There are a lot of instances when the users get so frustrated by using an app that they ultimately uninstall it. And unluckily there are thousands of such low-quality apps on both Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
The user loses the temper when he/she is not able to overcome the obstacle or achieving a goal on the app. When a user finds something frustrating in the app, he stops using the app and also shares his bad experience with his kith and kin. If your app is of low quality you would not be able to get traffic on it, establishing authority or getting recommendations on either Play Store or App Store.
There are more than 2.6 million apps on the Google Play store. AppBrain finds that 12% of these apps are of poor quality. There can be multiple known and unknown reasons for the poor quality of the app. In this article, we are going to discuss what are all these reasons, and how you can improve the overall quality of the app.
Low-Quality Apps Reasons
When a user stops using an app after just a few uses, it would be categorized as a low-quality app. In 2018, nearly one-fifth of the apps were used only once. When the mobile app development team doesn’t have the knowledge of the target audience, what their users expect and what are their demands, and have little or no communication between the developers, it results in a low-quality app.
There can be technical issues in the app such as downloading issues, high battery consumption, frequent updates, slow response, etc. which also degrade its quality. Let’s discuss in detail all these factors:
Lack of Market Research and Audience
Everyone thinks that the users will love their idea and start working on the app but do they try for validation whether it is actually going to work or not. It is highly required that you should have a good understanding of your user base for mobile application development. You need to identify the user demographics, behavior patterns, motivations, goals, as user personas.
After finding these attributes, if you decide to develop an app, then it should be an iterative process in which you will release different versions with each version better than before. You can begin with developing a Minimum Viable Product or MVP. An MVP is a procedure in which initially the mobile app comes with essential features that are required to go live, and find out whether the user wants an updated and more sophisticated version of this app with additional features.
Lacking Originality
It would be right to say that almost every niche has been oversaturated in the App Stores with similar apps. A successful mobile application comes with a strong value proposition. You should do competitive research for finding the weakness and strengths of your competitors. Developing an application that offers the same features as your competitors do wouldn’t help you in winning users. You should create a vision statement that will give you a sense of direction towards the end goal of the application. It will also define the different problems your user base is currently facing.
There are very intuitive guidelines of every platform whether it is Android’s Play Store or Apple’s App Store. They operate in different ways and appeal to different user groups. You should be aware of your users’ choice of a smartphone before choosing a platform. If you are having a big budget then you can go for both Android and iOS but if there are constraints then choosing the platform which is more popular among your users wouldn’t be a bad choice.
The choice of smartphone among your users will also give you useful knowledge such as mostly iOS users have higher income in comparison to the Android users. It can influence the monetization strategy of in-app purchases. But if you want to monetize through advertisements then Android would be a better choice.
Whatever your choice of platform, the app should meet the guidelines of it. The quality guidelines of Android mention the essential quality characteristics an Android app should display. There are parameters such as:
- Design guidelines, User Interface Patterns, icons
- Navigation and Notifications
- Expected App Behaviour
- Permissions level
- Battery Consumption, Loading Time
- Data Security, Handling user data, personal information, etc.
Similarly, the Apple Guidelines are focused upon:
- Physical Harm, Data Security
- Hardware Compatibility, Completeness, Software Requirements
- Payment Methods
- Simple, Innovative, Easy to use design
- Privacy Protection
- Data Use, Sharing, etc.
Poor User Experience
Poor user experience is something that will definitely lead you to lose your users and will result in negative marketing. Whether it is the flow of the app, its slow speed, unresponsive menus, etc. all results in poor user experience. It results, when the novice, or inexperienced mobile application developers are given the work of your mobile application development. However, experienced mobile app developers know very well what components need to use for offering a great user experience. Firstly, your app should be intuitive. The users should be able to perform the basic functions and understand the core functionalities easily, else it will turn out to be very poor usability. Some of the instances of the poor experience are:
- Slow or Lagging performance of the app
- Long loading time of the app
- Tedious Registration Processes
- Uneasy access to the features
Improper Testing
It is almost impossible that your app will get release without some minor bugs but it is essential that it has undergone proper QA before releasing on the app store. If the app is not tested properly, it will lead to poor user experience and prone to crashes. A single crash is enough to stop your users from using your app again. In today’s mobile app market, it doesn’t take long for users to pass judgment on the products they download. Users have incredibly high expectations for mobile app quality, functionality, and performance.
Poorly Executed Mobile App Launch
Last but not least, an app launch can also help you in gaining users. If you want to have a high download rate of your app along with a high user retention rate, you need to make an impressive first impression within just a few days after the launch. If you don’t impress your new users quickly, you’ll likely lose their interest altogether.
The mobile app launch isn’t a one-time instance, but there is always room for improvement which makes it a continuous process. It requires improvements as the market changes. You need to implement new technologies that are trending in the market.
Wrapping Up
Mobile application development can cost you thousands of dollars and if it is of low quality & frustrates users, then all your money and efforts will go in vain. Hence, you must hire a mobile app development company having extensive experience in this field. At Amplework Software, the best mobile app development company we deliver you mobile apps with amazing UI & UX, appealing to your users and resulting in good business.
