Why did the user suddenly uninstall your app just when you were celebrating its official landing on the customer’s smartphone home-screen?
The trouble is that there are infinite reasons why users frequently uninstall mobile apps. Some are pitiful and reasonable. But admit it – every time that happens, it is always frustrating.
Mobile apps will become every business man’s essential marketing tool. However, many developers fail to realize that their mobile application development is just another digital project. Remember there are 2.6 Billion smartphone users globally with U.S and Europe holding the top market alone. The number will rise to 6.1 Billion by 2020. Your app holds a chance to grab a home-screen hot seat in each of these 2.6 billion smartphones. However, customer engagement and retention are two goals that you want to achieve with your app. However, may apps fail to meet these goals.
Here is a checklist suggesting the five common reasons why a mobile application development launch becomes a major ROI failure for your business –
#1- Immediate Dissatisfaction
If data analytics show immediate customer abandonment after download, then most probably they were dissatisfied with your product. This could be a result of unfulfilled expectations or poor user experience. In most cases, people search for apps that would be useful to them. According to a post published by Forbes, users tend to download certain kind of apps almost 1.7 billion times every week.
These are the apps that have been able to drive client interaction. Keeping your eyes close to where your customers are looking can reap your mobile application develop benefits
#2 – Too Annoying
Asking for too much data can lead to breach of customer trust. Majority of smartphone users in the U.S. have grown sensitive as to how much personal information they will be sharing online. Out of the 88 percent of those who use cell-phones, 43 percent download apps. Out of this chunk, 54 percent declined to download apps in the past, for fear of sharing too much of personal information. It is for this same reason why an additional 30 percent uninstalled their apps immediately after the initial installation. There are 22, 919, 568 malicious mobile apps worldwide and it is continuously increasing. This could to some extent explain why it is logical for users to be wary about security breach issues.
Other than that, the other reasons why your app could turn out to be annoying are as follows –
Lengthy registration forms
Unnecessary data collection
Untimely asking for ratings
Outnumbered push notifications
In short, don’t push too much. Mobile apps today play an important user role be it for m-payment, e-commerce or social networking. However, with mobile and utility, vulnerability is also posing a major threat.
#3 – Bloated Performance
Certain apps have that one captivating feature that makes a user continue keeping it. Yes, and it can be as minute as the sound that comes when someone logs out from the app.
However, even then such apps are prone to quick removal if they occupy too much of space.
App performance is important. However, everything goes down the drain if your mobile app consumes too much of space. Space shortage affects the overall performance of a device. Smartphone users are tech savvier than ever and they use a smart device for multi-tasking. If they find their device performance is suffering in the long run, they are going to uninstall those less relevant apps that occupy too much of space.
Here is a list of performance criteria that you need to look into during the stages of mobile application development –
Extensive battery drain
Slow loading speed
Random crashes and freezes
Sluggish overall experience
Unresponsiveness
#4 – Limited Life-cycle
Certain apps are seasonal and have limited life-cycle. These are applications developed around popular TV series or a new movie release. There are other kind of apps that fall under this category such as game based apps, pregnancy tracker, offer apps. Their life-cycle hence is limited because once the user completes mastering all the levels or is done with its features, the app loses its importance.
It is not a bad thing and rather shows that your app has fulfilled the maximum amount of user satisfaction. Users will then start looking for more entertainment apps. However, you can keep them from going away by inviting them to download an updated version or an app of different nature. This way you can create a continuous engagement cycle.
#5 – Frequent Forgetfulness
According to Nielsen research, Smartphone users download apps only to ignore them.
Users prefer keeping only the most useful apps on their smartphone home-screen. The rest remain in the menu on the third and fourth screen that are hardly turn over. This could be because your app holds information that are of occasional need. It could be a restaurant app or a gaming app. In case of apps like this, users tend to forget all about them until the next time it is needed. But the good news is that, in case of app abandonment you can make use of push notification features to remind users why they have downloaded your app in the first place. Draw the user attention by offering something good and exciting.
Conclusion: For Your Next Mobile App Development Project
Study the mobile behavior analytics before you even decide getting down with your next project.
Take time to carefully analyze and consider each of your mobile app feature. Lastly always go for specialized mobile application development services that can offer you advanced technical support and contemporary designs.
Sudeep Banerjee
Sudeep Banerjee is the Founder and President of Mobixed, the leading mobile apps development company of California. A visionary entrepreneur, Sudeep's expertise lies in various fields including web development, digital marketing and app development. He believes that apps would act as powerful vehicles to drive sales for businesses in the near future.