The App Fails of the Last 12 Months and What We Can Learn From Them
28/05/2014
Martin Wrigley, Executive Director, AQuA (May 2014)
Over a billion people worldwide used mobile apps in 2013 but despite the growing maturity of the app development industry there was still an abundance of poor quality apps that created problems for consumers. Much of the news coverage on the app fails of the last 12 months focused on privacy concerns, frequent crashes, poor user experience and battery drainage.
This coverage, coupled with negative reviews on apps stores, showed us that consumers are becoming more app savvy and demanding, and developers can no longer risk their reputations by distributing apps that don’t make the grade.
Solely relying on the first generation of users to ‘test’ and feedback via reviews is a mistake. This approach must be augmented with a focus on standard and straightforward testing processes, from the outset. That is not to say that those apps that have faced criticism from media or users were not tested; rather that consumers are increasingly sensitive to certain issues and developers who don’t put these issues at the forefront of their QA process could pay a high price.
Since AQuA’s mandate is to support developers in the creation of quality apps, we took a look at what was written about bad apps in over the last 12 months and came up with a series of recommendations for developers who want to avoid falling into the same traps.
1) Not taking privacy seriously enough
After its initial popularity with fans, a high profile musician’s app suffered a storm of bad publicity as users voiced their concerns over providing their physical location, phone number, and email address. Naturally the number of downloads fell, as customers showed their reluctance at giving up their personal data, even with what was clearly a highly appealing app.
AQuA Solution: Developers must recognize growing privacy concerns and be open with users about how their data will be used and why. Good references for developers unsure of privacy laws are the AQuA and GSMA privacy guidelines.
2) Battery Drainage
Nothing is more annoying than a device that keeps running low on battery and when it comes to battery drainage, games can often be culprits. One popular game was identified as preventing a device from going into sleep mode, and thus draining the battery almost 3x faster than normal. Social networks were also implicated. Thousands of one star reviews were recorded for an otherwise much-loved social app, suggesting it had an ability to drastically reduce a phone’s battery life.
AQuA Solution: Idle mode testing is an important part of QA that is often overlooked. Tools such as the AT&T ARO test looks closely at the battery and network performance optimization so developers can determine the battery usage of their app and then seek out ways to reduce it if necessary.
3) Hasty development process
Sporting apps have always been very popular with a segment of the app user community but this summer an eagerly awaited sport-linked game had to be pulled from sale after user feedback suggested it was largely unplayable. Up against tight deadlines, the development process had put an unfinished product on sale, and left the publisher having to admit failure.
AQuA Solution: An independent QA process is as valuable as having someone else proof-read your document as it’s not always possible to see one’s own mistakes – especially when working to a tight timeline. AQuA testing criteria is a ‘QA system in a box’ and a great way to set your path straight to achieving that great result.
4) Poor design for the mobile environment
A popular email application faced thousands of complaints from users about failed syncs, lack of view customization, and limited filtering options, leading some to say they preferred accessing their messages in a mobile browser rather than the app.
AQuA Solution: AQuA guidelines show developers how to test their apps more fully and in a cost effective manner, hitting the most popular causes of failure, in order to make the most of the mobile environment.
As I continue to meet with large numbers of of app developers and publishers, I can’t deny that many of them acknowledge the need for a good solid QA process. But examples like the above explain why in a market full of demanding consumers many developers live below the ‘app poverty line’, unable to make back their development costs.
QA does not need to be time consuming or burdensome but it does need to be part of the development process from the beginning. If developers can take on board these cautionary tales and follow testing processes that work, then they can avoid making the app fail list for the future.
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