13 Biggest Challenges in Mobile App Development

Cubix

18 Apr, 2022

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8 min read

mobile app development challenges

Mobile apps have transformed the way we live, work, and play. They are convenient, powerful, and often indispensable. But creating a successful app isn’t as straightforward as it might seem. 

A profitable, well-rated smartphone application may alter a business and boost revenue, but developing such an app demands business thinking, the knowledge of a varied group of experts, and meticulous preparation. In addition, various industries are starting to rely on apps; that’s why massive volumes of funding are regularly invested in their development.

But behind every beautifully designed app lies a story of hard work, creativity, and, most importantly, challenges. What if you launch an app that crashes on certain devices, drains a user’s battery in hours, or fails to perform user-friendly across different platforms? Isn’t that frustrating?

These are minor hiccups that can derail an app’s success. Beyond the technical hurdles, developers must also deal with tight deadlines, limited budgets, the latest tech, and progressive user expectations. We will discuss each of these troubles and how to overcome them successfully. 

Read More: UI/UX Impact on Mobile App Success

Major Challenges in Mobile App Development

When building an application, developers encounter various challenges, so it’s essential to make smart choices from the start in every stage, from design to development. The list of real mobile app development challenges that play as obstacles in effect are as follows:

1. Focus on Outstanding UX

2. Ensuring Compatibility Across Devices

3. Choosing Operating System

4. Securing Adequate Funding

5. Staying Ahead of the Competition

6. Missed Scaling Opportunities

7. High-End App Security

8. Reaching the Right Audience

9. Adaptability Throughout Development

10. High Standards of Security

11. Integration Challenge

12. Lack of Talented Resources

13. App Store Approval Process

1. Focus On Outstanding UX

When it comes to commercial UX design, the idea of perfection is a delusion. There is always room for improvement, something that can be tweaked and improved. One of the most effective procedures and one of the most critical application development challenges identified by UX designers and programmers while designing an app is ensuring that users enjoy using it without errors.

It’s impossible to dispute that user experience is intangible. But unfortunately, designers and business owners have no method of measuring the effectiveness of the user experience. That can be tricky since it must adhere to the best usability guidelines, or if ignored, it may go in favor of opponent applications with a better user experience.

Developers overlook the importance of why they introduce the app in the first place. Excellent user experience is, without a doubt, one of the most challenging aspects of developing a mobile app. However, fixing it by simply making it easier and analyzing from the user’s perspective, including aspects such as ease of use and response time, which are essential in consumers’ views to keep using the application.

Read More: Key Steps for Designing User-Friendly Mobile Apps

2. Ensuring Compatibility Across Devices

As today’s consumers have a lot of devices with different screen sizes, operating systems, and software, one of the most critical aspects of mobile UX design is ensuring the app works well on a wide range of devices. It could worsen the user experience if it isn’t compatible with specific popular devices and the screen size isn’t accommodated. Therefore, developers must create apps that look good on as many screens as possible.

This is sometimes one of the most severe challenges encountered while testing mobile applications. There are so many devices and screen sizes that it may be tough to ensure the app is compatible with them. So make sure that your software works flawlessly and is compatible with various devices, not just once but frequently.

You must also ensure that your app is compatible with smartphones, tablets, and other devices. The size, resolution, dimensions, and pixels should be considered for every application.

Read More: Mobile App Architecture All You Need to Know

3. Choosing Operating Systems

It’s critical to understand the operating system on which the developers are working as there are several challenges that developers must overcome to create a high-quality user experience on iOS, Android, or Windows. Although Android and iOS operate differently and have distinct target audiences, choosing the correct application’s platform is crucial when developing.

Many businesses spend their energy on a single platform, limiting the number of apps available to customers. Typically, developers put off making this decision until later, resulting in all the improper details. It is critical to make a decision and then create objects and patterns based on that decision. As a result, maintaining and improving apps across several platforms is time-consuming and challenging.

To give a high user experience, developers must ensure that the app function efficiently on all operating systems. The developers must consider all platforms while promoting more usage and ensuring that the primary logic is consistent. A robust UI/UX design is required to create a better app since it makes it more engaging and clear.

Read More: The Essentials of iOS App Development Unveiled

4. Securing Adequate Funding

Having a fantastic idea is meaningless when you don’t have the funds to make your app. Finance becomes the most challenging thing to manage if it is not planned in detail, organized, and analyzed. It’s critical to have a clear understanding of how much your mobile app will cost in general.

Building and designing applications may be expensive, especially when developers must dedicate considerable interest to them at the start and throughout their life cycle. In addition, the price will differ based on the app’s complexity, which must take into account before the app’s development.

You may obtain financing in a variety of ways. Many businesses rely on crowdfunding sites to raise funds from early-stage investors. There are also alternative options, such as angel investors.

Read More: How to Ensure Security of Mobile Apps

5. Staying Ahead Of The Competition

The majority of developers do not prioritize marketing. As a result, one of the most challenging aspects of developing a mobile app is advertising it. This is a new degree of difficulty for mobile developers. This can be accomplished with a variety of techniques.

Making it discoverable is one of them. People are far more likely to download an app if it is easily found on an app store. User acquisition, client retention, and app monetization are other techniques you might implement. Finally, after you’ve launched your app on the market, you’ll need to promote it to get people to download it and interact.

Read More: The Future of App Monetization – What’s Next for Entrepreneurs?

6. Missed Scaling Opportunities

You must think about how the app could grow in the future. Every app has a lot of promise if given enough room to expand, yet companies frequently forsake app development after the launch. So scaling a stunning mobile app to allow a diverse range of customers to use your mobile app is an ongoing challenge.

The optimum time to manage an app’s scalability is before a problem develops. Scaling allows you to identify minor flaws and faults in your software before thousands of users voice their dissatisfaction. However, after you’ve gathered feedback, there’s always the possibility of improving the mobile app to go beyond existing goals and boost client satisfaction. To achieve the most remarkable results, start testing from the beginning with loading tests, performance tests, and scalability tests.

Read More: Delivering Robust & Innovative App Solutions

7. High-End App Security

One of the mobile app development challenges is that nearly every app developer is always concerned about security risks. Unfortunately, through apps and other technology, new risks emerge. For example, malware issues may occur, and software/hardware fragmentation exacerbates the problem. As a result, firms’ IT security teams must pay close attention to app management to avoid data breaches or malware attacks.

Security should be developed with proper concern, and it should be extensively tested and maintained regularly. This is one of the most challenging aspects of developing a mobile app. Always apply best practices and follow the most up-to-date security standards to guarantee that your users’ data is entirely secure and that you don’t have to deal with data breaches.

Read More: Your Enterprise App Security Checklist

8. Reaching the Right Audience

It can be challenging for new tech companies to adjust to new or current clients or to persuade people to move to a new platform over others. It is, without a doubt, one of the challenging jobs. To tackle this mobile application development challenge, you should focus on your efforts on creating informational content that can distribute through existing channels to emphasize the benefits of using this platform.

Read More: How to Create Content in the Metaverse?

9. Adaptability Throughout Development

Analysts and software architects must evaluate relevant information to determine which systems and processes will include in the app’s functionality. In addition, they must be prepared to adjust their approach if updated projections disclose any data that necessitates modifications to maintain overall efficiency.

In this context, the custom app development team becomes pivotal, and whether the end product meets the company’s requirements or becomes unsuccessful is dependent on the team’s attitude. So streamlining company operations will improve the efficiency and productivity of your company’s daily activities, and for that, developers must show adaptability throughout the development phase.

Read More: Leading Business Benefits Of Mobile App Development

10. High Standards Of Security

Smartphone applications have become an indispensable tool for any company, yet they continue to be a prominent subject for malicious activity. With the rising risk of hacking, developers have undoubtedly become a primary disquiet for application security.

Cyberattacks are prevalent, entail tremendous expenses, and have even led some businesses to go bankrupt. Not to mention the hazards of downloading apps through cache information, making development problematic for the entire industry. As a result, companies should protect their applications while relishing the benefits of these solutions.

While developing a customize app, developers should be vigilant and include techniques to detect security flaws. In addition, ensure that their applications are secure enough to withstand hacking attempts.

Here are some smartphone application security outstanding practices that you may use during the development process:

  • Make sure that the backend is secure
  • Use advanced anti-malware software
  • Use up-to-date encryption methods

11. Integration Challenge

Creating an app that requires integration with other systems might be challenging. This type of application is typically designed for businesses to increase efficiency and make it more user-friendly. The development team should consider prospective integrations early on to avoid complications later in the development process.

Backend difficulties may arise when implementing solutions like ERP and integrating with other systems. This challenge will be a substantial obstacle to the team’s success unless strategies are put in place to ensure that all critical systems integrate seamlessly.

Read More: Overcome App Development Obstacles With A Remote Team

12. Lack Of Talented Resources

Finding the proper app developers with the essential skill set for app development is challenging. This aspect is more important than any other. On the other hand, an excellent skillset is a must-have for firms that want bespoke solutions to guarantee that there are no issues during the development process.

Challenges are welcomed as a result of not looking for talented resources. However, the more inexperienced someone is, the more issues they will cause. Therefore, it’s advisable to choose an external mobile development partner with industry knowledge who can keep your operations going.

13. App Store Approval Process

Both the Apple App Store and Google Play Store have stringent guidelines and requirements that developers must adhere to in order to gain approval for their apps. This process often involves multiple stages, including submission, review, and potential revisions based on feedback from the app store reviewers. 

There are several app reasons that could lead your app to rejection, such as non-compliance with design standards, functionality issues, and inadequate privacy policies. 

To perfectly mitigate this trouble of rejection, app developers should comprehend specific guidelines outlined by each platform early in the development process. It spans optimizing the app’s metadata, checking cross-platform compatibility, and deep testing to identify and resolve bugs. 

Read More: Why Opt For Custom Mobile App Development?

Summing Up

You know what to do now! Businesses that pay attention to techniques to prevent mobile app challenges will enjoy significant benefits. Developing and advertising mobile apps takes a lot of time and effort, but it’s well worth it. So, you should plan ahead of time to navigate the obstacles and exercise caution to reduce the risk in the development process.

Many businesses have collapsed because they could not solve the challenges, so approach us if you’d like to talk about your ongoing mobile app development issues. At Cubix, we understand the intricacies of this journey and are committed to helping you create exceptional apps that resonate with users.  Don’t let challenges hold you back; contact us now!

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