Apps are an essential part of life for everyone with a smartphone. But that doesn't mean users like them. It also doesn't mean users like finding new ones. These three developing trends can kill your brand's native app. But don't worry; there's a cure.

1. Broken app discovery or lack of exposure

You could have the best app in the world. It could integrate with all of your target market's go-to programs and settings. It could give your subscribers perfectly timed access to deals and new products.

But no one will find it.

It's next to impossible to make your app get traction on a wide scale. Top Ten lists very rarely branch out to include brand new apps. The apps listed as best-selling in Google Play or the Apple app store are the ones that have the advantage of time and hundreds of thousands of dollars for development over the past decade.

There's no good way for interested users to come across your app. All you can do is promote it to your current subscribers and hope for viral exposure. But a marketing plan based on chance popularity will kill your app before its 2.0 version.

2. App fatigue

Even if your target market comes across your app, there's no guarantee they'll download it. It's even less likely that they'll download it and use it for more than a month. Unless your app fits seamlessly into your audience's routine and they actively use it for at least a month, most of them will delete it or forget about it.

But apps in general are facing an epidemic of apathy. Many users will download an app but be turned away by the requirement to create an account. Then they won't remember their password,  and they won't invest the time in resetting it or remembering it. Many users also want a return to functionality through a browser instead of having to click through and back out of single-function apps.

3. Stagnation

These two trends can make your marketing and app development teams wonder if promoting the app or adding better functionality is worth it. But a lack of improvements make it even less likely new users will find and stick with the app, which in turn lowers your company's incentive to make it better. 

That downward spiral of stagnation is hard to get out of. You might not kill the app, and it might stay in the app stores with occasional promotions or mentions. But an old, outdated app can quickly become bad marketing for your company. Even worse, the security features built into your app now won't be able to withstand the AI-based malware of five years from now or even the end of 2019.

So, what's the cure?

You have to have an app. Just like how it's all but mandatory for a business to have a website, an app establishes that your business is current and accessible. So keep it current, functional, and secure.

But spend the majority of your time and resources on a PWA instead. A progressive web app is a cross between a website and a native app. It can remember a user's preference, download curated content so there's no lost functionality during spots of bad WiFi, and can push notifications. But there are no downloads aside from an icon and the service worker (a short bit of code that caches the content). It's the best of both worlds, and, most importantly of all, shoppers haven't shown any signs of fatigue or disinterest yet. If web traffic can find your site, they can get your PWA with a tap of the screen.

So start off 2019 learning more about web apps. Start by listening to this Google presentation about PWAs for a great overview and then browse our PWA content for the best ways to develop your own PWA.