I am going to cover 7 essential elements that make an Android App a quality app. Implementing these 7 elements into each of your apps will help you increase sales as well as gain popularity among your apps. Some of these elements will seem obvious but you would be surprised at how many apps in the Market have not implemented these 7 elements.
1.) De-Bugging
Foreclosures= uninstall, negative comments and refunds. It is so important to make sure that your app does not have force close errors. Also, testing your app on different Android devices can be helpful when debugging if you have the devices available. If you do not have access to all of these phones, pay close attention to the comments being left by users in the Market. Contacting an app review website to see which devices they have available to do a review for you can help as well.
2.) Purpose
Make sure that your app has a legitimate purpose. For example if you are going to create a financial organization app make sure that the user can export and import the data into Excel or a financial software package such as Quick books or Quicken. If you are creating a game make sure that there is a purpose/challenge for the user to play the game. For example, don’t just make a game that looks cool and does nothing else. There needs to be some form of challenge to the game or users will uninstall your app and if it’s paid request a refund.
3.) Instructions/Tutorials
In general, your, app’s user interface and navigation should be pretty straightforward in the first place but it is a good idea to add a “walk through” of the app highlighting each feature to ensure that the user gets the most out of your app as possible. Using screenshots with text helps for an easy read for the user and they will absorb the information quicker and easier. The key here is to keep it as simple as possible, no writing owner’s manuals for your apps :-) A good idea is to write an outline using bullet points and then fill in each bullet point with the least amount of text as possible but make sure that you are explaining the feature or functionality thoroughly.
4.) Graphics
One of the main complaints from Android users is that they want “iPhone quality” apps. If you go into the app store and check out the top performing apps for the iPhone and you see the quality of the graphics you will get a better idea of what is quality and what is not. The same applies for the Android, most games that have great graphics make more sales then apps that do not. Here are some examples of Android Apps with quality graphics:
5.) Updates
Updates keep the user interested as well as keep the app fresh and new which will allow for even more potential app sales. A great example of this is the iPhone app Pocket God. They release new features just about every month and they have a huge following now. This is also a great way to get some free word of mouth advertising from users of your app. People are more likely to talk about your app and tell their friends to download it if it is a great app that has monthly updates. From the user’s perspective if you pay $0.99, $1.99 or some other reasonable price for an app that gets updated monthly then it is a great app that is definitely worth the purchase. This will also get a lot of attention on the app review websites.
6.) Listening to User Feedback
User feedback is priceless in the sense that it’s free bug hunting and free tips on how to make your app better directly from the people who are downloading and/or purchasing your app. Fixing issues, adding requested features, etc. will not only give you as a developer a good reputation, it will also help increase app sales. Most app buyers are more comfortable buying an app that they know will be fixed if there is an issue.
7.) Incomplete Apps
If your App Developers Canada does not work it is probably best to leave it off of the Market until it does. It’s not a good idea to put your app on the Market until it’s 100% ready.
