Mobile devices have become essential to our daily lives, and the use of mobile applications has been rapidly increasing. The usability and effectiveness of mobile applications significantly influence user satisfaction. One approach to designing mobile apps is the adaptive user interface (AUI), which can modify its interface to meet the user’s demands and preferences. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of AUI across all types of applications. It summarizes previous research on AUI, outlines its advantages and disadvantages, and provides empirical evidence to support its effectiveness. The study also examines various methodologies and strategies used to evaluate self-adaptive mobile user interfaces. Additionally, the study analyzes the development of technology-enhanced adaptive/personalized learning over the past two decades. It explores different research areas, such as adaptive/personalized learning parameters, teaching aids, learning outcomes, participants, hardware, and more. The study demonstrates the effectiveness of personalized/adaptive user interfaces for mobile users and identifies essential features that improve UI effectiveness. It also highlights that while most studies focus on conventional mobile applications, personalized/adaptive learning has immense potential for wearable technologies, smartphones, and tablets. With the rapid growth of wearable computing and artificial intelligence, personalized/adaptive learning could have a significant impact on smart devices. Finally, the study identifies future research directions, issues, and challenges related to personalized/adaptive learning.