A negative review in the workout notes app market can lead to the end of your app's visibility in Google Play Store or App Store searches. That's why I've gathered several cases to avoid receiving these reviews that penalize ratings below 3 stars.
Factors Contributing to Negative Reviews Under 3 Stars
In the workout tracking app market, there are a variety of apps with completely different functionalities. This variety gives users a greater chance to choose, so to attract and retain users, we must avoid:
Missing features that affect the user experience in the workout tracking app.
It has always been said that it's good to learn from our mistakes, but in the app market, it's not as forgiving. Users are harsh and won't hesitate to leave a negative review if their expectations aren't met. Your app should at least be on par with the average to avoid negative criticism. In the case of a workout tracking app, your app should have at least:
Workout Logging: Weights and Sets.
Timer for executing workouts with rest intervals.
Design that is easy to interpret and accessible to any user.
Have a catalog of exercises with information on how to perform them, including text, visuals with videos or images.
Offer training routines for new users looking for an app to train and achieve their goals.
These properties are the ones that have been most repeated in the reviews I have observed in workout tracking apps. Meeting these expectations is not an easy task for an individual developer. Questions arise, such as, how can an individual developer create a catalog of hundreds of exercises and maintain it in a database without charging a single euro? This market requires an initial investment to at least maintain a database. If we add to that the knowledge and having someone who performs the exercises correctly, it means that for our app to meet expectations, it must have an initial investment of thousands of euros.
Invasive Monetization Model: How Ads and the Paid Version Can Impact User Satisfaction
Ads are an ideal source for developers to make some money with their projects. However, for the average user, ads are a reason to give your app a 1-star review.
I'm not talking about extreme cases such as an app with abusive ads; I'm referring to ads that supposedly should not disrupt the user experience. It's true that most mobile app users won't give you a negative review, but you should expect it. There will always be someone who complains about a minimal ad.
Now, if you want to make money through purchases, you'll also encounter problems! Users who opt for the free version will complain if you limit the functionality of the app or, conversely, if you add new features. The limitations in free versions that infuriate users the most are:
Limited creation of training routines to a specific number.
Training routines created by professionals locked in the free version without the option to access any free custom routines: Users don't like it when your app offers that service exclusively in the paid version and demand that you provide them with at least some of that content.
Limitations on basic options that other free apps have in their base form: Not being able to back up your workouts, use a timer, or view graphs.
Performance Issues: How Errors and Bugs Affect the User Experience
App users are unforgiving when it comes to errors that disrupt their app experience. It's normal; our app must be functional and not be an inconvenience to our users. Some of the most common errors are:
Timer without an alarm for rest intervals: If your app has a timer function, you have to anticipate everything the user might do while training with the app. For example, if they close the app and the alarm doesn't sound, you need to fix that error. The timer feature is undoubtedly where you can find the most negative reviews, so create a timer that is suitable for any user.
Workout logs being deleted while the user is training, if the app is for workout tracking and fails to fulfill its basic function, it's obvious that you will receive negative reviews.
Mixing weight measurements such as kilograms and pounds, perhaps in your country, only kilograms are used, but you have to adapt to all your users. Don't add the function to change measurements if you haven't implemented it correctly and tested it. Otherwise, you will have a few disgruntled users.
These are the most common errors that have encouraged app users to create negative reviews. There are likely more errors, and they will depend on the app. For any functionality that you consider essential, think about potential errors and fix them.
Do we learn from mistakes? Yes, but errors should not be seen by the public. They should be for us, some testers, or friends. Otherwise, our app will be heavily criticized with negative reviews. Now that we know the points that motivate workout tracking app users to give a negative review of fewer than 3 stars, we just have to review these points, and we'll likely avoid more negative reviews criticizing our app. There will always be people who have no idea how the rating system works on Google Play or the App Store or simply people who hate for the sake of hating.
Now that you have a clearer understanding, I wish you good luck with your workout tracking app!