The technology-oriented start-ups are growing all over the world with the cutting edge technologies. As smartphones are widely used among the users, many development companies are investing more money into mobile app development to take the advantages of the growing demand for Apps.
The world of the mobile app has seen substantial growth in the recent past. Thus, many entrepreneurs are planning to build mobile apps for their business keeping as the top of their business strategies. Understanding the challenges and creating a strategic solution to overcome them is very important.
Millions of mobile applications have submitted to Apple and Android app stores since the last couple of years and became an important parameter for a successful business. Here in this article, I am going to explain and highlight the biggest challenges in mobile app development.
Validating and Evaluating user needs:
Assessing user needs is one of the biggest challenges in deciding the direction and figuring out what to develop. There is a vast competition in the mobile app industry in the market and it is a tough task to get the stand and noticed by users. The app developers always working to create innovative apps that users want. Determining the quality of an app depends upon a few factors and you might have few questions before evaluating a process.
- What is the purpose of the application?
- What are the functionalities need to be addressed while developing the app?
- Does the idea make you stand out from the crowd?
- Does the app easy for the users to use?
- Does the app get into the market according to the users need?
Defining the target/competitive market:
The competition in the market is so aggressive as thousands of mobile apps trying to approach with innovative things to stand out from the crowd. To reach out to the users in the market with shorter span is tricky. The app developers should understand which new idea will appeal the highest values to the users for a longer time. They should research deeper to figure out how they can keep their users more engaged and interactive.
The app developers should take the challenging task to innovate app with a high quotient to ensure building a loyal customer base. This will impact in outlining the target market from a business perspective and the product will get sufficient monetization with a definitive market.
Managing the resources:
You might have a nice and innovative app idea, but it will go in vain if you are not trying to convert into a marketable capital. The cost of development for an app always depends upon the nature of the app. To monetize the app and manage the resources and finances will be a challenging problem for some entrepreneurs or developers.
If you don’t figure out a proper channel for investing in your app idea, you will again include taking a loan or joint venture your product with someone to raise funds. Managing the funds effectively can be a challenging task to produce a profitable return on investment.
Choosing development technology:
Choosing a core, constructive, and suitable development technology for an app will be a deciding factor for the developers. This gives you an idea of whether to make a native, hybrid, or a cross-platform app.
There are lots of innovative technologies scattered on the market. But to gain a good understanding of the advantages and disadvantages offered by each technology that suits your platform can be difficult. Choosing an outdated technology can result in more expenditure, poor app performance, and a more user experience. Building an app that is flexible and adaptable according to the client’s target is really a challenging task.
Compatibility with different OS versions:
With several operating systems existing these days, the developers need to plan accordingly to make their apps in such a way that the application runs on various devices and compatible with all versions of operating systems. Many industries limit their emphasis to only one platform that decreases the range of app to users. Thus sustaining and making the apps efficient across several platforms is really a tough and challenging task.
The app developers face another challenge while dealing with different screen sizes and devices that the app should fit into it. It is not a good option to develop an app for selected, few devices, and particular screen sizes. To develop an app to run smoothly across many devices and many screen sizes is a principal challenge for developers. The developers need to look across the platforms while encouraging it for higher adoption and ensure the main logic remains unchanged across different platforms.
The developers need to consider a different OS as well. Each operating system has its own respective UI objects and patterns. The developers require to conduct bug-fixing across all the popular operating systems- iOS, Android, and Windows.
When the application is easy and simple to use and gives a good experience to users, then only it will have many implications in the market. To build a better app, a good UI/UX design is necessary which makes the app more interesting, simple, and gives more clarity.
Security:
Security issues in-app will be a troublesome concern for developers. The app should be free from malware problems, otherwise, it can create software or hardware disintegration which will require more time and money to address such issues.
There is no proper instructions and guidelines available for Android apps. Google is trying to do much protection to overcome from such kind malware strain in the Play Store.
But Apple provides enough strict rules to follow. The lack of security may cause misuse, manipulation, and poor UI which leads to unusual issues.
With the widespread operating systems and device variants, ensuring security on applications can be a tough task to reach optimum security norms. Establishing a connection with end users is a challenging work for app developers. If the mobile app fails to connect with the end users, the complete efforts and money will go in vain.
Application performance:
Along with the design and interaction, performance is also an important aspect of mobile development. To design a well performing and bug-free app that runs on minimum battery consumption.
Performance is always considered as a post development feature. Different users see their performance differently. It completely depends on the user’s device. It depends upon which latest device they are using. The app might function on the latest devices as compared to older devices. Many images, visual effects, caches, and integrated sensors also disrupt the performance of the devices.
The productivity of the application:
You might have noticed, often mobile apps quickly discharge the battery of your phone. This causes an unwillingness for the customers to use them. Thus, it is necessary to approach seriously to the solution of this complex issue and need to be solved.
The battery life of the device has to be considered with sincerity by the app developers because the users never want to experience the overheating of the device and much consumption of power while using the app. Thus the developers need to test the battery performance for their app and check whether the app drains the device battery quickly. To design a bug-free, high-performance app that doesn’t consume excessive power is a challenging task for app developers.
Customer Reviews & Experience:
During the development of a business app, it is necessary to keep in mind for the developers that they are making the app for the users and not for themselves.
All the in and out related to your mobile app is need to be analyzed before developing the app. Thus, your customers won’t find any issues while navigating your app.
If you make your app complicated, it may lead to negative customer reviews. Thus the number of downloads and active users will be reduced. So keep your app as simple as possible. Include all the resources in app stores like images, videos, and files. Use icons and thumbnails which will help you to improve the user experience.
Marketing and promotion of App:
Marketing is a vital thing when you build an app. Most of the developers don’t give much focus on marketing. This is challenging for mobile developers at a completely different level and requires business savvy to be successful. One can develop an app with a great interface, graphics, and functionality, but they are not going to get the returns of investment if they don’t do better marketing.
The following top challenges and goals marketers need to define for app marketing.
- Discovery of App: How to make the app discoverable in every app store
- User acquisition: How to make the users install the app easily
- Customer retention: How to keep users involved through the app
- Monetization from App: setting the monetization model whether its free or premium model and in-app advertising
Final Thoughts:
With the ever-changing landscape of technology, the mobile app development getting tough for app developers to keep up with. They must uncover the challenges to be successful in the competitive market. There are boundless opportunities available to build better user experience for the mobile app. By exceeding the challenges with innovative technological insight and flexible skillset gives app developers a strong competitive edge to build a vast user base for app.
If you can overcome all the advance developmental sprints, the app to the end user will definitely much successful. If you find any of the above challenges in your app development project, then we can help you out to overcome them.