Sure, apps make our life easier, streamlining our calendars and grocery lists, offering entertainment while we’re stuck in line, making it easy to collaborate with your co-workers.
But while apps may be efficient and convenient, a user is not afraid to vocalize (or tweet) complaints about an app’s shortcomings — even minor ones. Here at Mashable (and in the Twittersphere), we had a bit of a therapy session crowdsourced our most common app glitch pet peeves (Note: If you enjoy reading the Mashable staff’s digital and social gripes, also be sure to check out the 20 things your most annoying Facebook friends do. Then take a deep breath. It’s going to be okay.).
For us, it felt good to vent our frustrations and get these burdens off our chests. We hope it will drive greater good, and app developers out there will heed our advice and work around these flaws, avoiding the wrath of petulant smartphone owners. And if you have your own app pet peeves that we missed, be sure to add them in the comments.
1. Too Many Emails
We already spend 28% of the workday dealing with email; we don’t want any more. Someone you haven’t spoken to since freshman year of college joined Spotify! Your old neighbor added you to a circle on Google+! Who cares?
While it is nice to know how late of an adopter your college frenemy is, these notifications can be annoying. Apps should either forgo these notifications entirely or filter them (perhaps just use people from your “close friends” list, if you’re connected via Facebook, or people with whom you interact regularly).
We know you can adjust settings, but sending spammy notification emails shouldn’t be the default.
2. Irrelevant Push Notifications
Yes, many of us put close friends and family into a list on Facebook, so we could stay abreast of what’s going on in their lives. But do we need to know every single time they upload a photo?
Push notifications annoy us even more if they’re delayed — it’s not breaking news if someone else broke it hours before.
What does a relevant push notification do? Look at Foursquare, for instance — when you walk by a venue that’s on your to-do list, the app reminds you that you wanted to go there, so it’s an actionable, contextual pop-up.
3. When Great Apps Are Abandoned
If a developer builds an awesome app but then abandons it, users might abandon it. When seemingly minor bugs persist, frustration builds among users. ExitStrategy is a good example of this — the app is fantastic but can be a little buggy, and it hasn’t been updated since August 2010. And still, it has a loyal following; imagine what would happen with a few little tweaks.
4. Frequent “Rate This App” Requests
Positive ratings in the app store can help to push downloads. But we’re probably doing a million other things and just need to check the weather real quick before heading out the door — we don’t want to be stopped and redirected to the app store to rate the app. And if a user has just deleted the app, you probably don’t want to ask for a review. I mean, he just deleted it — he’s likely not going to give it a good review.
So when are “rate this app” requests okay? We’ll let them slide in the wake of a major update (emphasis on themajor).
5. Connecting to Facebook Unnecessarily
As Chelsea Stark, our resident multimedia editor, says, “Why? You’re a cooking app!”
Personally, I have 88 apps connected to Facebook. And on a regular basis, I use just 15 of them. So why should I unnecessarily open up my data to 73 other apps, especially if there’s nothing to be gained through the connection?
6. Full-Screen Ads
You go to open an app and a full-screen ad pops up. That’s annoying, so a user just Xes out of it. But he accidentally clicks on the ad instead of the X, sending to the app store or maybe Safari. So on top of the frustration that the screen wasn’t receptive to a thumb-tap, the phone — and whatever task the person is trying to do — gets held up for a few seconds while Safari opens. Sounds like first-world problems, but stirring up this animosity by killing efficiency isn’t the best way to convince people your app is worth a download.
7. Video Ads
Video ads can be invasive and interruptive, especially when the rest of a user’s sound preferences are turned off. We know you’re looking for some extra revenue, but is it really worth annoying your extant user base?
8. Non-Wrapping Text
Not everyone can read size 10 font. If a user is zooming, your text should wrap so that he doesn’t have to drag the screen across manually to read each sentence. Responsive design is the way of the future — and we want it now.
9. Non-Retina Apps
The app snob at Mashable (Christina Warren, if you must know), has a thing against non retina-updated iPhone apps. “It’s been over two years, there is no excuse for a new app getting released without full Retina assets,” she says.
10. Desperate Pleas for Followers
If users are annoyed when developers ask for a review, we bet you could guess that we also don’t like it when we’re asked to follow the company on Twitter or “like” it on Facebook. “I don’t exactly want to tell everyone that I have spent hours upon hours playing Order Up! To Go on both my iPhone and iPad just so I can get a free gold coin,” says Warren. “I mean, I will, but come on.”
What are your mobile app pet peeves? Tell us in the comments so developers know what to avoid.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, cosmin4000
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