Last updated on December 28th, 2023
The market for mobile applications is expanding at an astounding rate in today’s lightning-fast society. Business organizations have recently begun viewing app development for mobile platforms as a potentially lucrative venture. Currently, a large number of mobile applications are unsuccessful. This might be the result of a lack of successful app concepts, bad development, or inadequate monetization. However, this boosts the need to Build a Successful Mobile App. But before that, checking out the failures app is a must. This can turn out to be a lesson for us to avoid the mistakes that lead to failures. Also, in the end, you can successfully build a mobile app.Â
List Of Unsuccessful Mobile Apps And Lessons To Be Learned From Their Failures
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Vine
The introduction of a revolutionary new concept at the time, GIF videos, helped Vine reach popularity, but the app had not yet done anything significant to adapt to changes in the market. Vine has had this issue from the beginning. Vine only allowed for 6-second video posts, which prevented users from making longer, more in-depth videos. And the app failed for users.Â
What to Learn?
Although competition will always be present, it should not prevent us from welcoming new developments. Users’ requirements shift along with the development of new technologies. And that’s why it’s important to adopt a couple of key components for success.
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Yik Yak
Yik Yak was widely used by college students as a discreet means of communicating with those in close proximity. The thing that made Yik Yak so appealing to users eventually turned out to be its downfall. There have been cases of cyberbullying occurring on these anonymous forums. As anonymous threats propagated via Yik Yak, many institutions took steps to ban its usage.Â
What to Learn?
The lesson to be learned is that there should have been extensive market research to ensure product fit before releasing an app.
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HailoÂ
Hailo provided an electronic taxi service in a vein analogous to that of Uber. Because of the service’s evident success in London, they decided to expand to New York. Yellow cab drivers in New York City do not often use smartphones on the job, which was a major barrier to this service’s adoption. London taxi drivers were compelled to use cell phones and received extensive training to do so. So, Hailo could only sign up a fraction of the yellow taxi drivers in New York.Â
What to Learn?
The lesson here is that just as no two consumers are identical, no two marketplaces are either. You can’t draw any firm inferences from a single successful launch.
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Auctionata
Having auctions of rare items, antiquities, and great art broadcast live online was a fantastic idea. Auctionata tried live event streaming but was unable to due to slow internet speeds, unhelpful customer support, difficulties processing online payments, and worries about the security of package delivery. the business. Former CEO Alexander Zacke faced charges of illegal trading practices in March 2016. After this information became public, many people stopped using the app, and it failed.
What to Learn?
The takeaway here is to always be transparent with your app’s terms of service and to be responsible with user data, as well as to adhere to any relevant industry standards.
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Google WaveÂ
Google Wave was a much-hyped but ultimately unsuccessful service that was discontinued only six months after its debut. Wave bundled together several services that were previously out there, but their quality lagged. Using Google Wave in conjunction with other methods of communication, such as email and instant messaging, was less ideal.Â
What to Learn?
The lesson to be learned is that software should never be released until it is fully functional. Launching the app when everyone is looking at you might be enticing, but there is always a danger that it won’t live up to users’ expectations.
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Quixey
Quixey’s goal was to make it easier for people to find things inside other apps on their mobile devices. After Alibaba pulled its funding, most of the employees were let go, and Quixey was discontinued. The company Quixey was based on collapsed because its leaders couldn’t face up to financial obligations.Â
What to Learn?
The takeaway here is that debt and reliance on others might be the death knell for a new app trying to make its way into the app store.
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RdioÂ
Rdio was an app that let you listen to music online and see what your friends are listening to all at once. The software included social capabilities that showed users what their friends were listening to in real-time. Due to the lack of a marketing department and strategy, Rdio was unable to focus on a certain demographic of listeners. A music streaming app will fail if it doesn’t have a large user base.
What to Learn?
The upshot is that Rdio was a great software overall, but that it cost a lot to develop. Its business model shift to free music streaming came too late, and the app became a parable for how not to succeed.
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Color Labs
This app was founded on the notion of exchanging images with users close to a person. If two users spend a lot of time together, the app will identify them as friends. The fact that complete strangers who just so happen to be in your area and using the app may potentially see your photos has raised privacy concerns. This contributed to Color Labs’ demise.
What to Learn?
When developing an app, user privacy is one of the important factors that you can’t miss. Go ahead with the security development and integration for the same.Â
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Everpix
The concept of a service that would help individuals better manage their photographic archives and retrieve their precious memories emerged. In this way, Everpix came into being. To focus on making a flawless product that would sell itself, the team devoted little time and energy to promotion. There were less than 19,000 users who had signed up by the time the app and service were completed. This led to failure.
What to Learn?
No matter how awesome an app is, it still needs effective promotion if its creators want to reach the widest potential audience.
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Fab
Fab was an online retailer that held “flash sales,” or limited-time promotions, of goods that might not regularly be sold. However, a service called Bamarang, similar to Fab has emerged in Europe. Fab decided to relocate to Europe to better compete with this new company. The corporation should have waited until it was well-established in the U.S. market before venturing into Europe. The firm was already losing money at a quick rate due to the high cost of delivering its service to clients. As a result, the low-profit margins caused the firm eventually abandon.
What to Learn?
It is important to market the app or release the app to a new place when it already has established a strong place in users’ minds. Marketing without strategy led to app failure.Â
Avoid These Mistakes to Build a Successful Mobile App
- Inability to comprehend user needs
- Lackluster market research and evaluation of competitors
- There is no innovation and no unique selling proposition.
- The absence of cutting-edge innovations
- Having too many people involved
- Not enough money or resources
- Interface that is difficult to utilize
- Inadequate platform selection during development
- Inadequate application testing
- Bad app store optimization
- Poor follow-up care after the launch
- Ignoring potential security risks
- Improper calculations
- insufficient qualities
- The emphasis on downloads rather than user retention
- Making a bad user experience and user interface
- Ignoring problems and errors in the code
- Your app’s prototype is irrelevant.
- Mishandling of both resources and schedule
- Neglecting to choose a reliable app development company
Important Article: A Complete Roadmap of Mobile App Development: An Expert Guide
How to Build a Successful Mobile App?
If you’re building an app or intending to do so in the future, here are a few things to keep in mind:
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User Personas
Apps are useless without users, so consider who could use yours. Define user personas before designing your app and selling it. Successful apps target a certain audience. Research is essential.
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App idea validation
Successful apps solve problems. An app must offer users unquestionable value. This validates your app’s concept. It must solve the problem of users.
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Market-research
As the mobile app business grows, your app may encounter competition. Investigate your rivals’ products and strategies. The inquiry may reveal industry-changing insights and ideas.
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App developer partnership
If you’re establishing a mobile app business, employ a professional team to assist you in building a competitive product and prevent failures. A well-designed concept may express your vision and commitment to making your project a reality.
App developers may quickly evaluate your proposal, condense functionality, and establish a business strategy. If you’re seeking to raise money from investors, employ a team to produce an MVP. Your development team will estimate your app’s cost. Developers can speed up your idea’s technical viability, product strategy, and development cost.
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App-Testing
The more you test, break, and fix your software, the better. Professional app testing saves time and money by finding and fixing bugs before launch.
Related Article: Top 10 Tips to Create a Successful Mobile App in 2022
Do You Want to Build a Successful Mobile App From iTechnolabs?
The ten aforementioned apps all made some mistakes along the way, and any app maker is susceptible to the same. If you want to Build a Successful Mobile App, it’s essential that you take note of and correct these common pitfalls. The success of your app depends on your choice of an app development company, and there are several to choose from. iTechnolabs staff has worked in the field of mobile app development for several years. Browse through some of their work and connect.
