10 Deadly Sins Of Mobile Apps

Remember how proudly the phrase ''Users love their apps'' was uttered at Apple keynotes by Steve Jobs and Tim Cook? It's absolutely true that users love good apps. It's only good apps that stay on smartphones and tablets after a first try. More patient users may give a second and a third try, but not much after. Some of the apps can be downright frustrating for users; and even the first try becomes a torture for some of the reasons stated below. So if you want to know the deadly sins that can drive users crazy, here we go.

#1. Designed For Top Devices Only

Everybody designs apps for the latest, top notch, most relevant devices. But it's really unfortunate that slightly dated or low-end devices often end up overboard. Mobile devices get dated very quickly, and new hardware gets new screen resolutions and bigger performance capabilities. But by neglecting previous generations and middle-class/low-end devices you lose lots of users. If they get experience full of lags and visual design shortcomings, they will abandon your app in favor of another one.

#2. Oh So Slow

Heavy and non-optimized apps, which haven't been properly tested, take quite a while to load. Visually more than 5 seconds of launch time is a real drag for users. It may not be the guilt of your developers – just don't cut costs on testing, and you won't know these problems. If a long launch can't be avoided for a reason, your designers will create a catchy launch animation that will keep users relaxed.

#3. Huge Input Forms

''Log in with Facebook''? No problem! Creating an account with just an e-mail and a password? Great! But if your users have to enter e-mail, password, confirm password, full name, age, gender, a couple of other fields for good measure, they might as well get bored, exit the app and erase it. Don't scare off with huge forms – better show the goodies provided after registering. The full profile can be filled out after the signup. Just avoid asking for too much text input.

#4. Demanding Personal Data Excessively

When the user sees that your app will ''have access to the following user profile information'' from Facebook, make sure that the list is not overlong, which equals intrusive. The connection to the account must also be optional. Again, show the value user will get if the access is granted.

#5. Too Much, Too Much, Too Much, Too Much, Too Much

You don't want to cram too much of everything into your app. That's because your users don't want you to. They won't tolerate overuse of calls to action and heavy weight. They would choose an app with smooth UX that accomplishes a goal simply and quickly. More features mean complex interface, and a professional UX/UI designer will take a look at your project and easily tell you where the border you shouldn't cross is. Users accept an action accomplished in 2-3 taps, but if it takes 6-7 just to get where they want, it will be irritant.

#6. You Shall Not Pass (Unless You Follow Us)

If you ask users to follow you on social media, don't make it a repeated demand. Don't allow these requests be an obstacle preventing users from moving on with your application. That's a killing way of blackmailing users – they may follow your request, but a bad impression will remain. ''Follow us on Facebook'' can be easily rejected if given without a reason. Offers? Discounts? Be concise with the message. Same goes for asking for reviews and positive ratings on the stores. All of these messages are especially intrusive when they appear before the user has a chance to try things out.

#7. Ad Is Bad

Have you informed your users that your free app contains ads? Is it written in app description? It should be, otherwise they will get not what they've been expecting. Some people accept apps containing ads. Surely ads will not disappear since app owners have to monetize their efforts anyway – that's the truth of life. But unresponsive ad banners that mar the experience, or just come out of nowhere and occupy the whole screen, are deadly. Once the ads are hated, the app gets hated just as much.

#8. Hungry Apps Eat Users' Patience

Hungry apps don't last long. Examples include excessive usage of CPU power, device memory storage, and network overload. Let's crown it all with hunger for battery life. Understandably people won't be very satisfied with them. If they feel the app drains too much energy, they can easily check it – for example, iOS 8 introduced a native feature for this purpose.

#9. Update Frenzy

What a tempting thing it is to cut costs on testing and release the app faster. ''Let's roll it out ASAP; any problems will be fixed with the first updates.'' But put yourself in the user's place. Poor first experience may easily become the last one. Another bad side of hasty testing is forcing frequent updates on users. Even worse is when users cannot use the app without an update.

#10. Poor Customization Capabilities

Make sure that the app's settings will allow users to tailor it to their preferences. It's hidden in such little things as an option to change fonts, mute sounds and music, turning notifications on and off, etc. But it's always pleasant for users to discover that they can make the app even easier to use, and turn off the features they don't like and/or need.


We did not include freezing, crashing, poor responsiveness, and other things that are not determined by the choice of the software owner, but rather handled by good developers (or not handled by bad ones). It must be sufficient for your users to accept and love the app. Is there anything else you'd include in this list?

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