The demand for quality apps has become really intense because users are not willing to compromise on performance and quality, especially for businesses that have all their operations dependent on an app. Why is this? – The nature of an average customer is quite fickle, they are always in constant search of the easiest and most viable option. This is why they can easily abandon a product for an alternative if they are not getting the intended value or if the usability is complicated or demanding. 

Stats show that merely 16% of mobile users think of using a mobile app again once they are dissatisfied. This implies technically that the business has lost more than 84% of its customer base which is equivalent to the death of that business if cogent measures aren’t taken to solve the problem.This means businesses must consider the need for high-performance apps when developing their apps.

The success of a mobile app depends on whether or not your users’ derive satisfaction and have all their needs met. People who actually install your app, use it and navigate through your apps’ different features will ultimately be the deciders of the quality of your mobile app. With an understanding of this, you need to be very proactive when developing your app to ensure that your mobile app meets or surpasses your customers’ expectations.

Peculiarities of a High Quality App

The app market is exploding. If you really want to stand out and be successful, you’ll have to find a way to break through the clutter. The best way you achieve this is to ensure that your app posses these peculiarities:

They say first impression matters. The best way an app can have a great and lasting impression is by having a superb UI (User Interface) or you can say the design and beauty of your app. What your users will be seeing. The way your app looks and operates is crucial to its success. If the app doesn’t look great and feels great more so, if the competitor’s app is better looking, the user might be discouraged to continue with your app. This is what you call poor UX (User Experience)

Performance is a major determinant of how well or how often people are going to use a mobile app. If an app is too slow to load or crashes too often, users are going to abandon such an app for an alternative that is better.  Many times, apps developed for  Africa don’t consider the fact that top internet speed is not a certainty. So apps must be built to function properly in poor internet connection, this is what makes your app very responsive to African users.

Quality apps constantly introduce new features, fix bugs, and streamline the way they operate with each update. This is the reason why apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, uber stay relevant. They ensure new updates are constant and free of charge, to keep their users satisfied.

A quality app should be seamlessly compatible with the mobile platform it is developed for. It should be able to maximally utilize the natural qualities of the device. This is what we call a native app. It uses the functions of the smartphone as if it was built for the app (e.g google map uses location, scanning apps use the camera, verification apps uses fingerprints) 

Believe it or not, this is the most important factor that determines quality for a startup. As a startup, things are going to change frequently about your product and business model, you need your app to be very easy to adjust, fix and improve. That is what is called maintainability – the ease by which an app can be improved, fixed and modified.  

But how do you determine maintainability? You can’t. You just have to trust that your developer didn’t take shortcuts when building the app. More often that not, when you pressure you technical team to deliver fast, what is usually first sacrificed is maintainability, because it takes times to properly structure an app that will be easy to maintain.

The quality and performance of your mobile app is the driving force of customer retention for businesses that rely heavily on mobile apps for their business operations. The app marketplace is saturated with competing apps, however, it does not mean your app can’t stand out and be successful. All you need to do is to ensure that your app possesses these qualities and watch your business skyrocket.