12 Unseen Mobile App Development Mistakes That You Might Be Making

Mobile applications, no doubt, have made our lives simpler and easier. This has increased the popularity of the mobile app development industry exponentially, making it the most lucrative and flourishing one amongst all. With cut-throat competition between iOS and Android, many new apps are coming up every day.

Both play stores are loaded with millions of mobile apps which intensifies the competition between mobile app development companies to create high-quality mobile apps. Under intense pressure to stay ahead in the competition, a mobile app development company is more likely to make mistakes that might cost them a lot in the future.

This article throws light on 12 unseen mobile app development mistakes that you might be making every day as a mobile app developer.

12 Common Mobile App Development Mistakes to Avoid

To err is human. So, it’s okay if you make a mistake as you’d learn from it and won’t commit that same mistake again. Here are some common mobile application development mistakes that you need to avoid while developing your project. If you find that you’re making the same mistakes too, there’s always a second chance to rectify the mistake.

1. Not Spending Enough Time and Effort on Research

We, humans, are impatient by nature. We all want to get started with any task immediately without preparing for the outcomes or challenges beforehand. If you also feel the same, then cheers to your great enthusiasm and passion for work. However, it is advisable to slow your pace and do thorough research with due diligence before jump into the work.

So, when it comes to building a perfect mobile app, there are several things that you need to consider including:

• Best Development Platform
• Hiring the best mobile app development company or a freelancer
• Customer Stories and Case Studies
• Client Testimonials
• Market Demand
• Competitor Analysis
• Development Cost and Budget, and
• A Lot More.

All these decisions can’t be taken in ten minutes while browsing and sipping a cup of coffee. It takes tremendous amount of time and effort to make the right decision.

2. Not Maintaining Proper Balance Between Development Cost and Budget

Exceeding the fixed budget is another major mobile app development mistake that a developer needs to avoid. This may happen due to various reasons such as an inaccurate cost estimate right from the beginning, not planning the cost of several components involved in the project, and unforeseen development costs.

To avoid any unwanted surprises, it’s wise to use a mobile app cost calculator to get an accurate cost of the development. You need to consider all the phases of development when defining the budget. For most of the projects, the budget is fixed based on the following development phases:

• Business Analysis – 10%
• UI/UX – 15%
• Development & QA – 60%
• Project Management – 15%

Furthermore, your budget should also accommodate funds to meet unanticipated costs that might crop up during the development. So, if there’s a need to add new features that were not in the initial project plan, you would never run short of money if that was incorporated in the cost estimate. Therefore, you must create a realistic budget from the start.

Moreover, when you keep pace with the latest mobile app development trends, you’ll find that technology is continually evolving. Integrating advanced features like AI, AR/VR, etc. into your app can impact your budget. If you’re a mobile app reseller, you need to create an accurate budget to calculate your profit margins correctly.

3. Not Building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

One of the major mobile app development mistakes that a mobile app development company or developer makes is not creating an MVP. Many mobile app developers directly start by creating the final product to launch it before their competitors do. An MVP with basic features will help you test the mobile app and analyze its performance. As the need arises, you can go on adding new features to enhance its capabilities and performance.

4. Failure to Meet User Expectations with Poor UI/UX Design

People are more likely to uninstall apps that have poor UI/UX build. Sometimes developers tend to focus more on development than the user experience. Neglecting the UI/UX design of an app is another mobile app development mistake that needs to be avoided at all costs. A mobile app with simple navigation, user-friendly UI, a search function, and an easily accessible home menu can make your users fall in love with your app. You need to prioritize your app’s UI/UX design or else you’ll end up keeping your end-users unhappy.

5. Not Identifying the Right Development Platform(s)

One of the biggest mobile app development mistakes that companies make is creating apps for all platforms from the start to capture a broader global audience. Whether it is Android, iOS, or Windows, each platform comes with its own set of pros and cons. Therefore, you need to first identify the right mobile platform for your app.

Android, no doubt, has the most number of apps than iOS or Windows. You must also consider your target audience while selecting the platform. You need to take into account all the relevant factors to choose the best-fit platform for your app.

6. Not Showing a Systematic Logical Path Through the App

If your app users find it difficult to find information on your app, they are likely to get frustrated and stop using your app. You must make sure that your application displays an organized logical flow to find relevant information. Random app screens coming all of a sudden will only confuse your app users and they might abandon your app immediately without exploring further.

Your app must guide your users once they log in to your app and in a manner that each step seems to be crucial for them to fulfill to find the exact piece of information.

7. Overloading the App with Too Many Features and Functionalities

This is one of the common mobile app development mistakes that every mobile app developer must get rid of. You need to make sure that your mobile app is not cramped with too many features. Mobile app users do not waste any time uninstalling the app if they find that it is packed with many unwanted features.

Therefore, to avoid such situations, you must identify the core features of your app to maintain the usability of your app. You must also consider identifying a set of features that gives your app a competitive edge. Eliminate all the other irrelevant features and your app will no longer be overloaded with numerous features. Moreover, having too many features in your app will only confuse your users and bring no good to your app.

8. Releasing the App without Sufficient Testing

This is the one of silliest mobile app development mistakes that a mobile app developer could make. However, it is common amongst many developers. Testing your mobile app or any software properly before releasing is crucial for your app’s success. Already, with thousands of mobile apps being released every day, competition is getting stronger. On top of that, if your app fails while releasing, this would be the last thing that you’d wish for.

Therefore, you can hire a dedicated mobile app development company or developer that would conduct extensive testing of your app regularly on various versions, platforms, and devices.

9. Not Using Sufficient Intuitive Icons or Interactive Graphical Elements

It has taken years of extensive research and testing to come up with standard elements for interactive graphical representation or icons. Now that these components have become a universal identity, not using them could be one of the biggest mobile app development mistakes. Users expect only those icons or components that they are familiar with and with which they have interacted over years. By seeing unusual components, they need to put spend more time and effort in understanding things, which they don’t prefer to do generally.

Just as learning a foreign language is a difficult task, trying to comprehend a new app language is also a difficult task,

10. Not Being Regular in Releasing App Updates

Another major mistake that a mobile app development company generally makes is the failure to release timely app updates and enhancements. Releasing app updates is a never-ending process that every mobile app developer needs to remember. Whether you’re going to release an update once in a month, once in 6 months, once a year, or less than once a year, you must plan your app updates right from the beginning. Updates will have a significant impact on your budget as well as your decision to hire a mobile app developer.

App updates are crucial for improving your app’s user experience, removing bugs and glitches, strengthening security features, and ensuring compatibility with the latest operating system on different devices. Therefore, not including the cost of updates in your budget right from the start will make you fall into trouble later. Invest in a mobile application development company that offers full service and maintenance post-development of your application.

11. Making a Clone of Your Mobile Website

There are numerous reasons why an app performs better than mobile websites. Many business leaders realize the significance of having a mobile presence of their business. Therefore, they focus on having mobile-friendly websites. After understanding that mobile applications have higher conversion rates than mobile websites, businesses are opting for mobile app development services.

However, you should not create a replica of your mobile website as this would be a total waste of time, effort, and resources. Moreover, end-users have different expectations from an app as compared to mobile websites. A mobile app makes a user journey much easier and simpler, providing great value all the time.

Had there been no difference between a mobile app and a mobile website, then why should users bother installing the app?

Your mobile application can have key similarities to your mobile site, such as the front-end theme, color scheme, and brand image. Other than that, the mobile app should deliver a different end-user experience.

12. Not Promoting Your App Properly and Ethically

No matter how well-designed is your mobile application, if no one knows about your app, all your hard work and time will go in vain. As a mobile app developer, your role is not limited to just app development. There are things beyond that. After developing and launching your mobile app, you need to promote it on various marketing channels properly. So, how are you going to promote your app? Well, there are numerous ways to market your app. Here are a few effective ways to do it:

• Market your app through niche blogs
• Advertise your app on websites that cater to your target audience.
• Approach social media influencers with a huge fan following
• Run paid ad campaigns
• Unlock the full potential of social media platforms to promote your app
• Offer a free trial version to allow users to explore the benefits of your app, and
• Do a lot more.

Marketing your mobile app will come with additional expenses. So, you need to prepare for this beforehand to avoid over-running your budget. It is always wise to hire a mobile application development company that offers app marketing as a part of their full-service mobile app development services.

Wrapping Up

Developing a fully-functional mobile application can be tedious and frustrating sometimes. Developers tend to make mistakes during the development process. However, if these mistakes are overlooked and not addressed on time, you are likely to lose out on your app users.

By avoiding the aforementioned mobile app development mistakes, you can explore plenty of opportunities to thrive in your niche market with mobile apps. Whether you’re planning to build your app yourself, hire a professional mobile app developer, or want to become a mobile app reseller, not making these mobile app development mistakes will help you save your valuable time, resources, money, and headaches in the long run.

So, will you promise not to make these common mobile application development mistakes? Always remember that it’s always better to be safe than sorry! If there are other mistakes that you make unfortunately, you may share them in the comments below to help others not repeat the same mistakes during their mobile app development.