8 Color Scheme Trends in Mobile App Design

Color schemes are an ever-changing, ever-evolving aspect of mobile app design. Over the past few years, we have seen a shift from a heavy use of bright color in mobile app elements, to minimalist muted color palettes, to a mixture of white space and high contrast, experimental colors. So what’s color schemes are trending in mobile app design as we head into 2022?

The last few years have seen a rise in subtle colors for shadows, and Gradients have also made their way back into fashion – using a mixture of high-contrast complementary colors and dreamy pastels to create an eye-catching, visually impactful user interface.

Want to know what color schemes are trending in mobile app design? From minimalism to bright pops of color, here are the top eight mobile color scheme trends to try in your next app design…

Neutral, minimal color alongside an abundance of white space has become a big trend in app design. This example shows this trend implemented with a clear two-tone color palette which provides enough visual separation between linked and active elements, without going overboard. This piece of research shows the top apps used by Americans and you can see that most of the top 10 apps often use two-tone color palettes. The use of color and white space aligns perfectly with Apple hardware and software, and provides a cohesive feel between the software and hardware. Minimal but balanced, this trend also works well contrasted with a neutral color palette.

Since iOS 7 was released way back in 2013, Apple introduced the trend of high contrast colors in mobile user interfaces into the mainstream. Bright pinks, greens, royal blues, and reds are now commonplace in mobile design, and provide a stunning contrast to a white background that is visually pleasing and eye-catching. This example utilizes the trend effectively, giving the app an exciting yet minimal and refined feel. All these tips will work even in tricky missions like insurance app design.

For a long time in web design, a white background was considered the only way to create empty space in app design. While some designers began adding darker themes and elements several years ago, the Dark Mode trend really took hold of the industry over the last year, and we expect it to continue in 2022. As well as allowing designers to play with more creative elements, such as pastels and neon – two of the big graphic design trends of 2020 – studies have also shown that dark mode is better for both our battery life and our vision by it reducing blue light exposure.

In line with the trends above, it has also become commonplace to differentiate icons using bold, vibrant colors. The app above, for example, uses five separate contrasting colors to separate actions and elements. The result is an interface that is nice to look at and easy to navigate.

Pastel and muted colors have been in use for a while, however, we’re beginning to see some stunning implementations of such colors alongside other mobile trends. The results, such as above, provide great separation and balance while maintaining a design that is easy on the eye and increases ease-of-use.

Monochrome, black-and-white interfaces are as sleek as they are chic. The trend leans toward more minimal interface designs, and brings with it a minimal color palette often consisting of black, white, and greys. The above is a great example of this and uses them effectively without straying towards brutal minimalism.

Gradients have changed considerably over the past few years. Where we used to see fairly subtle same-color gradients being used for UI elements, we now see more and more designers implementing high-contrast gradients as well as retro, dreamy gradients using pastel colors. This provides a beautiful effect, as seen above. The transition from blue to purple gives depth and contrast to the interface and creates an eye-catching visual effect when combined with the complementary patterns and imagery.

Illustration is becoming more abundant across mobile app development, particularly in user onboarding flows. These illustrations have progressed to be relatively minimal with several bright pops of color. When combined with a minimal interface, this has a powerful visual impact and can really help bring a mobile app to life.

And that does it for Color Scheme Trends we’re seeing across mobile app design this year! For more color-related content, make sure to check out our Color Trends for Designers in 2021, as well as our blog on Color Psychology: The Top Design Color Palettes for 2021.