Top 5 Problems in Mobile App Development and How to Fix Them

Mobile application development is an ever-evolving sector, which allows businesses to find new customers and make improvements within their organizations. However, with the creation of a successful app not being a walk in the park. There are several difficulties in the developers’ way, and they can occur at each stage: technical, design, and others. In the following guide, you will discover the five biggest challenges in mobile app development and how you can overcome them.

1. Platform Fragmentation

Problem:

Thus, the distribution of devices and operating systems (OS) currently in the mobile market has become fragmented. iOS itself has many versions, and so does Android and both have numerous devices hence approximation is not easy. Complete fragmentation can be disastrous, leading to slow or worse – crashing of the applications or compatibility issues for some users.

Fix:

• Cross-Platform Development Tools: Tools such as Flutter, React Native, and Xamarin allow developers to create the solution and use the code on different platforms. This eliminates the need for two base codes for both iOS as well as Android.

• Thorough Testing: So, you have to perform various testing on your application on various devices – starting from low-end ones and ending with those having older versions of operating systems installed. To know the compatibility of the web design on the devices it is essential to use cloud-based testing solutions like BrowserStack or Sauce Labs.

• Target Key Platforms: It’s crucial not to pay attention to every version of OS and each device out there, but to start with the most used ones and add more as required.

2. Poor User Experience (UX)

Problem:

UX is a condition sine qua non of the applications. Downloads that don’t have smooth and intuitive controls are sluggish in their response, or simply hard to understand resulting in low retention and people uninstalling the apps as soon as possible. Most of the time an ill-designed UX can affect the performance of an app and the perception of the brand in the market.

Fix:

• Design for Simplicity: Make it minimalist while designing the user interface or UI. Stick with one design style and do not overfill web pages with too much information. Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines and Google’s Material Design contain useful tips from which one can learn about successful UX. 

• User Testing: Perform usability tests using actual users to firms how they encounter challenges and redesign the app to suit such challenges. Other tools for User testing that can be conducted online include UsabilityHub or Lookback.

• Speed Optimization: Make sure that the app is easy to load, and has fast response time. Lazy loading and optimized images make a large difference in the performance and satisfaction of the end-users.

3. Security Risks

Problem:

There is an emerging trend of cyberattacks on mobile applications which makes data breaches, hacking, and privacy violations common threats experienced by developers. Protecting such user data is also very crucial as it contributes to the app's credibility to the users.

Fix:

• Use Encryption: All compilable data must be protected using transport layer security such as SSL/TLS when data is in transport form and by use of Advanced Encryption Standard such as AES when the data is at rest.

• Authentication Protocols: MFA, OAuth, and biometric authentication (fingerprint, facial recognition should be adopted as great authentication measures.

• Secure Code Practices: In order to avoid vulnerability and code piracy or reverse engineering, then the code should be made obscure. Android-specific resource shrinking can be eased by using tools such as ProGuard.

• Compliance: Comply with Do Not Track standards if dealing with personal information conforming to GDPR, HIPAA, or CCPA; prescribing legal methods of data collection and utilization.

4. Poor App Performance

Problem:

The problems related to performance commonly include slowness and stalling, crashes, and abuse of resources like the memory or power consumption embodied by the battery, all of which decrease users’ satisfaction. Highbat apps that contribute to poor experience in most cases result in negative comments and low engagement rates.

Fix:

• Optimize Code and Assets: Reduce the sizes of images used where it is necessary, and optimize fonts, and all the other elements used within the site. It’s relevant to know that there are ways to reduce an application size with its help, for example, tools like ProGuard or R8.

• Efficient Memory Management: It is helpful to periodically check and assess the status of the program’s memory utilization and to search for memory dump with support from other tools: Android Studio Profiler, Xcode Instruments, etc. Memory should not be wasted by not releasing objects that you are done with, or releasing assets incorrectly.

• Performance Monitoring: One should run this check using real-time performance monitoring platforms like Firebase Performance Monitoring or New Relic to ascertain. 

• Battery and Network Optimization: To ensure the customer’s battery is not drained fast or data is consumed swiftly, there should be as few background processes as possible that the app periodically checks for updates on the available resources on the network.

5. Ineffective Monetization Strategy

Problem:

App monetization can be best considered as the most crucial element that can determine the feasibility of the app. Nevertheless, there seem to be some serious difficulties in selecting the right strategy for income generation through advertising, in-app purchases (IAP), or subscriptions.

Fix:

• Freemium Model: Make those features that are essential for the user interface free, and make those optional for the functioning of the application as paid. It is one of the models widely used by applications like Spotify and Dropbox.

• In-App Purchases (IAP): E-commerce: enables users to buy items or subscription products from within the app, popular games like Candy Crush collect a lot of money from this model.

• Ad Integration: In the case of completely free apps, ads can be an effective way of making up the lost revenue. This can be done by use of the following ad integration ad networks such as Google AdMob and Facebook Audience Network. However, care must be taken not to overdo it by displaying adverts which will most of the time prove to be annoying to users.

• Subscriptions: Another kind of income, which is the subscription one, can be highly effective and bring good profit for the company. This model is used and implemented well in applications such as Netflix and Headspace where businesses provide constant value to their customers through changes in content or adding new and different features periodically.

Conclusion

At Projecttree, Understanding how to pass some hurdles is very central to coming up with a good mobile application. General problems are platform fragmentation, user experience, security, performance, and monetization and if these issues are solved, the app will be unique. Many of these issues can be avoided by conscious planning, the use of effective tools, and a focus on the end user, which will lead to improving user retention, increased rating values, and therefore the success of the entire application.

Mobile app development is an ongoing process and there is always a need to know the new trend and the best practices for the long run.