What is App Fatigue and How you Can Tackle It?
App Fatigue is a still-like situation for apps, where users do not want to download new apps anymore. People are done with the applications that are just designed for doing simple reading and writing operations. Newer apps with age-old and repeated features, just don’t appeal to app users anymore.
Softwares or Apps working for people, easing out their day-to-day lives, helping them in their daily chores, are something your they are looking forward to. People are not after quantity, they want quality.
Consumers are looking for apps that work in users’ absence too, like Google Now. When you book a flight ticket, the departing time automatically gets added on your Google calendar, and next time you open Google Maps it already has your itinerary; it displays the departing airport, along with all the routes to your destination with real-time traffic, thus, easing out its users’ lives.
Let me ask you a question… When was the last time you downloaded an app?
So, what would be your answer?
According to a study by comScore MobiLens, half of the people (51%) living in the US haven’t downloaded an app in a month; of the 49% that downloaded more than one app, a majority of the people about 32% downloaded 3 or less in a month.
What are the main causes of App Fatigue?
It is not that people don’t prefer new apps; TechCrunch reported, smartphone users use around 10 apps per day and around 30 apps a month.
Also, it is not that, these apps are expensive; around 94.24% and 88.18% apps available on Google Play Store and Apple App Store respectively are available for free.
So, where lies the problem?
An App’s Purpose
In most of the cases, people have already installed the apps that fulfil their day to day requirements. They don’t really see the need for getting a new app when their purpose is already been served by the existing ones.
Users will definitely install a new app if it is trending on the app store or it goes socially viral.
Value to The User
Most of the apps are just the replica of their previous counterparts with a better design or with one or two added features. Thus, no one returns to most of these apps after the first use. Such apps eventually end up in the trash bin.
Difficulty to Access
With the search algorithms working on data points, it is still not easy to search and download new apps. Mostly, users have to rely on the ‘top-25 apps list’. Which is showcasing the widely used and already popular apps and ruling out the probability of new app installs.
More Apps, More Wastage of Time and Space
We all are familiar with these notifications. Every time there’s a new app out there, most of us just look at our long list of downloaded apps and struggle with ‘what to delete and what not to delete’ questions. We eventually end up dropping the idea of installing any more apps.
It’s a human tendency, that we just don’t let go of things we are previously acquainted with. Do you agree…?
This is just the one facet of a story with many players. Entrepreneurs have their facet of the story too.
While Application Fatigue is primarily a users’ phenomenon, it tends to affect the new entrants quite significantly.
With around 6140 android apps and 5092 iOS apps being added to the app stores every day; there were around 3.8 million apps on the Google Play Store and 2 million apps on Apple App Store, as of first quarter 2018.
Number of apps available in leading app stores as of 1st quarter of 2018
And, what poses a serious challenge in tackling App Fatigue, is
“How to make a mark in the app market whose top positions are already dominated by the leading apps?”
Here’s how…
Pace up with the technology
Technology never fails to fascinate us, and so to our customers. Keeping the pace with latest technological trends will help you enhance your app’s User Experience.
I. Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality is a technology by which computer-generated objects are placed in the real-world environment. Augmented Reality made its way into the app industry with the launch of Pokemon Go which became an instant sensation with over 100 million estimated users worldwide. The game allowed the users to see Pokemon characters bouncing around them, in their own towns.
Recently, the world’s largest furniture retailer, IKEA, launched its Augmented Reality app, IKEA Place. This new app allows the user to see how the new furniture will look like in their, before making the actual purchasing. Augmented Reality serves the real need of the users, along with saving their valuable time.
Incorporating Augmented Reality in your app will make the User Experience better, helping them to have a real feel for inanimate objects.
II. Conversational Commerce with Chatbots
Conversational Commerce is e-commerce via various means of conversation like texting or live chatting with chatbots.
A chatbot is an artificial intelligence that allows you to converse with it using either auditory or textual methods. Chatbots as in social messaging apps are all set to revolutionize the retail industry. Chatbots can converse with the consumers and know their needs, helping you to personalize the app for your users better.
Facebook Messenger based shopbots, like the one launched by eBay in October 2016, help shoppers shop online more efficiently. With shopbots, people can easily text or leave a voice message stating what they want, and the bots will come up with the most relevant results. Also, users can post any picture, so as to get the desired results. All this, just with a conversation!!
III. Smart Home, Voice-controlled Speakers
Smart Home, Voice-Controlled Speakers like Amazon Echo, Google Home, and Apple Homepod have taken the world by storm. They have taken over the mainstream from the wearables.
Ranging from keeping you updated about the weather to tell you what to add next in the new recipe; from helping you in translation to managing your day to day events; these Smart Home, Voice-Controlled Speakers can do anything at your service. Smart Home apps that ease the daily chores of a homemaker and the family, as a whole are the new sensation.
Target Mobile Web
With around 52.2% of all the website traffic around the world, being generated through mobile phones; Mobile Web is something you can not afford to miss out.
According to KISSmetrics, about 40% people abandon a website if the loading time exceeds 3 seconds or more, i.e., you have 3 seconds to load your content and please your user or else you’ve just lost a potential customer.
Data from the same report reported that every 1-second delay (or 3-second waiting) decreases the customer satisfaction by 16%, and 79% of the shoppers dissatisfied with the website performance are less likely to return to it again.
I. Accelerated Mobile Pages
Accelerated Mobile Pages is a combined open source project by Google and Twitter, designed for making mobile web pages really fast.
Accelerated Mobile Pages use a stripped down version of HTML5, streamlined CSS, and absolutely no JavaScript. AMP provides you with a JavaScript library that you can use. Also, no forms are allowed on AMPs. AMP sites must be validated regularly and you need to add AMP-approved extensions to your page if you wish to include videos on your webpage.
Accelerated Mobile Pages are designed to increase the loading speed and readability of mobile web pages, and hence, enhancing the User Experience.
II. Progressive Mobile Apps
Progressive Web Apps are Mobile Web Apps that look and feel like Native Apps. They incorporate best features of both the Native Apps and Mobile Web Apps while alleviating their disadvantages.
While, Native Apps can send push notifications, work offline and load from the home screen, but require downloading from the app stores. Progressive Web Apps behave similar to Native Apps, performing all the major features, but these do not require downloading. These are accessed directly from the browsers, just like Mobile Web Apps.
Progressive Web Apps are device responsive, whether you are viewing it on desktop, tablet or mobile phone, they work perfectly enhancing the User Experience.
With people moving towards a ‘no more downloads’ zone and new technologies advancing every day, as an entrepreneur, you need to make efforts to make your app stand out, and bring a breakthrough.
Summing Up
Now you’ve thoroughly understood that what is App Fatigue & its causes. We hope our listed ways to tackle App Fatigue would help your app to perform well in the app store. You can also perform app store optimisation to rank higher in the app store and increase the chances of your app installs.
Originally published at enterprisemonkey.com.au on June 18, 2018.