5 Reasons Users Delete Your App (And How to Increase App Downloads!)

Most people have had a moment of “cleaning out” their phones. But why do users delete apps, even the ones they used to like? As a developer, if you understand why people delete apps, you’ll actually increase your number of downloads.

When we perform app auditing, we start by telling our clients that we’re going to be honest. If you can hold your app up to the mirror and admit to some areas for improvement, you’ll soon discover how to increase app downloads and reduce the number of uninstalls. Here are the five most common issues we identify.

1. Too Tedious or Intrusive to Set Up

So your app was installed; great! Now it’s time for a user to have their very first interactions with it. These critical moments will set the tone for their expectations going forward. Why force them to go through a lengthy setup process?

Many developers think they need the information either for future upsells or a personalized experience, but too many questions can backfire. If it takes too long for a user to set up a profile, they may just quit the app entirely. 

How to Decrease Uninstalls: Ease Up on the Asks.

Don’t ask too much of your new users. Minimize the setup you require them to do and the personal information you collect. Many users delete apps because they feel they’re being treated as resources rather than people. You can increase app downloads simply by giving users “out-of-the-box” functionality. The app should do what it’s supposed to do as soon as possible.

Minimize your asks and give the user more choice in what they are required to do or submit. There’s no reason to brute-force collect all the information right at the beginning. After all, if your app is a good one, there'll be plenty of time for the user to finish setup later.

Let us help you get these kinds of details right with our app development consultation services.

2. Too Many Notifications

Many people report that using their phones increases their anxiety. One of the chief reasons for this is the endless barrage of notifications. Whether it’s advertisements, reminders, or calls to action, too many pop-ups and push notifications are major reasons that users delete apps.

Some users will simply turn off their notifications, but this isn’t ideal. Silencing an app is the first step to forgetting about an app. If your app is too annoying, it will eventually become irrelevant.

How to Decrease Uninstalls: Present Options.

Be realistic about how much of your users’ attention you can sustainably capture and hold. Let users opt-in for higher volumes of notifications. For instance, if your app relies on frequent reminders, give users the option of how often—and at what times of day—to receive those notifications.

Let users snooze in-app pop-ups or consider withholding advertisements from the initial screens and stages. Someone who only opens your app once per week may end up being a loyal user and a paid subscriber, but only if you give them the option to occasionally interact with your app.

Some of these customizable features are hard to find in drag-and-drop app builders. Contact a development professional if you have questions about a certain feature’s feasibility for your app.

3. Too Greedy with the Phone’s Resources

If your app is gobbling up storage space, devouring data, or hogging memory, most users will eventually delete it. And if your app disrupts the phone’s performance on top of that, by causing it to hang or prematurely draining the battery, that’s worse.

How to Decrease Uninstalls: Streamline Your App’s Code & UX.

Streamline your app’s code. Be more considerate of the limitations that come with the mobile environment, especially for people who don’t have high-end phones. Making your app lighter and faster will increase your downloads over time.

Also, there’s a chance you can incorporate low-code solutions that take advantage of standardized coding techniques to reduce the technical complexity of your app without harming the UX.

4. Too Much Competition

It’s unfortunate but true—sometimes you have a great idea, but someone else did it better. Users may delete your app simply because they have another just like it. To increase your app downloads and retain a steady user base, you need to stand out from the competition. 

How to Decrease Uninstalls: Stand Out from the Competition.

Be thorough in your competitor research. Look not only at what similar apps do well, but also look at why users complain about apps similar to yours. Identify pain points and common problems, and make sure your app avoids those same issues.

Most mobile app companies don’t have the budget for a 24/7 call center with tech support agents to help users troubleshoot problems with the app. The best approach is to minimize the number of users who need support through an intuitive interface.

Take advantage of our UX/UI Makeover services. We’ll make your app more user-friendly, navigable, accessible, and memorable while also making it faster, leaner, and more efficient with phone resources.

5. Too Quick to Burnout

If your app doesn’t offer ongoing value to the user, they’ll eventually delete it or won’t migrate it when they upgrade their phone. When thinking about how to increase app downloads, you have to consider how to transition the up-front value proposition to an ongoing one.

In many cases, users delete apps because they’re tired of “wasting time” on them. There is a lot of research these days into the addictiveness of mobile devices and apps. If your app is stealing time and energy away from other areas of the user’s life, that’s not good for them in the long run. Whatever initially exited the user about an app is no longer valuable to them.

For example, a puzzle game might be addictively challenging at first, but once a user learns the algorithm to solve the game, it loses its appeal and no longer has value.

How to Decrease Uninstalls: Cultivate an Ongoing Value Proposition

Think about what makes your app valuable a year from now. Prompt new engagement with updates and new features—or refine the features that users love the most. As your user base grows and changes, your app should continue offering new value.

Grow & Retain Users: Choose Soluntech to Improve Your App

App design is as much an art as it is a science. At Soluntech, our team draws on both, combining industry best practices with disruptive new ideas and creative solutions.

If you want to learn how to increase app downloads and keep those users for the long haul, we can help. We offer consultation and development services to companies of all sizes, including small businesses, and we have a proven track record of boosting ROI. See our case studies to view some of the projects we’ve worked on.

Ready to move forward? Schedule a free pre-consultation to learn how we can improve your app.