire awe in the actual human beings using the tech. And the new updates coming to Apple Watch are worth getting excited about. What I'd like to see, though, is that interconnectedness solve something beyond exercise and fitness.

And we could all probably use a refresher on onboarding for mobile apps.

Articles

• Apple iPhone Brand Loyalty in US at All-Time High via PC Magazine
• Apple launches the Apple Teacher Portfolio recognition, updates Schoolwork and Classroom apps via TechCrunch
• Google's new alliance wants to get digital keys, mobile IDs working on Android via Engadget
• New Apple Watch features coming in WatchOS 7.4: Two to get excited about via CNET
• Onboarding: best move for user retention in mobile apps via UX Magazine

Events

• [Apr 8 @ 11am CDT] Design tokens: Your single source of truth for scaling via InVision

Resources

• [Posters] Applying UX Principles to the Visual Design of Graphical Artifacts via NNG
• [Case Study] Playing Among Us via built for mars
• [Report] The Power of Mobile for Loyalty via Vibes