Back

4 reasons apps get deleted and how to avoid them

on 

As an app creator you obviously hope your app will be downloaded, but for it to be an actual winner, you most certainly don’t want it to get deleted afterwards.

In order to make sure your users stick around, here are some of the most common reasons why apps get deleted within the first minutes, if not seconds, of their being downloaded. Of course, we don’t want to leave you hanging so we’ve included easy to implement solutions to bypass these pitfalls. Read on!

#1 Your authentication process isn't flexible

An app is something you want to be able to try out within seconds so make sure you don’t waste your users precious time on the sign-up process. In other words, it should be flexible. For instance, our authentication add-on doesn’t require social media accounts. We do offer that much appreciated feature, but it’s not mandatory information.

The win-win option is thus to display both sign-up solutions. Users can go for the regular sign-up option if they prefer, fill in a name, e mail and password. Efficient and above all quick enough of a registration process that you are less likely to lose a potential user in the process. 

Because, if social media accounts are a trendy way to sign up, they obviously leave out potential users (those who don’t have such accounts or those who are reluctant to connect them to other apps for fear their content will be given access to). Plus, they require authorization in the midst of the registration, a delay that can sometimes dissuade even the most tech enthusiast user.

#2 Your app is not user friendly

We’ve mentioned before the importance of creating a great splash screen for your mobile app. Once your app is loaded, you want your user to have an easy overview of what you have to offer, so avoid clutter, especially on the main screen. 

Besides, beware of being deceptive by making promises you cannot keep. Remember that quality beats quantity. Craft an app with easy to identify functions and no scatter. 

Last but not least, your design should rely on familiarity. For instance, for navigation purposes, we’ve implemented the hamburger icon (three horizontal lines stacked on top of one another), now a classic and common symbol easily identified as a menu section. It is available within most of our menu template options, unless you go for the TabBar style. 

#3 Your app isn't worth the money

Given the choice between two similar apps there’s a 99% chance the user will go for the one that is free, no matter how appealing the functionalities of the latter are. In-app purchasing is of course not to avoid altogether but bear in mind that you want the users to stick around in the first place. So make sure that basic functionalities and enough appealing content is available so that you will hook enough of an audience. 

Mobile advertising could be an alternative if you want to be cost efficient without limiting access to your content. GoodBarber offers two different add-ons, the External advertising networks or Internal ad server that allows you to circulate ads that you have added directly in your back office. We also have a ready to use E-Commerce section for businesses that want to showcase their merchandise through our app.

#4 Your app is too invasive

Yes, push notifications are an efficient way to keep in touch with your audience and re-engage your users. However, you definitely don’t want to go overboard and flood them. So, make sure you use them wisely, once more bearing in mind that quality of content is key. If you approach your audience make sure you have something to offer that will be worth their time or else they will be quick to either turn off notifications if not delete your app. 

With GoodBarber you can manage push notifications by either sending personalized messages to your users or creating an automated message whenever you publish something new. One last piece of advice, try and be consistent in terms of sharing practices, set a day and time that works best with your audience and stick to it.

While building your app these are definitely issues that you will want to tackle and that will, in the end, help you create an app that’s here to stay!