App development, publishing, and maintenance are not always easy tasks for developers (especially those who don’t opt for a seamless app platform!). 

As many of them will tell you, common problems can surface soon as developers or project managers begin the process of app building, including (but not limited to) security risks, user experience mishaps, or the actual development process itself. 

This ‘spooky season’, we asked Median’s team of experts to identify 5 nightmare scenarios that app developers can sometimes face — as well as ways to manage them. 👇

Nightmare scenario #1: Security risks involved in a jailbroken/rooted device

Ever wonder how some gamers buy millions of in-game coins without making actual in-app purchases? This is because their device is jailbroken/rooted — which exposes it to problematic security risks.

Jailbreaking and rooting refers to the processes of allowing app users to bypass restrictions imposed by their device’s operating systems.

• Jailbreaking: This is specific to removing software restrictions imposed by Apple for iOS devices (iPhones and iPads). It allows app users to install apps from other app stores, customize their device’s interface, and modify system files that are otherwise restricted or inaccessible. 
• Rooting: This is the Android version of jailbreaking. Rooting allows users to modify system files, install apps that are otherwise restricted, and even replace the entire operating system with custom ROMs. 

Scare factor: 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴

As developers, you should be aware that a jailbroken/rooted device can be a serious issue to deal with. It exposes your app to:

• Security threats: A jailbroken/rooted device is prone to hacking, making it easier for malicious actors to steal sensitive user and app data and expose you to deal with legal repercussions and extra financial burdens.
• Risk of piracy: App users can bypass in-app purchases and subscription models, causing you, as a developer who profits from in-app purchases, to lose significant revenue.
• Compromised user experience: Users can modify their devices and expose your app’s user experience to plummet due to apps crashing, being prone to bugs, and performing poorly — leading to unsatisfied customers and negative reviews.
• Lack of support: As developers, it’s hard to detect issues on a jailbroken/rooted device, making it harder to offer support. This makes identifying real bugs tricky because of the unpredictable nature, increasing development and maintenance costs by introducing additional complexity.
• App store rejections: Security threats are one of the biggest reasons an app can get rejected from the app stores. As a developer, it’s your responsibility to invest in extra measures to ensure jailbreaking/rooting is detected and taken care of accordingly.
• Intellectual property theft: Jailbreaking can make it easier for malicious actors to reverse-engineer apps, leading to theft of proprietary code, algorithms, and other intellectual property.

So, how do you solve this problem? 

The nightmare of jailbreaking/rooting can be avoided by natively integrating Median.co’s Jailbreak/Root Detection plugin. 

The plugin helps your app meet security requirements by providing feedback on whether the app is running on a jailbroken/rooted device. 

This allows you to customize the user journey for those devices to maintain a secure environment for app users and protect sensitive application and user data.

Nightmare scenario #2: Your app doesn’t have a login/logout feature

Congratulations! You have successfully built an app, but something is missing: Your new app is not as secure as it could be for your growing user base — because it’s lacking the all-important login/logout functionality.

A login/logout feature allows you to authorize and authenticate your app, making it more secure from malicious third party attacks.

Scare factor: 🔴🔴🔴🔴

As developers, it is imperative to take every measure to ensure your app is secure. Not including a login/logout feature in your app can expose it to several threats including:

• Risk of data exposure: Without the ability to login and log out securely, an app user’s sensitive data (personal details, preferences, etc.) can be accessible by malicious actors if they were to lose their device.
• Lack of user authentication: Without a login feature, your app can’t authorize the person using it, leading to the risk of unauthorized access.
• Inability to track app usage: An app with no login/logout functionality can’t effectively track user activities — making it harder to personalize security settings or resolve disputes.
• Risk of session hijacking: Without the ability to logout, app sessions can remain active, making personal information accessible to anyone who possesses the user’s device or even perform actions on behalf of them.

So, how do you avoid this scenario? 

As developers, be it a webview app, a native app, or even a hybrid app, you can fix this problem by natively integrating Median’s several login/logout plugins, including:

• Social Login plugin: This plugin is user-friendly and allows people to sign into your native app with existing social login credentials — including Facebook Login, Google Sign-in, and Apple Sign-in.
• Face ID/Touch ID Android Biometric plugin: This plugin allows native apps to incorporate Face ID and Touch ID authentication on iOS and Android Biometric Face Unlock and Fingerprint Unlock on Android.
• Auth0 plugin: The Auth0 plugin implements the Auth0 iOS and Android SDK, allowing you to use our Median JavaScript Bridge to integrate the Auth0 Universal Login natively into your app.

Want to learn more about these plugins to better secure your users? Check out our blog Login/Logout: Make your apps secure and easily accessible to gain a better understanding and watch some helpful video demos.

Nightmare scenario #3: App downloads are low and your app is barely visible

Picture this: After weeks or even months of pristine development work, you finally release your app to the app stores. However, it still feels like your app doesn’t exist.

So, where are all the downloads? This is every project manager’s and app developer’s worst nightmare: Low app store visibility, little to no downloads, and losing significantly to competitors’ more powerful presence. 

Scare factor: 🔴🔴🔴

Ranking with Median’s very own ranking system, evaluated by industry experts, an app with low visibility with little to no download rates ranks at a “level three” threat to your overall app performance.

Having an app with little to no download rates can lead to:

• Low visibility: Apps with few downloads are not likely to be ranked high in the app stores, making it harder for potential users to find your app. This lack of visibility can become consistent, leading to even fewer opportunities for growth.
• No return on investment (ROI): It takes significant amounts of time, money and effort to build and maintain an app. With no downloads, all these resources can seem like wasted spend.
• Lower revenue potential: Low downloads equate to fewer users, directly impacting your monetization strategies, be it in-app purchases, subscription models, or ads. If your revenue depends on those strategies, it will be difficult to earn a profit without a growing user base.
• Lack of user feedback: With no downloads, real-world feedback and data from app users will not be possible. This makes it harder for developers to fix bugs, improve features, or listen to user’s concerns, declining the overall user experience.

So, how do we avoid this scenario?

You can solve the problem by implementing a strong app store optimization (ASO) strategy.

ASO is the process of improving your app’s visibility and conversation rates in app stores and search engines like Apple’s App Store and Google Play Store.

ASO’s main goal is to increase app downloads and user engagement through strategies including:

• Keyword optimization: Conduct proper keyword research and then select the relevant keywords in your app title, app description, and other relevant metadata to make it easier for potential users to find you in search engines. 
• App title and description: When designing an app title and description, ensure it’s clear and engaging. Your app title and description should highlight your app’s unique features and benefits as it is the first point of contact for people in the app stores.
• App visuals: Your app visual assets include app icons, app store screenshots, and videos. Make sure to create an app icon that adheres to both Apple and Google’s design guidelines. For iOS apps, follow Apple’s Human Interface Guidelines to ensure App Store approval. See that both screenshots and videos provide a glimpse of your app so  users can preview what they are downloading.
• User feedback: Encourage users to leave positive reviews and ratings. This will in turn improve your app’s credibility and increase your overall download rates.
• Localization: This is the process of translating your app store product page into local regional languages based on where the app is marketed. Localization can help you take your ASO strategy to the next level by helping you reach a global audience, increasing your overall downloads as it reaches more people.

Nightmare scenario #4: Your app has downloads, but no engagement

Obviously, for app developers and/or app business owners, the goal is to ensure your app is actually used post-download. It can become a scary situation when little to no users are engaging with your app because you’ve left out one important functionality: push notifications.

But what exactly are push notifications? They’re the real-time alerts (that you’ve thoughtfully written and scheduled) sent from your app directly to your user’s device — either while they’re using it, or on their lock screen.

The big plus of push notifications is that they help engage users with information, updates, or prompts to take action — and encourage more interaction with your app.

Scare factor: 🔴🔴🔴

Here are the unfortunate after-effects of publishing an app without natively-built push notification functionality: 

• Increase in uninstalls: When an app is ‘dead silent’ and not sending out reminders or regular updates, users will assume it’s no longer relevant and may silently uninstall the app, leading to a decrease in user base.
• Missed opportunities: Without push notifications, you’re likely missing out on the opportunity to promote new app features, updates, or even personalize content based on user preference that could potentially bring them back to your app and help increase app usage.
• Little to no engagement: Without push functionality, app users are more likely going to ignore your app, decreasing engagement rates. This also leads to very few active users and a poor retention rate, decreasing your app’s overall value.
• Revenue decline: If your app relies heavily on in-app purchases, subscription models, or ads, a low app usage will directly impact your earnings.

So, what do we do to push past this problem?

This nightmare can easily be avoided by natively integrating Median.co’s several push notifications plugins. Some are highlighted below:

• OneSignal plugin: Our preferred partner OneSignal offers users two push notifications features: 1. Personalized notification that allows you to send push notifications to specific users based on their email addresses or device ID. 2. Programmatic notifications which allow you to send transactional notifications based on events that occur on your platform. This plugin enhances the overall user experience, improves their engagement level and encourages app use, making it a powerhouse plugin.
• Braze: This plugin allows you to use the Braze platform and create engaging push notifications. With this, you can compose, personalize, and target your push notification messages to boot downloads and increase trust and loyalty amongst users.
• Cordial: This plugin allows you to use the Cordial platform to create engaging push notifications and analytics to maximize user engagement. You get full access to real-time data and will be able to personalize messages across email, SMS, and push notification — encouraging people to actually use your app.
• + you can discover more Median-supported push notification plugins via the Native Plugin Library.

Want to learn more about our plugins?

Launch a full-feature native app without native development!

Plugin library

Nightmare scenario #5: You need to build an app in record time – but you have none

App developers are often tasked with delivering an app — yesterday. The immense pressure to code, test, publish and promote quickly is an ongoing concern for developers.

A rush to production can make for many mistakes and missed opportunities to natively include app features, and can result in a poorly-conceived app experience that end users will simply not connect with.

Adding to this horror story: The pressure to deliver an app as fast as possible can lead to long hours at the office or in front of the screen, plenty of miscommunications, and last-minute changes. 

Scare factor: 🔴🔴🔴🔴🔴

Here’s why rushing the app development process can become nightmarish for businesses and developers:

• Low-quality user experience: Rushing the app development process will lead to an incomplete or a poorly developed app. Important elements such as usability, performance, navigation, features, etc are often overlooked, leading to dissatisfied users, or even worse, app store rejections.
• Bugs and crashes: When rushed, time to test your app quality is usually compromised due to little to no time for testing properly. The final app could then be compromised by bugs and crashes — leading to bad reviews, uninstalls, and decreased trust in your organization.
• Low productivity and team burnouts: A rushed app is a result of constant pressure to meet unrealistic deadlines with potentially minimal resources, which will overwhelm your team. This not only leads to burnout and fatigue, but also decreases productivity. 
• Development costs: In hindsight, rushing the app development process may seem like you’re saving time, it may end up costing you a lot more in the long run. As mentioned above, a rushed app is not less of bugs, mistakes, and crashes, which ends up needing fixes and additional support, increasing expenses and precious resources over time.

So, how do we solve for the speed factor?

To wake your business up from this nightmare, opt for a trusted app development platform like Median.co

Median.co serves web professionals who are looking to deliver a full-feature native app using existing web content, helping users to instantly build their apps, test, and publish to iOS and Android app stores in record time — without sacrificing on quality.

Even better: You don’t need specific coding experience to use the Median App Studio. It allows for deep customization of apps and can create a highly complex app suitable for enterprises with unique needs in a short period of time.

Median.co also has an extensive native plugins library that you can natively integrate specific functionality into your app, creating an even more unique and user-friendly UX (see scenario #4 above). 

Median.co also offers support in publishing your app to the app stores and post-launch help with updates and bug fixes (if any).

Summary

In the pursuit of app development, problems can arise like the aforementioned. 

But with an expert team and a powerful app development technology at the helm of your app creation process, you can sidestep these scenarios and enjoy all of the benefits of a beautiful end product. 

Not convinced yet? Check out these compelling stories from happy Median customers who side-stepped the above scenarios by opting for a trusted app development platform and solutions provider that delivered their apps in weeks, not months.

Case Studies

Discover how Median empowers companies to speed mobile app development, engage users, and reduce expenses.

View Case studies