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Top reasons why mobile apps fail and how to avoid them 

Millions of apps keep struggling for attention over the internet world. What do you think is the probability for your app to make it to the market? Or think how many apps you have downloaded on your mobile and how many of them do you actually use? You can probably number the ones that you use frequently while the rest just sit there on your home screen doing nothing.

What do you think is the reason that you find certain apps more useful than other apps that you hardly remember downloading? Those forgotten apps do nothing but consume your mobile’s memory space. This clearly draws the line of difference between various apps.

There could be hundreds of apps working on the same concept. But quantity does not always mean that they are equally good on quality. How do you determine if your mobile app is a trash or a treasure?

The fate of your app lies in your hands and you have hope to nail it down accurately by following a clear cut checklist of all the critical aspects you need to include in your mobile app development in order to prevent mobile app failure. You can either get a big thumbs-down right away or you can excel enough to achieve record-breaking downloads. It all depends on the right efforts and smart practices that are executed in a timely manner.

Let’s discuss in detail about the top reasons why a mobile app can possibly fail without standing up to the purpose of building it and how you can avoid those mistakes and save your app from becoming a disappointment.

Lack of knowledge

The Alpha and the Omega of your mobile app directly relate to the extent of analysis that you do. You have to understand that research and analysis is not a one-time process. This has to be consistent from day one of your app development and as long as it is going to be live. You must be able to interpret the language of your audience and the market to keep your app a success on the long run.

Just doing some random research is not going to ensure success for your mobile app. You have to keep studying the mentality of the market, equally concentrating on your audience behaviour. Begin by identifying your ideal users and address their specific needs. Study your user expectations and come up with a representation of the possible shifts in their behaviour patterns in the future.

If you fail to take the time to do this research, no matter how hard you try to build a creative app, you will only end up with a mobile app that you think people will need, but actually they don’t. Always keep an eye on the market shift and the behaviour of your ideal users. This way you will be able to identify what needs to be added to your mobile app. Start by including the basics which are the most important features that your users will find useful and then keep adding more features as you do the research. 

Lack of authenticity

Attempting to build your app based on the other mobile apps that are available is not going to bring success to yours. Copying the functionality of other apps is not going to make your app stand out from the crowd. Your app must bear the signature of the unique value proposition of your business and services. In other words your app must speak the uniqueness of your business and how it makes life easier for your audience.

If you wonder how stating your unique value proposition could contribute to the success of your app, you must be aware that app stores will prioritise featuring only the apps that display their competitive strength. Develop a vision statement that clearly communicates your business goals and the solutions to the problems faced by your ideal users.

Lack of choice

Poor choice in terms of the right platform can also end up being a back lag in your mobile app. Develop your app keeping in mind the various guidelines across different platforms.

Make your App compatible across various devices, networks and operating systems. With more number of users using iPhone and iPad, and needless to say the growing number of Android users, it is very important that you choose the right platform for your mobile app. Begin by defining the goals and purpose of your application and choose the platform that is predominantly used by your target audience according to the mobile devices used by them.

Make sure to integrate the necessary changes to different versions of your mobile app on every familiar platform on which you plan to launch your app. 

Lack of usability

One of the major challenges that come with a poor mobile app is the lack of effective user experience. User experience means everything in the web world. The only way you can ensure that your app is on the safe side is by integrating all the bare essentials that your user would expect to see in your app. Make sure to reduce load times and avoid long registration process. It is recommended to stay away from features that may be difficult to access. Fine-tune the user experience of your app according to the platform on which it is launched. Keep in mind that the users of a particular platform expect to see actions that they are already familiar with. So build your app in such a way that it offers a similar experience.

Lack of testing

Launching your app without passing through a credible QA process would be disastrous. Don’t take chances but instead pass your mobile app through the testing procedures to identify major and minor bugs, and to rectify it technically. Follow the right set of testing procedures to avoid any possible downtime. The more care you take to optimise your mobile app, the more stable it will be post launching and it is also a foolproof way to avoid performance-based negative reviews. Negative reviews due to performance failures can ruin your app forever.

Lack of effective marketing


Mastering a successful marketing plan is the secret to a successful mobile app launch. Do an extensive research and study the expectations of users and highlight solutions to the user’s problems. Doing so can help your app get a good first impression and it is very important to get positive reviews from new users within a few days of the app launch. Failing to do so may result in losing your ideal users. Launching an app is not a one-time process, but it is actually an iterative process where you keep learning every now and then as you keep assessing market demands and the shift in user attitude. Make sure to optimise your mobile app before launching and make sure to update and relaunch your mobile app at regular intervals to improve user engagement.

The right combination of effective market research, user behaviour, and integrated platform-specific features followed by accurate quality testing can make your mobile app conquer the app world.

Author Bio:

Madhumitha is a freelance content writer, copywriter, and editor who specializes in blogging, technical writing, and website contents. She is a regular contributor to AbiTech, mobile app developer in Singapore, writing informative contents on cutting-edge technology and trends on app development.

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