Did you know that 2.52 billion Mobile apps were downloaded in the year 2009 and this number is expected to rise to 268.69 billion by the year 2017? Mobile app developers earned approximately 6.8 billion U.S dollars in the year 2010 and this figure has maintained an upward trend ever since.
Mobile apps have taken the world by a storm. We have apps for everything shopping, fitness, beauty, entertainment, messenger, bills and business too. All of us keep installing and uninstalling apps all the time. Much has been established about drawing users to install and stay engaged with an app but user retention is also of prime significance for the success of any app. Uninstalls are one of the dominant factors that adversely affects the success of an app.
App uninstalls are primarily caused due to user dissatisfaction in any or all of the below mentioned features:
- Utility of the App
- Credence of the App
- Performance of the App
Data backed analytics can offer in-depth insight about the reason why users discard/uninstall an app. Such insights can help app developers, providers and marketers work on the weak aspects of their app and bring down the number of uninstalls, retain more users and improve app loyalty.
Listed below are the 10 primary reasons why users uninstall apps on their smart devices.
- Tedious Sign-Up Process – A lengthy sign-up process is a big turnoff for most users. For the app to surpass the installation stage and later engage the user the app should have a quick and easy sign up process. To simplify things further apps can also allow a log in using Facebook, Twitter or Google account.
- Too Many Permissions/ Privacy concern – Privacy is a major concern when installing new apps. Apps that ask for way to many permissions may get discarded instantly. For e.g. a banking, cab, grocery or services app asking for permission to access the photos and videos on the smart device does not sound too right does it?
- Irrelevant Notifications – Apps that send too many push notifications; end up annoying the user especially if the notifications are not relevant to the user. Push notifications popping up too frequently, when least needed, push the user to uninstall the app.
- Free Memory – Users might get into a uninstall frenzy and discard your app along with a few others, if they need some free space on the phone memory. An app gets uninstalled when a user finds it’s not worth the memory its holding.
- Data Usage – Users don’t like to exhaust their expensive, hi-speed data over apps running in the background. If your app is guilty of eating up too much data then the chances of uninstall are much higher than otherwise.
- Battery Draining – Most smart phone users complain about rapid battery drain and if your app happens to be the cause of this battery drain, chances of it being uninstalled are pretty high.
- Freezes/Hangs the Phone – Users might uninstall your app, if they notice a sudden spike in the number of times the phone freezes or hangs after they have installed it.
- Installed a Competitors App – There are multiple apps for everything that you might want or need. If your user has installed a new app with similar functions and better value, he might uninstall your app.
- Addictive App – Users often find themselves addicted to gaming or entertainment apps, when they realize that they are spending way too much time on a certain app, they uninstall it. Uninstalling an addictive app is a trick to get rid of the addiction.
- Unused App – If a user hasn’t used your app for a while, he/she might not need it any more or might have moved on to another app that provides more benefits. Apps that have been inactive for awhile tend to be uninstalled when the user notices that he does not need them any longer.
These are the 10 primary reasons why users uninstall mobiles apps from their device.
How can you track app uninstalls and potentially lure the users back?
Analytics can provide you relevant information on the reasons why users uninstall your app and that can help you fix those issues and gain customer loyalty.
Last updated on October 7, 2024
