Getting users to install your app is half the battle. Making them use it constantly is another key thing to consider. As of 2015, developers have been submitting over 1,000 apps to Apple’s App Store daily.

Considering the continuous creation of apps, we can assume that in 2017, this number has grown much if not doubled. So, how long does a user keep an app? Based on Quettra’s data, the average app loses 70% of its DAUs (daily active users) within the first 3 days of installation. In addition, the loss reaches 90% within the first 30 days and 95% within 90 days.

And, yes, you got it right! Across all industries, the churn rate reaches 95% within the first 90 days of app installation. So, what are the reasons behind app uninstallation?

In fact, there can be many. For example, users over the age of 55, state that intrusive advertising is the primary reason why they delete apps. Others complain of privacy concerns and complex registration as well as high crash rates and poor design. Let’s dig deeper into these reasons to understand why people may delete your app.

Technical issues like crashes, bugs, or taking up too much storage

Technical issues tend to be the number one reason why users delete an app. How many times have you gone back to use a mobile app that crashed while you were trying to use it? No one loves slow apps, or those that crash often or those that have a lot of bugs. When people install an app, their expectations are usually really high. And you can only imagine the amount of disappointment of your users when something goes off in your app especially if it happens continuously.

When people install an app, their expectations are usually really high. And you can only imagine the amount of disappointment of your users when something goes off in your app especially if it happens continuously.

So, make sure you do some functional testing on different devices to find out why your app keeps freezing or crashing. There are many tools that will help you with crash reporting. But if you want to do better than others, try Inapptics which provides crash replay functionality. It will help you see the exact steps the user made before the app crashed. This way, you can easily reproduce the crash and fix it.

As for the usage issue, make sure you create your app in the cloud: this will allow streamlining the experience of the end user.

Poor design and user experience

It’s never enough to stress the importance of user experience and interface design for an app. Why? Because it’s obvious: if the user finds it difficult to navigate through your app, then he/she is likely to delete it immediately.

Note that UX and UI are not just about how the app looks, but also about how quickly the user can find whatever they need within the app or resolve whatever problem they want through the app.

Privacy concerns due to being asked for too much information

People start feeling doubtful when asked to provide a lot of information upfront. As an app maker, make sure to provide value and then only ask for a lot of information. If you still need to collect a whole lot of information from your users, try to ask for it bit by bit at various intervals.

Intrusive advertising

Intrusive advertising or aggressive in-app purchases can easily become another reason for app uninstallation. Selling is an art since you should be dealing with human psychology. And if you try to sell too often, it might disengage your users.

Here again, make sure you provide enough value upfront before jumping into offering pricing or Pro upgrades. In addition, use a beta group to test your pricing model with. Do not forget about A/B testing either.

A better alternative

This one can be really heartbreaking for app owners, but embrace yourself and try to face it. Users can look for a better alternative and they usually do so. They might search for better prices, more features, better usability, smoother navigation and a whole lot of other stuff.

If your churn rate is getting higher, then you might be doing something really wrong. Do more competitor research, see what it is they are doing that you are not. Try to figure things out. And more importantly, do not panic!

Grammar and spelling errors

You might ask if this is a reason at all for deleting an app. For some users it is. As of 2015, nearly 4% of business app and nearly 5% of education app users said that poor grammar or spelling errors can make them delete an app.

Fin

Congratulations – this was quite a lot to read! So, the key takeaway here is that app retention is as important as app adoption. Knowing the reasons behind app uninstallation will help you keep your users engaged.

Remember how hard you have been working and how much money you have spent to get those users? Now make sure you keep them happy and engaged so they don’t quit using your app.