Common App Failure Causes And How To Avoid Them

Are you planning to have a mobile app for your business but the thought of failure holds you back? Let’s address mobile app failures causes and how to combat them.

Mobile apps can become massive successes or unmitigated failures.

Harsh but True!

The difference often comes down to the amount of hard work and care that goes into development. Around 80-90 percent of mobile apps launched in the app stores are abandoned after single use.

According to Statista, 25% of consumers abandon an app after their first use, while 71% of worldwide mobile users admit to removing it three months after downloading it. If you’re creating an app, it’s essential to do your research, choose the best development approach, & make sure you have the right tools in place before you start building your first feature.

Many start-ups have business concepts linked to app development, but over 80% fail due to poor strategy. We can now agree that a mobile application is the one thing that can give your business that much-needed push toward growth. But these statistics hide a sad truth: less than 1% of mobile apps become successful. Isn’t that shocking?

App failure is not only about a defect or an unsolved bug; deeper problems can cause an app failure. Therefore, being informed about the reasons that can affect and ruin your dreams of having a perfectly successful mobile application is crucial.

The mobile industry is rapidly growing to an endless scope. Every day, new apps are added to app stores, where they compete for user attention. According to Statista, there are 3.48 million Android apps and 1.6 million iOS apps. On one side, this competition has enticed newcomers to join the market. However, increased competition also leads to increased chances of failure.

In this blog, we will talk about the most important reasons that can cause mobile app failure. In addition, we will also tell you how to avoid them.

Let’s dive in, then!

We have divided the process into four stages a mobile app goes through. Let’s get started:

Business Issues

A mobile app can be a valuable tool for your business to reach customers and drive growth. However, developing a mobile app is not simple, and several pitfalls can lead to failure.

Many factors can contribute to a poorly executed mobile app, from a lack of a solid strategy to compatibility issues with existing business models to budget mismanagement. It is crucial for businesses to carefully consider these potential roadblocks and take proactive steps to avoid them.

Let’s explore some of the most common business issues mobile apps face and fail. We’ll also provide guidance on how to overcome these challenges to ensure the success of your mobile app.

A Poorly Developed Mobile App Strategy: Lack of a comprehensive strategy can result in app failure. A weak foundation can cause delays in development and result in a low-quality product. Neglecting the end-user experience can negatively impact your app’s success as user scenarios vary and lead to various use-case problems.

Incompatible With Existing Business Strategy: Building customer engagement is crucial and starts and ends with your brand identity. This is of particular importance when developing a mobile app. If the app does not align with the brand or brand promise, it could result in decreased downloads and potentially alienate customers from future purchases of other products.

Not Allocating Enough Funds/Blowing The Budget: The cost of developing a mobile app can range from thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. It’s essential to have a budget or price range in mind to avoid overspending or underfunding. Mobile app failures often occur due to insufficient funds, with startups directing all their resources toward design and development, leaving little for testing, promotion, support, and maintenance. This can result in issues and negatively impact the success of the app.

How To Avoid These Business Issues

To ensure a successful mobile app, you must clearly understand the target audience, their needs, and the app’s goals. This should include a detailed product roadmap and development timeline.
Don’t think about hard sales, but rather about providing value to your users regarding information, a service, or entertainment.
The mobile app must align with the overall business strategy, including brand identity and customer engagement goals. This will help to ensure the app resonates with customers and promotes the overall business.
A realistic budget must be allocated for the mobile app development, including testing, promotion, support, and maintenance. Failing to budget appropriately can result in a low-quality product and ultimately impact the app’s success.

Learn more about Mobile commerce and its significance in the eCommerce industry.

Development Issues

Mobile app development is a complex process that requires careful consideration and attention to detail to ensure success. From compatibility issues across different devices and operating systems to poor backend support and coding flaws, many development factors can impact the success of a mobile app. Additionally, privacy and security concerns and lousy prototyping can turn users away from an app.

On top of these technical challenges, developers must also ensure that they are giving adequate time for app testing and choosing the right platform for their audience. To ensure the success of your mobile app, developers must be mindful of these common pain points and take steps to mitigate their impact on the user experience.

Device Compatibility: Ignoring the various operating systems, carrier networks, and devices while developing a mobile app is a major issue. Each mobile platform has unique interface guidelines and operates differently, with varying buttons and guidelines. It may be time-consuming to plan for every scenario and use case, but it can cause frustration for users if the app doesn’t work consistently across different devices.

Poor App Performance: A lack of optimization or poor performance of an app can lead to a loss of user interest and even result in mobile app failure. Network protocol lapses, bandwidth restrictions, and coding issues can cause this. Poor optimization is a key factor in the failure of mobile apps.

Poor Backend Support: Strong backend support: is crucial for the success of an app, especially for gaming apps. With the availability of cloud technology, there’s no reason for an app to have shaky backend support. Cloud computing provides robust support and storage options and can handle traffic spikes.

Lack of Beta Testing: Research indicates that only about 5% of apps are bug-free upon release. It must undergo thorough testing and iteration to ensure an app serves its purpose and has a longer lifespan. Beta testing is an effective way to identify bugs and gather user feedback while increasing product awareness.

Buggy Updates: Failing to listen to your customers’ opinions on your mobile app can negatively affect your business. User feedback is crucial in promoting sustainable growth. A feature that customers initially enjoy may lose its appeal over time. To ensure your updates keep users coming back, prioritize their needs and wants by incorporating feedback into the development process from beginning to end.

Coding Flaws: It is essential to ensure that the technical aspects of your mobile app are sound. If the app fails to function properly or has bugs that hinder user navigation, it can lead to a negative user experience. According to Flurry data, there are over 400 million instances of poorly designed apps every month. A faulty launch can result in frustrated customers who are unlikely to return for future business.

Privacy And Security Concerns: As privacy and security become more important to consumers, failing to address these concerns in your mobile app can result in users deleting it before they even try it. Too many apps are neglecting these critical issues, leading to a rise in scams that harm the overall user experience. To prevent users from feeling frustrated and ensure your app’s success, it’s crucial to address privacy and security risks from the start.

Bad Prototyping: Prototyping is often overlooked or misunderstood in mobile app development. Some developers, designers, and project managers only see prototypes as something that should be done after extensive research and planning. However, proper prototyping can benefit the development process by allowing you to bring your ideas to life early on and address any potential issues before they arise, saving time and resources.

Not Giving Enough Time For App Testing: This is a common blunder made even by seasoned developers. After investing months in app development, sufficient time for comprehensive testing is not allocated, leading to bugs, crashes, and performance problems that significantly impact the app’s user experience.

Choosing The Wrong Platform: Selecting the wrong platform can cause immediate app failure. Each platform has its benefits. While Android has a more extensive user base, iOS users tend to spend more on paid apps. However, choosing the right platform is only half the battle. The other half is ensuring the app is developed with precision. This can be achieved by hiring an industry leader in mobile app development.

How To Avoid These Development Issues

Ensure that the app works consistently across different devices, operating systems, and carrier networks.
Pay attention to app performance and optimization, including network protocols and coding issues.
Make use of cloud technology to provide robust support and storage options.
Conduct thorough beta testing to identify bugs and gather user feedback.
Prioritize user needs and wants by incorporating feedback into the development process from beginning to end.
Address technical aspects of the app and ensure that it functions appropriately without bugs.
Ensure that privacy and security concerns are addressed from the start to prevent users from feeling frustrated and ensure the app’s success.
Proper prototyping can benefit the development process by allowing you to bring your ideas to life early on and address any potential issues before they arise.
Allocate sufficient time for comprehensive testing to avoid bugs, crashes, and performance problems.
Please select the right platform based on the target audience and spending habits, but ensure that the app is developed precisely.

With MageNative forget development issues and create your own mobile app without any coding knowledge.

Marketing Issues

A successful mobile app is much more than just building a great product. The marketing issues that contribute to a mobile app’s failure include inefficient marketing strategies, poorly described app features, inadequate customer support, ignorance of the competition, lack of target audience research, ignoring customer engagement and feedback, incorrect app store optimization, and a lack of proper monetization strategy.

To avoid these pitfalls, it’s crucial to have a solid plan in place before launching a mobile app. This includes researching the target audience, creating an effective marketing strategy, optimizing the app store listing, ensuring proper customer support, and finding the correct monetization method. By taking these steps, businesses can increase their chances of success and avoid the common mistakes that lead to mobile app failure.

Inefficient Marketing Strategy: A great product means nothing if no one knows about it. In the crowded world of mobile apps, some companies focus on building their product first and worry about marketing later, which often leads to failure. To avoid this, developing a solid marketing plan is crucial before creating the app. This includes identifying your target audience and determining your messaging. A failure to plan can negatively impact your success.

Poorly Described App Features In The App Store: Clearly and concisely describe the features of your app in the app store. Overloading your description with keywords can cause difficulty for users not specifically searching for an app like yours. It’s important to strike a balance and make your app’s features easily understandable.

Poor Customer Support: Poor customer support can be a major factor in the failure of a mobile app. Slow response times, misunderstandings, and inadequate training can all lead to a negative user experience. With almost 30% of app users reportedly giving up on an app after just one use due to inadequate customer support (according to KISSmetrics), it’s crucial to have an optimized customer experience strategy. Customer support personnel lacking product knowledge and customer service skills can harm your business.

Ignoring The Competition: With the constant release of new apps, it’s imperative to stay ahead. Even if your idea is unique, there’s a possibility that someone else may come up with a better one. To avoid being left behind, it’s crucial to adapt and appeal to your target audience continually. The failure of apps like Vine, which couldn’t compete with competitors like Instagram, serves as a cautionary tale of the consequences of neglecting competition.

Lack of Target Audience Research: Identifying your target audience requires ongoing research and understanding. The mobile app market constantly evolves, and user preferences can change anytime. It’s crucial to conduct usability tests and surveys to understand your target audience better. If your app fails to meet their needs, they won’t use it, leading to failure. Not conducting proper research can result in developing an app that fails to meet the needs of its intended audience.

Ignoring Customer Engagement And Feedback: Despite market research and quality assurance processes, sometimes apps may have flaws or not meet user expectations. By regularly gathering customer feedback, businesses can continually improve their mobile app. Unfortunately, many companies fail to solicit customer feedback, with a third of businesses admitting they never ask for it. Additionally, many companies don’t view feedback as a priority, with 43 percent disregarding its significance.

Incorrect App Store Optimization: Simply having your app listed on the Google Play Store or Apple’s App Store is not enough to guarantee success. Your app’s ranking among search results is primarily influenced by the metadata you provide to each store during launch. To effectively reach potential users and drive downloads, you must consider how your marketing strategy aligns with other platforms like Facebook and Twitter. These factors can lead to poor app visibility and low user engagement.

Not Monetizing Correctly: The common misconception that is simply creating and promoting a mobile app will automatically lead to thousands of customers and profits is far from reality. Hence, it is crucial to carefully research and choose an effective monetization strategy for your app before embarking on the app development journey. There are various options for monetizing an app, including freemium models like Dropbox, where the basic app is free, but advanced features require payment. Avoid relying solely on intrusive ads or selling products/services.

How To Avoid These Marketing Issues

Conduct ongoing research and usability tests to better understand your target audience’s needs and preferences. Remember that customers are more likely to be loyal brand ambassadors when they feel heard.
Develop a marketing plan that includes identifying the target audience, determining messaging, and considering alignment with other platforms like Facebook and Twitter.
Clearly and concisely describe the app’s features in the app store listing, avoiding keyword overloading and making the features easily understandable.
Provide efficient customer support with adequate personnel training to avoid misunderstandings and negative experiences.
Continuously adapt and appeal to your target audience to stay ahead of the competition.
Gather customer feedback regularly to improve the app continually.
Consider app store optimization and metadata during launch to increase visibility and drive downloads.
Carefully research and choose an effective monetization strategy, avoiding relying solely on ads or selling products/services.
Give your marketing a much-needed boost with targeted push notifications.

User Issues

Mobile app development in today’s competitive market requires a deep understanding of user behavior and expectations. A well-designed app that meets the needs of its users is just the starting point. Numerous other factors can make or break the success of an app, including the overall user experience design, usage complexity, time-lapse considerations, update failure, and battery drain. From improving the design to ensuring efficient performance, consider every important aspect when building and maintaining a successful app. By addressing the challenges and keeping user satisfaction a top priority, you can increase the chances of creating a successful and sustainable app in today’s fast-paced digital landscape.

Poor User Experience Design: Ensuring customer satisfaction should be a top priority for creating a mobile app. An app’s success depends on meeting user needs and having an attractive and user-friendly design. A poor design can clearly indicate a failing app, and it is crucial to make it accessible to all users, including those with visual impairments.

Usage Complexity: Ease of use is something every user asks for. The success of an app largely depends on it. If the app is too complicated for users to navigate, they will quickly lose interest and move on to something else. You must ensure that the app is straightforward for users to understand, with clear and accessible buttons and functions. The user should be able to find what they are looking for without learning how the app works.

Time-Lapse: Performance, registration, and loading speed are the key factors that impact the time spent on an app. For an app that requires frequent user registration, technical issues affecting time must be addressed to ensure user satisfaction. However, if users become frustrated with these time factors, it could signal the beginning of the app’s decline.

Update Failure: Ignoring users’ thoughts and feedback can lead to the loss of users. Gathering feedback and acting on it to ensure customer satisfaction is crucial. After launching an app, regularly checking for customer feedback and making necessary changes is important to keep users engaged and retain them. Failure to do so may result in a declining user base.

Battery Drain: Excessive battery drain is a major concern for mobile app users, with one in three abandoning an app due to this issue. A communication tool must be reliable, and excessive battery usage can affect its reliability. While additional features can be attractive, it’s crucial to strike a balance and avoid adding too many extras that slow down the phone and cause battery drain.

How To Avoid These User Issues

Place a high priority on user experience design and make the app accessible to all users, including those with visual impairments.
Keep the user interface simple and easy to navigate, with clear and accessible buttons and functions.
Ensure the efficient performance, quick registration, and fast loading speed to avoid frustration and lost users.
Regularly gather user feedback and make necessary changes to keep users engaged and satisfied.
Avoid excessive battery drain by striking a balance between added features and efficient performance.
Continuously monitor and evaluate the app to identify and address potential issues, ensuring the app remains successful and sustainable.

The Final Words

Creating a successful mobile app that meets the needs of your users and is sustainable in the long run requires avoiding common causes of mobile app failure. To achieve this, it’s essential to conduct thorough user research, prioritize user experience, market the app effectively, stay updated with current trends, and monetize appropriately.

Keep in mind that no app becomes popular overnight. Even the most well-known apps, such as Uber, Spotify, and Netflix, started small and gradually grew into industry giants. However, success is not guaranteed, as many factors influence an app’s success, including competition, marketing expenditures, and luck.

To increase your chances of success, finding the right partner who understands your needs and can address the challenges mentioned above is crucial. A partner who can develop an app that aligns with your business goals and objectives will help you avoid app failure. Hiring an experienced mobile app development company is a step in the right direction. MageNative, with 15+ years of IT industry experience, offers a free consultation service. Contact us anytime to learn more about how we can help you.