The desire to have an app available for users to adopt en masse can distract even the most diligent brands from providing what matters most -- apps that serve users.
I understand the temptation to rush to market and have often heard this rationale from clients. The mobile app marketplace is crowded, and in the next few years, the number of apps ready for download in Apple's App Store is anticipated to grow to 5 million. Once you get on a user’s device, you’re competing for attention with numerous preloaded apps. The feeling is, generally: the sooner you get your app out there, the quicker users can engage with it and the faster you’ll see a return on investment. But what good is an app if it doesn’t meet basic user needs or include expected features?
Depending on the value your app delivers, you’ll have a number of boxes to check to make users happy. These are the must-haves I see overlooked most often:
Google Chromecast
If Chromecast, Google’s digital media player, can recognize your content, you’ll get in front of a lot of users. Getting your video content to larger screens is easy -- Chromecast streams video from Chromecast-supported mobile apps with a single tap on a mobile device. Shortly after Chromecast launched, we started seeing reviews in all our video apps that demanded Chromecast support. Users love it, and they started to expect to use it with their apps very quickly.
The Chromecast device, an inexpensive ($35) device that connects to televisions via HDMI helped Google ship more than 30 million Chromecast units and outsell Apple TV in 2016. iOS developers should also cater to these user needs. People want to consume content on bigger screens, and AirPlay on Apple TV can satisfy Chromecast holdouts. AirPlay lets users send music, photos and video to an Apple TV. Let Android and iOS users consume your content beyond mobile devices. After all, it’s what they want.
Notification Strategy
This has been common knowledge in the industry for a while, but pushing notifications every time you want someone to interact with your app just doesn’t work. Over-notifying pushes users away from your app. Users are so averse to being bothered by notifications that Apple and Google allow blocking notifications. But allowing notification blocking is also in the interest of developers. If your app does break the cardinal “relax with notifications” rule, a user blocking your notifications may end up helping your app stay on their mobile devices.
I tell my team to pay attention to user habits and be conscientious of people’s attention and time. Users worldwide use an average of nine apps each day, so you don’t want to be the app that intrudes on every other app experience. On top of that, most apps lose 77% of users in the first three days on a device, so engaging users is certainly important, but not being clingy is just as critical. Don’t give the user a reason to hate your app.
So how often should you notify? That depends on what your users expect. Here’s a helpful list of questions to help you create a foundation for an initial notification strategy. Of course, you should also consider the users themselves. Are they mobile-savvy millennials who organize their lives on phones? Are they middle-aged employees using an enterprise app? Notifications serve a purpose for both audiences (and every other one in between), but these audiences’ needs differ wildly.
If the idea of a notification strategy seems too scary now, there’s another way to get users’ attention: surprise and delight. Your app will still push notifications, but they will certainly be relevant this way. I’ve worked with brands to recognize user location, then offer these users something based on that location. Imagine your phone recognizing when you enter a restaurant, then triggering the restaurant’s app to offer a free or discounted item. That’s a fun experience with positive brand interaction that could generate loyalty. And it’s all done without prompting via notification.
The best notification strategy, then, is to play it cool. How you do that doesn’t rely so much on your prerogative as it does on the needs of the user.
Android And Apple Pay
I haven't seen Android or Apple Pay app integration as table stakes yet, but they likely will be in a year. Everything developers like me and my team do is in the interest of eliminating friction for users, and paying for items is a major friction point. By removing the friction of typing credit card information into a phone, I’ve seen users buy more often and purchase more items, usually to the tune of double-digit percentage increases.
I predict these forms of payment will be must-have app integrations in the near future because Apple Pay has become the most popular mobile payment service among U.S. retailers. And with Android owning the global market share, we’re seeing Android Pay’s availability expanding globally, extending to at least five more countries before the end of 2017. The number of U.S. banks supporting Android Pay is also growing. Android Pay features PayPal integration and now integrates with several banking apps. With Android Pay becoming more ubiquitous, widespread adoption of this technology looks promising.
I should warn you against adding a pay service at the wishes of just a few people in your organization. Instead, trust your users. Meet them where they are. Keep an eye on your app reviews to see what people want. Android Pay and Apple Pay are already integrated into their respective mobile devices, so every app on a device could potentially accept these forms of digital payment. Their availability in stores and growing adoption rate is too much to ignore. Dismissing these trends can quickly put you far behind.
In summary, remember to always serve the user above all else. Take pride in ensuring an amazing user experience, and always strive to surprise and delight users at every possible turn. That’s the secret to success.
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