The mobile app market is flooded with new apps every day. According to Statista, there were 3.48 million apps on Google Play and 2.22 million apps on App Store in the first quarter of 2021. The competition in the app market is high. There are many apps launched in the market, however not all of them succeed. People are just as quick to delete an app as they are to download it.

Mobile apps fail due to many reasons. In this article, we will discuss some key reasons that may contribute to the failure of an app. This can help you avoid these mistakes and create a successful app for your business.

Reasons Why Apps Fail

Not carrying out in-depth research

Before you even begin planning your product, it is vital to have a deep understanding about your target market. You need to know who you are building an app for. Audience research is essential to understand what their main problems are and how your product can offer a solution.

Based on audience research you can effectively plan various aspects of your app like design, core features, user experience and more. Understanding your audience can help you build an app that is relevant to them. If you do not know what their key pain-points are, then you cannot offer any useful solutions. User personas can be a great tool to build fictional representations of your target user. These personas can include in-depth information on your user’s demographics, interests, purchase behavior, challenges, goals and more.

To understand the needs of your target audience even better apply the minimum viable product development method. An MVP or minimum viable product is the basic version of your product that you use to test it in the market. With an MVP you can see how your audience responds to your product and gather their feedback. This way you can continuously optimize your app to fit the needs of your target users.

Not choosing the right platform

Choosing a platform that you want to launch your app on is an important decision to make. The first thing you would want to consider is your users. Target market research can help you gain some important insights on this. Look at which smartphones most of your target audiences use. The user base is different for Android and iOS platforms. These platforms also have very different guidelines when it comes to launching your app.

The iOS users typically have higher income than Android users. What type of smartphones audiences use also depends on their geographic location. For example, in the U.S. apple continues to be the most popular mobile device. Moreover, to choose the right platform you will also need to consider the monetization model you plan to use. If you plan to monetize from in-app purchases, then iOS will be ideal. On the other hand, if you plan to monetize through ads then Android will be the right choice.

This again stresses the importance of researching your target audiences and their demographics. If you are developing an app for multiple platforms, you need to be aware of the differences in each platform. Failing to do so can result in users not being able to resonate with your app. An average user takes less than a minute to decide if an app is useful for them or not. Hence, choose the right platform that can help your app become successful.

Poor user experience

User experience is the overall experience a user has when using your app. This is one of the most important factors when it comes to the success of your app. While the user is interacting with your app their experience should be seamless. If the user finds your app difficult to use or navigate and cannot find the core functions easily it can lead to a poor user experience. Similarly, any app glitches or long loading time can discourage a user from interacting with your app.

A big part of creating a great user experience is to understand the needs of your target users. Successful mobile apps provide useful solutions and value to the users. Consider what is missing in other apps that your users can benefit from. Incorporate those functions in your own app to meet the needs of your users. Focus on creating innovative solutions for your users that help them interact with your app seamlessly. Assess your app and make improvements to enhance user experience.

Not testing properly

Testing your app properly before the launch is necessary. It is common for any app to have minor bugs when launched. However, testing an app properly can ensure that you do not have any major issues in the app. Not testing an app properly would result in overlooking any bugs that can cause major issues resulting in the app crashing. This can seriously hamper user experience and discourage users from interacting with your app. Common negative reviews on app stores are about apps getting crashed.

Hence, it is important to test your app properly to ensure that there are no major issues hindering the performance of your app.

Poor app launch strategy

An app launch strategy can impact acquiring and retaining your users. This is part of your marketing efforts that can help improve the chances of your app’s success. This marketing strategy requires in-depth research about the market and target audiences, to make your app more relevant. The right app launch strategy can attract new users and help in retaining them.

In the app launch strategy, you will focus on highlighting the benefits of your app and how it can be valuable to the users. Moreover, create an onboarding process that is relevant to the users and makes it easy for them to interact with your app. All these aspects are important to create the best first impression about your app.

Not measuring app performance

Measuring an app’s performance is essential to help make future improvements and updates to your mobile app. After launching your app, you will be optimizing it for the future to make it more relevant for your target audience. You may not know where exactly your app needs improvements if you do not measure the performance properly.

There are various areas where you will need to measure. Look at how your users interact with your app. Is there an increase in the daily and monthly active users? How much is the retention rate? Other areas include measuring your website traffic, social media growth, or number of email subscribers. Moreover, look at different business metrics like revenue, conversion, lifetime value, abandonment rates, and product reviews. Other metrics you choose to consider depend on your business and product goals.

When you measure various aspects of your app and app promotion, you can determine what action you need to take next. This enables you to consistently make better improvements for your app.

An app’s success depends on multiple factors. Some of the reasons listed above are commonly associated with the failure of an app. If you are getting ready to develop your app then avoid these mistakes so that you do not set your app up for failure. Focus on researching your target audience thoroughly, creating a good user experience, and testing your app effectively to ensure your app’s success. These are some best practices you can incorporate into your mobile app development process to help build and launch an app that gets maximum results.