5 Common Myths About Mobile Apps!

In 2018, global mobile app revenues amounted to over 365 billion U.S. dollars. In 2023, mobile apps are projected to generate more than 935 billion U.S. dollars in revenues via paid downloads and in-app advertising.

There is no doubt of the fact that the mobile app industry is growing at a rapid rate. Thus, considering an app strategy for your business is essential to increase the audience base, brand popularity, sales, and revenue generation. A mobile application is capable of doing all these allowing businesses to find multiple growth opportunities and generate hefty revenues.

The app economy is set to reach $189 billion in revenue by 2020, and with the time spent by users on apps nearly doubling over the past two years, there’s no denying the massive opportunity for businesses to expand their reach and tap into the app advantage.

Amazon has already made its mark in the e-commerce industry with its online business app. The app apart from being a trustworthy retailer has also made a presence in the market through m-commerce.

While apps play an essential role in any business, yet there are many brands that still fall victim to common myths of mobile apps prevailing in the app market.

Here are 5 popular myths about Mobile Apps. Let’s read further in detail about the myths of mobile apps existing in the minds of people these days.

Myth 1: Consumers No Longer Download Apps

One of the common myths about mobile apps prevailing now is that consumers no longer download mobile apps. The rumor is that though the app economy is increasing app downloads are on the decline. But it’s not true. A look at these facts will surely help.

In 2016, global app downloads surpassed 90 billion across iOS and Google Play. This represents 15 percent annual growth -- an annual increase of more than 13 billion. In the U.S., consumers downloaded 12 billion apps last year, an average of roughly six per month.

Believing this myth can cause great losses to the company. Businesses that buy into one of these misconceptions about mobile apps will lose to competitors and tarnish their brand. The app stores are alive and millions of apps are being downloaded from the app stores.

All that you need to take care of is to design the right app strategy that fits your business requirements and enhances the customer retention of your app. It’s important that businesses have an effective app strategy in place so as to allure more users to increase their online presence.

Myth 2: The App Store Is Mainly For Big Publishers

Let’s continue our discussion on popular myths about Mobile Apps. One of the major myths about Mobile Apps is that the app store is only for big publishers. The assumption here is that the big players in the market such as Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat are dominating app stores, and new players have little or no scope of submitting their apps in the app stores. This is certainly not true.

A recent study shows that the app economy experienced 20 percent year-over-year growth in new apps -- more than 2.2 million last year -- capturing consumer attention across verticals and countries.

Let’s look at the gaming space for instance: Within the last year, games like Pokemon GO and Super Mario emerged as strong competitors against popular games such as Clash Royale. Other verticals such as retail, banking, travel, and foodservice have seen a huge growth in their revenues. If you have the right app strategy, then there is a huge opportunity for new and emerging apps to establish themselves in the market.

Myth 3: Downloads Are Equal To Dollars

App downloads are equivalent to dollars is one of the major myths about mobile apps. Many believe that app downloads are the most important metric that determines the success of an app. It's assumed that an app is not successful if the app downloads decline. It’s also believed that downloads of apps are a measure of its engagement. This is certainly not true.

The truth is that the app usage metrics that can track customer engagement are more indicative of an app’s success than the downloads alone. Let’s see what these metrics are.

These app usage metrics include responses to questions such as, do the users download the app and then dump, how much time do they spend in the app, and how often they are using the app and what is the retention rate? These metrics can help businesses optimize the user experience to capture more revenue and increase customer satisfaction.

Myth 4: Bots Will Overtake Apps

Though AI-driven bots are helpful, but the fact that these can replace apps in the future is nothing but just a myth. Conversational products such as chatbots cannot compete with the breadth and depth of value provided by visual experiences while using an app. We are still at the beginning stage of developing these bots.

Using these bots on a large scale is still a question in the minds of many. Conversational experiences may play an important role in the coming future but as of now, they will not displace apps altogether. Moreover, the cost of building an app is far lesser than implementing a bot strategy for your business.

Myth 5: Apps Are “Nice to Have” Not “Need to Have”

Here is one of the most popular myths about Mobile apps. Though we know consumers today are primarily mobile-first, some businesses still don’t treat mobile -- let alone apps -- as a necessity, but rather as optional, and that too if budget permits. No one can question the importance of mobile apps as a critical tool for business success.

In today’s market, we’re not only seeing newly developed digital-first apps competing with incumbents but also long-standing businesses implementing mobile-first strategies. In order for any brand to successfully engage its audience, it must meet customers where they are and whenever they seek to engage. Apps uniquely enable this to happen and help your business in fueling this mobile-first transformation.

Wrapping It All

By now, I am sure you have got a clear idea of the popular myths about mobile apps. Mobile app development has now become an integral part of a business. After reading this article, no more myths about mobile app development will prevail in the minds of the users anymore.

With so many technologies plunging into the market space, we can expect more number of mobile app users in the near future.

By 2022 app store consumer spending is projected to increase by 92 percent to $157 billion worldwide.