The App Business: 3 Ways To Annoy Your Users

You may have read that headline and thought – with good reason – that you don’t want to annoy your users. That’s the entire point, of course; knowing where you could potentially go wrong with app developing as a business venture is the key to knowing how not to go wrong!

There’s no doubt that venturing into the world of apps as an income stream can be a lucrative one. You can create an app about pretty much anything, from mobile gaming to apps that help guide meditation. There are so many niches you should never be stuck for ideas, but before you take the plunge, here are the essentials you have to avoid so you can keep your users on side…

Mistake #1: Not Being Upfront On Costs

Go to any review for an app that isn’t entirely free to use. There will be someone (in fact, it’s often a lot of someones) making a complaint about having to pay to use the app. Despite the fact we happily drop $600 on a smartphone, for some reason we all balk at the idea of paying $3 for an app – it’s madness, but it’s true.

If you don’t make it entirely clear that your app requires some form of payment, then you’re going to find yourself on the receiving end of a backlash.

For mobile games, it’s important that you don’t require users to pay extra to complete the game. This is a disturbing trend that angers users; it needs nipping in the bud, so don’t be tempted.

Mistake #2: Glitches

If a user has paid money for your app, they’re not being unreasonable to expect that it’s going to work well. If you have constant software problems and glitches that cause crashes, then your user base is quickly going to dwindle to nothing.

Not only should you be running your app on your own phone to check it for problems, you should also be learning how to check software for problems, with the likes of qTest training able to give you a head start on this. Running regular tests after every update is an essential, so you need to know how to do it or risk losing your customers.

Mistake #3: The Ad Problem

So, you decide, you’ll just eschew the problems of #1 and use in-app advertising as your source of income. Perfect!

The thing is, people are still going to whine about it. If you’re thinking you can’t win, then… well, you’re pretty much correct. The only way of calming this situation is to make your ads as unobtrusive as possible and infrequent. People can handle having to watch a 5 second video occasionally, but if it’s every time they use the app, then they’re quickly going to uninstall.

So, while the world of app developing might not be quite as simple as you initially thought, it doesn’t have to be impossible either. Avoid these classic mistakes and you should be able to build a faithful user base who are going to stick around for years to come, turning your idea into a viable business opportunity.

Featured Image courtesy of FirmBee.