Custom Mobile App Development and How It Can Help Make Your Business More Successful

In 2023, the question of whether you need a mobile app is no longer sufficient. After all, a full three-quarters of businesses either already have an app or are in the process of developing one. The question becomes how custom mobile app development can help your business and brand stand out from that crowd.

At first glance, it might not seem like much of a distinction. After all, every mobile app is, to some degree, customized. And yet, a truly custom mobile app solution can still make all the difference.

The right mobile app for your business is appealing enough to pique the interest of your audience and engaging enough to keep them coming back, even over the many alternatives they can find in their app store. Build it the right way and with the right partner, and your app can become a game changer.

In this guide, we'll examine what exactly that means. We'll begin with a short introduction to custom mobile app development and why it matters in today's digital environment before examining the types of features and functionalities a custom mobile app can leverage to attract and retain audience attention.

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First Things First: What is Custom Mobile App Development?

Put simply, developing a custom mobile app means building it from scratch. Instead of starting from a template, the process begins with examining an audience's needs and determining how those needs align with your business benefits and core value proposition.

To build an app your users will love, you cannot start with an internal perspective. Custom-building an app means creating an experience your audience will want to engage with, both in terms of a superior user experience and features that are easy to use while adding value to their day.

Those user needs matter throughout the process, as well. As you test your minimum viable product, you may need to pivot or adjust, and the custom building process may initially take more time. This might include your app development partner pushing back on requests or directions based on their own research and experience. As long as the end goal is audience use and satisfaction, the give and take from an expert development team can be a huge benefit to your business.

Related: The Complete Guide for How to Choose a Mobile App Development Company

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How Modern Audiences Use Mobile Apps

If user needs matter above all, understanding how your audience uses mobile apps must be among your first considerations. Even if 75% of businesses have a mobile app, few actually use them successfully.

The Google Play and Apple App Stores combined house more than 5.6 million mobile apps, leading to 255 billion app downloads in 2022 alone. That doesn't mean, of course, that every app is used equally.

In fact, the average smartphone user has 40 apps installed on their phone but only uses 9 to 10 of them per day. Perhaps most telling is not the installation rate, but how frequently users uninstall apps they have previously chosen to download:

• Around the globe, more than 50% of apps were uninstalled within the first 30 days of use in 2020.
• Uninstall rates vary drastically by industry, with gaming apps topping out at 65% in 2022.
• Businesses lost about $57,000 per month because of uninstalls in 2020, with especially high churn among shopping, food and drink, social media, and finance apps.

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In other words, user impatience is rising. Consumers love apps, but they no longer need to tolerate apps that don't address their specific needs or keep them engaged. In a time when most businesses already have an app, having the right app is what will keep your audience coming back to you.

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7 Features that Can Help Your Custom Mobile App Stand Out

Yes, your mobile app needs some basic features, like business information and a search function. But those features aren't what make it stand out in the app market or what keeps users who've downloaded it coming back. Instead, you need more in-depth features.

Related: 10 Reasons Why Mobile App Maintenance is Important

Think of your app as another channel to reach and engage your customers. After all, mobile apps have 3x the conversion rate of mobile websites and 1.5x that of desktop websites. But to get there, you have to build a design and functionality that your user actually wants and needs. You must build an app so good that they'll add you to their limited app space of 40, and you won't become part of the 50% of apps that are installed for less than a month. These 7 features and feature types can help your app achieve just that.

1. An Intuitive User Experience

According to Google, 48% of consumers think a poor mobile experience means the company doesn't care about their business. Worse, nearly 90% say they'll abandon an app because of a poor experience or glitches. That means your user experience must be on point.

It's not enough to follow a simple template approach. Navigational menus and screen layouts can (and should) change drastically based on what your audience needs and what your company can offer. From the moment they download the app to the 100th time they open it, they expect a smooth and fast experience in which they can quickly find and engage with whatever brought them to the app.

2. Clear Distinction From Your Website

No matter how mobile-optimized your website is, it can never replace a well-designed mobile app. Nor should it. If your audience can find what they're looking for on your website, why would they need to download an app?

In other words, replicating your website into a mobile app is bound to fail. For it to sustain itself and be successful, it has to offer distinct and unique value to your audience. That value might include some of the below-mentioned features, like location-based opportunities or integration with native mobile functionality. Either way, custom app development ensures that you can build your app as a unique property designed for a specific space.

3. Relevant Location-Based Features

One of the unique features of mobile devices is their ability to determine the exact location of your audience. While users can toggle this functionality on or off, the right location-based tactics can help you leverage it to your advantage.

For example, you can integrate your mobile app experience with your brick-and-mortar experience. When customers enter your store, their in-app experience might change into something like augmented reality (AR) to expand on the information and visuals available on the store shelves. Alternatively, BLE beacons can send information and push notifications to app users in their immediate proximity.

4. Integration with Native Mobile Functionalities

Never discount the unique possibilities at your disposal through a mobile app. We already mentioned some of them above—for example, AR in-store or at-home experiences for retailers become possible through tight integration with the camera of the phone on which the mobile app is installed.

And that's only the beginning. Custom apps can integrate into any number of native mobile functionalities and other apps in a way that a website or other online property simply cannot. From your camera to a navigational maps app, Apple Health, Apple Home, Android Pay, and more, tapping into these integrations can drastically expand the ways in which your audience interacts with your application.

5. Offline Usage Capabilities

Another potential benefit and differentiator of mobile apps is the ability to use at least some of their features and functionalities without an internet connection. While this statement remains true in theory regardless of whether an app is custom or template-based, the former can ensure that it's leveraged the right way for your audience.

According to estimates, around 15% of app usage occurs without being connected to the internet. Mobile users may be traveling through dead zones in rural areas or in other less connected areas. They may be without connection on a flight. There are many reasons a mobile user may be without internet access, and a custom development process can ensure that you know exactly which features within your app your users need while offline and how you can deliver that ideal experience to them even when they aren't connected.

6. Cross-Device Synchronization

No modern mobile app exists in isolation. The rise of the Internet of Things (IoT) is just the latest example of a larger ecosystem, not just in terms of integrations but in how your audience looks to engage with your business on multiple devices.

The average user's journey may take them from your phone app to the same app on their tablet, to the website, and then to their smart fridge. Of course, that order might also happen in reverse. An app that synchronizes seamlessly between these various devices and touchpoints can go a long way toward keeping your audience engaged and happy.

7. Strong Security Capabilities

Finally, don't underestimate the importance of strong security and data privacy for mobile apps. Too often, this is where even the most well-designed apps fail. In fact, one study found that nearly two-thirds of analyzed mobile apps had at least one significant vulnerability, with the average number of vulnerabilities per compromised app at an astounding 39.

If your users even begin to suspect that their data is compromised on your app, they’ll leave and they won't look back. Unfortunately, that becomes more likely when the app is designed using a template that, when hacked, can expose many businesses instead of a single one. Apps with strong security capabilities, including not just their code but integrations like biometric scans upon login, can minimize this issue and the concerns it naturally causes.

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Get Started With Custom App Development

Of course, all of the above features are just possibilities. They're based on general audience preferences, not your specific user base. That's what makes the custom part such an important piece of custom app development.

Your prospective customers' needs may align with or differ from general trends. Depending on their comfort in a mobile environment, they might have very different interpretations of what an intuitive user experience looks like. The ideal process doesn't just try to translate national trends but creates the best possible design, features, and functionalities to maximize the chances of your specific audience downloading and continuing to use the app over time.

That's where Milo Mobile comes in. Founded in 2021, the team at Milo Mobile prides itself on app development that creates truly custom mobile-focused solutions. Our agile process doesn't just put the user at the center but also comes with full transparency throughout the process.

Let's build a better mobile app together. Book a free 30-minute consultation on our website today.

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