The mobile app market is brutal. Studies show that 25% of apps are abandoned after a single use. By day 30, you've likely lost 90% of your users.
Yet some apps achieve retention rates that defy these statistics. What separates apps users keep from apps users delete?
Onboarding That Demonstrates Value
Your onboarding flow should get users to their "aha moment" as quickly as possible. Every additional screen, every unnecessary permission request, every configuration step is an opportunity for users to bounce.
We design onboarding flows that:
- Show value before asking for anything
- Request permissions contextually, when they're needed
- Allow users to skip non-essential steps
- Personalize based on user intent
Push Notifications: The Double-Edged Sword
Push notifications can re-engage users—or drive them to uninstall. The difference is relevance. We've found that:
- Behavioral triggers outperform scheduled broadcasts
- Personalization matters more than frequency
- Allowing granular notification preferences increases retention
- The best notification is often no notification
Performance Is a Feature
Users won't tolerate slow apps. On mobile, every millisecond counts. We optimize for:
- Fast cold starts (< 2 seconds to interactive)
- Smooth animations (60fps minimum)
- Efficient battery usage
- Small app size (every MB lost downloads)
Building Habits
The most successful apps become part of users' daily routines. This requires understanding trigger-action-reward loops and designing features that create genuine habit formation.
Retention isn't about tricks or dark patterns. It's about building something so valuable that users can't imagine life without it.