The reason Facebook was once a nice place to hang out and talk with your friends and isn’t anymore is that Mark Zuckerberg is no longer disciplined by competitors like Instagram (which he bought) nor by regulators (whom he captured), nor by interoperable tech like ad-blockers and alternative clients (which he uses IP law to destroy) nor by his own workforce (who have become disposable thanks to workforce supply catching up with demand).

Source: Pluralistic: Big Tech and “captive audience venues” (28 Mar 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

Many of these items could show up every year (2, 4, 5).
Others are old initiatives dressed up with the trendiest tech and buzzwords.

1. Coding with AI Tools, AI Integration and Automation
2. Rapid Prototyping for UX/UI Design
3. Cross-Platform Development and WebAssembly (Wasm)
4. Security-First Development
5. Understanding Customers
6. The Arrival of App Builders
7. AI-Powered Everything, Everywhere
8. Web-based AI Frameworks
9. The Decline of App Stores?
10. The Impact of AI on Search

 

We surveyed expert developers about the skills and emerging tech trends that web and app developers should be paying attention to in 2025.

Source: Top 10 App Developer Skills and Trends to Learn in 2025