3 Reasons Why Users Uninstall Your Mobile Applications and How to Avoid the Scenario

It is not difficult to understand why mobile users would want to uninstall applications. What do you do when software you just installed on your computer freezes? Or asks you to enter too many personal details to register and then use? Or tries to bundle in a ‘helpful’ toolbar for your browser? You get rid of them, of course. Novice users may not, but experienced ones most certainly will, especially if the software is not one of a kind.

SEE ALSO: Developing a Mobile App? The 3 Most Fundamental Things You Should

Image Credit: gailjadehamilton

There is an obscene number of apps being added to online stores every month, and mobile users are never constrained by choice. Let’s take a look at 3 major reasons why users uninstall mobile applications and what you can do to avoid the scenario.

1. Remember the Word ‘Mobile’:
Does anything about the word ‘mobile’ remind of something that is static or slow moving? Mobile users want to use their apps immediately after download. Yes, computer users do, too, but sitting down with a computer is a different experience than being on the go with a nifty little device that fits into your pocket and yet, connects you to the world. Trust us when we tell you: people want instant results with a capital ‘I’ when they are on a mobile device – even though these very same persons could be more forgiving when they are on a computer.

So, what is the problem area here? That your app cannot be used fast enough. Why? Possibly because it takes a long time to install or more likely, the registration process is complicated. And what you can do to resolve this situation is elementary: create a fast install app that doesn’t ask too many questions before it is ready for use. Make sure also to highlight these features when you are promoting your app unless it is super unique and nearly indispensable.

SEE ALSO: The Latest Mobile Apps to Lookout For

2. Are You One of a Kind?
Probably not, Search for a type of service an app is supposed to provide (‘reminders’, for example), and you are presented with so many choices that you will wish there were less. It is difficult for us to give you concrete suggestions here, but if you want the users to stay with your app after your superior marketing strategy (or dumb luck) coaxed them to download it, you have given it a twist that sets it apart from its competitors.

If it is an app that serves reminders, think of what can make it stand out. Funny or humorously rude messages, perhaps (‘Get it done NOW, you bum!’)? An aesthetically pleasing interface inspired by some master class paintings? Multiple language options? The capacity to record and use any voice the user chooses? Imagine an app that recites a marketing list to men in their wife’s voice! Okay, we’re not so sure too many men would want to download that. But you get the idea – make the user stick to your app by making it unique in some way to avoid being uninstalled and replaced for some small inconvenience that may very well pop up sometime.

3. When You Have Taken Care Of Everything Else…
Freezes and crashes and ads and complex registration processes are things that are to be avoided in any case, and your apps should always be easy to use. But there’s another factor that you need to bear in mind that can prompt users to make a final choice regarding your app. Remember that the novelty will wear away in a few weeks. People of all ages do like to play around, but if your app consumes too much power, it will probably go down in the history of apps for being ‘wonderfully efficient, but…’.

Today’s mobile phones have so many different features (including awesome screen resolutions and brightness) that an app that hogs battery life is not likely to win any laurels. Isn’t it the same with some A-grade anti-virus software that you don’t use on your computer because it consumes too much system resource? Once you are done making your app stand out and after the nasty bugs have been taken care of, do take care to put it on a diet.

Final Words:
From marketing to the first launch is the most crucial time period that makes or breaks your app’s future. Always take care to make especially the last part of it as smooth and user friendly (with a guided tour, perhaps) as possible. It is then that the user will want to explore the rest of the super awesome features you have put in there. If your app is going to have a long and happy relationship with its user, never forget that one eternal truth about all relationships: First Impressions Count.