3 Reasons Users Abandon Apps

Apps are costly and time consuming to design and develop, and their success is dependent on user adoption. Yet there are a variety of reasons users will abandon apps. If you’ve launched an app and are struggling to retain your users or you want to avoid losing users after you launch, this blog is for you.

Below, we’ve compiled three common reasons for app abandonment and how yours can avoid falling victim to the same fate.

#1 Lack of Functionality

This reason is first because it needs to be addressed at the very beginning when you begin to plan to build your app. Some applications are only made to fulfill a niche purpose. Once the user doesn’t need these services anymore, they’ll stop using the app. In the article Is Your Software Idea a Product or a Feature?, we address how to flesh out if your product can go the distance and part of that equation is determining if it solves a big enough problem or fulfills an ongoing need for users.

Google has found that 55% of users have uninstalled or abandoned an application because they couldn’t find a use for it anymore. Users have no reason to keep an app that they won’t use, especially when it takes up additional storage space.

Speaking of storage, Google also found that 53% of users have uninstalled applications because they were running out of storage space. Users abandon apps they don’t need anymore to free up space on their devices.

To avoid this untimely fate for your app, it needs to have more than one purpose or to solve an ongoing problem for users. Your users will only keep your app around if it’s worth the space it takes up, so adding value by adding features is the best way to extend your app’s stay on their phone.

#2 Frequent Push Notifications

Push notifications are typically used to announce updates and promos. While some apps benefit from this, many users find push notifications overwhelming or invasive.

This is also something to address in the planning phase, using best practices, focus groups, and other tactics to determine the ideal frequency of notifications. But nothing beats real world feedback; if users communicate that the notifications are overwhelming, listen to them and remedy this as you perform updates.

In fact, 43% of users will turn off notifications if they receive at least two to five notifications from an app per week. If the number exceeds five, 64% of users would stop using the app, and if the number jumps to six to ten per week, 30% of users would fully uninstall it.

To avoid scaring away your users, push notifications should only be sent out when they’re necessary. This keeps users engaged without discouraging them from using your app. If it makes sense for your app to send them out often, set the default to the bare minimum, but allow users to increase the frequency in the settings menu. This way, your users will only hear from you as much as they want to.

#3 Technical Difficulties and Bugs

Bugs and glitches often appear when developers release updates. If developers are engaged in app maintenance, the issue can be resolved quickly. Ongoing or repeated issues are a major turn-off for users.

In fact, 88% of users will abandon an app if it consistently exhibits poor performance. Constant glitches and bugs prevent users from fully enjoying the app’s features, which is why 51% of users would uninstall or stop using the app altogether if they experience at least one bug per day. Some bugs and errors are bothersome enough to overshadow an app’s potential completely, which is why 32% of participants choose to uninstall apps as soon as they encounter a bug.

With this in mind, it’s vital to keep your apps updated and fix bugs as quickly as they pop up. An experienced developer will track when new operating system updates are coming out and proactively strategize how to handle any issues caused by the update.

Bottom line: If users feel that their concerns or issues are being heard and acted upon, this will inspire loyalty to your app and appreciation of your hard work, encouraging users to stick around.

Users Abandon Apps They Don’t Love

If you need help retaining your user base, work with our experts at ENO8. We are a digital solutions studio specializing in application and software design and development. We can help you create an app that’s well-designed and stays relevant over time, so your users don’t toss your hard work when they do their spring cleaning. Creating minimum lovable products for our clients (not minimum viable products like our competitors) is one key differentiator between our partnership approach and the work of a vendor.

Contact us today to discuss how we can help you!