Why Do 50% of Apps Fail Within a Month?

At Developer Week 2024, Mark Gamble from Couchbase shared insights into mobile app development's evolving landscape. Highlighting user experience's pivotal role, Gamble dissected the hurdles in app development, emphasizing data processing's critical impact.

This is what I learned:

User Engagement Metrics: Understand that mobile app usage is soaring, with users spending up to 5 hours daily on apps. This underscores the importance of engaging and retaining users.

App Abandonment Rates: Recognize that nearly 50% of apps are uninstalled within 30 days, mostly due to poor performance, highlighting the necessity for speed and reliability.

Performance Expectations: 70% of users will abandon an app if it's slow, with an 84% abandonment rate after two failures. Performance is non-negotiable.

The Right Database Selection: The choice of database is crucial. Opt for one designed specifically for mobile apps to ensure fast, reliable user experiences.

User Expectations: Users demand apps that are not only innovative and personalized but also consistently fast and reliable, even in fluctuating network conditions.

Challenges with REST APIs: The common use of REST APIs in app development can lead to inefficiencies. Developers face hurdles like network detection, request retries, and data management on devices.

Alternative Approaches: Consider exploring beyond REST APIs to address the unique challenges of mobile app development, focusing on efficiency and offline functionality.

Have you encountered similar challenges in your mobile app development projects?

How have you addressed them?