You have successfully developed your app, it is getting good downloads rate, and a little mishandling of the App Permission requests backfires on you. You definitely won’t want to experience this. Poor planning of the permission requests is one of the most common reasons for ruining the stellar user experience.
“Allow us to access your contacts, files, camera, phone contacts, photos, GPS, etc.” We will not tell you why we want to access them but please click on the “Allow button”.
It apparently seems exaggerated, but a lot of times it seems irritating for the user to continuously give permissions to these apps. However many such permissions are necessary for a mobile application’s core functionality. Without allowance of these permissions, the mobile app may not work as it was supposed to.
Decide the timings
First, come first, don’t just attack your users by the tons of App Requests the moment it first launches on the user device. It can be overwhelming but this approach is a common mistake. Mostly, the user gets frustrated when they face multiple app requests in a row. Instead of asking permission at the launch, showcase the features and functionalities of your app, and when users start using your app then you can ask for permissions.
If your app’s core functionality relies on app’s permissions then you may ask at the time of launch. For e.g. a food delivery app needs your GPS to show the nearby restaurants or eateries available.
In a general case, the best time for asking for the permissions would be when it is required. For e.g., if your app functionality includes uploading images then you can ask for permission when the user is about to upload an image.
Create a Strategy
Like the other aspects of your mobile application development, you also need to create a proper strategy for asking permissions. The worst way can be of throwing a slew of requests without giving any context or notice to the users.
Asking too early or too late and asking too many permissions can prove fatal for your app. If there are critical permissions then you need to ask them upfront. If possible, tell your user why you require that permission what they will get after allowing them. Users are more likely to agree to app permissions when they get asked during important tasks where permission is needed.
Use a better Tone, with Language and Messaging
After deciding the timing and strategy, you need to focus on how to draft permission well. The best way is to go with mimicking. The reference of mimicking here is imitating the target audience language style. You can study the pace, conventions, and flow of your user base conversation.
Also give attention to the words, tone, and writing manner of the application and permission requests. The research that you must have done while mobile app development can be useful here, as it will help you in understanding the user behaviour pattern of the audience you are targeting.
It simply means that if your app is completely informal and has slangs, hashtags, jargons, or trendy content, then you can give the same tonality to your app permissions.
Have Patience for Users’ Action
Patience is probably the hardest thing to have for your mobile application. But whatever happens, you need to wait for your users to take an action for the app permission request you have sent out. This way the app is giving the users a strong context, hence the users are likely to give the permissions your app needs to function.
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You can also ask twice
You can’t just rely on a single shot for asking the app permissions from your users. What you can do, you can take leverage of a fake permission request as a part of the UI.
The first fake request would be a part of the UI and the user will feel that it is real. Then if the user gives a positive response to the fake one then he would be prompted for the real one. It will give you two advantages:
If the user gives no to the first fake request, then it will still have a chance to go back and show the real permission request later on (when the time is right).
A fake request will help in giving learning to the user about the value of saying Yes.
Tell them the benefits
Apart from some basic permissions, there are many permissions which are not self-explanatory and may require some information to go with it. For such permission, you need to have proper explanations for why they are beneficial to the users.
One such way is to guide the user while they onboard at your app. This is where you can tell your users what your app can do for them and why you need certain permissions that they did not expect.
There are plenty of questions, that may arise in users’ head such as:
- Why does the app need to know my current location?
- Does this app share my information with someone else?
- Would I need to see a slew of advertisements on the app?
- Is this app safe for permitting this?
What if the users denied permission?
You must be wondering why it is so important to think of the content, timings, tone, etc. of the permissions. The thing is if the user wouldn’t grant you permission, then the app wouldn’t work in the same way as the user expects.
Also, once the user declines for giving permission, you can’t ask them again for the same permissions. Ultimately, the user will get frustrated and may uninstall your app.
However, you can work on a re-permission strategy to deal with such scenarios. Suppose you have developed a food delivery mobile application, and the user has denied the location permission which is essential for the working of your application. Then instead of letting that user go, you can use different ways of in-app messaging, or showing informative guides for why those permissions are important and how they can allow them now.
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Final Words
You can’t expect from your users that they will realize the value of each permission request. People are getting more aware of their privacy and data. Hence, always ask the permissions which are necessary for the functioning of your app. At Amplework Software, the best mobile app development company, we understand all such aspects of mobile application development and deliver the mobile app the way you want.
