The post-app era: why users will abandon apps before 2030

For more than a decade, mobile apps dominated the way we interacted with services, brands, and companies. From ordering food and shopping to booking travel, getting support, or managing finances, almost everything went through an app. But that dominance is showing clear signs of wear. “App dependency” is coming to an end.

According to recent studies, app abandonment rates are alarmingly high: more than 77% of users who install an app abandon it within the first 3 days, 90% within 30 days, and more than 95% within 90 days.

Many users do not even make it past the first week.

Part of the problem is the effort required: finding the app, downloading it, installing it, registering, granting permissions, going through onboarding — all of that represents significant friction that often is not worth it for a one-time or occasional need.

Beyond technical and UX friction, user expectations have changed. Today, more than ever, we seek immediacy, simplicity, and fluidity. We do not want to open another app, remember a password, go through forms… we want to solve something with one message, quickly, without complications.

And this is where traditional interfaces are losing relevance.

Meanwhile, messaging channels, bots, and conversational agents have been gaining ground. Users already communicate by chat; they are used to the immediacy of conversation. Messaging has become the natural environment of the digital user. In that context, apps feel like an extra step, an obstacle.

It is no longer about what the app does, but how it feels to use it.

Why apps are losing dominance?

• Friction vs. immediate gratification. With apps, users must invest time: download, register, learn navigation. If the value is not immediate or frequent, interest disappears. Poor onboarding, unintuitive interfaces, or slow performance are enough for abandonment.

• Saturation and competition. App stores are saturated; millions of apps exist, but only a few survive with meaningful usage. It has become a roulette: many apps are downloaded, few are retained, even fewer become essential.

• Changing expectations. Users now expect simplicity, speed, and efficiency. They prefer to message, chat, and do everything without changing context. An extra app for every need becomes a burden, not a solution.

• Lower tolerance for errors or extra steps. If the app freezes, asks for too many permissions, has intrusive ads, or a complicated onboarding, users no longer tolerate it. Conversational alternatives (AI agents) offer a path with fewer barriers.

Messaging and agents: the emerging standard

As apps lose their shine, conversational channels gain traction. Global statistics show that a significant percentage of consumers have already interacted with a chatbot and often prefer it over waiting for a human agent.

Messaging is now the default interface. And when combined with intelligent agents capable of executing real processes, the experience becomes fluid, immediate, frictionless.

Users no longer think “I need to open app X.”They think “I need to solve this, I will send a message.”And the agent converses, decides, acts.

That is the promise (and emerging reality) of the new paradigm.

Why this shift is accelerating toward 2030?

Three forces drive this acceleration:

• High mobile penetration + smartphones everywhere. In countries like Mexico, most of the population already has a smartphone with constant internet access.
  

• App overload fatigue. Users no longer want dozens of apps stored on their phones. Fragmented experiences feel outdated.
  

• Maturity of conversational technologies. Chatbots, AI agents, and conversational systems are becoming more sophisticated, reliable, and capable. User and business expectations are aligning around lighter, conversational, instant solutions.

When these converge — connected users + saturated app ecosystem + conversational technology — the question stops being “why abandon the app?” and becomes “why go back to using it?”

The future will not need an app for everything: it will live in conversation

Imagine requesting a loan, booking a service, buying a product, signing up for a plan, making a payment, requesting support, all with a message. No downloads, no forms, no menus. Just conversation.

For many people, especially occasional service users, this approach will be far more natural, simple, and agile. Companies that understand this will get ahead of the transition.

This conversational future will work with intelligent agents plus standardized modules that allow real processes to run. No more building complex apps every time a new service is launched. It will be enough to “activate” the right module.

For users: less friction, more convenience, everything accessible through chat.

For companies: lower development costs, greater reach, smoother experiences, higher retention.

The tipping point has already begun. Is your company ready for the post-app era?

Conversation is replacing the interface, agents are replacing manual flows, and MCPs are replacing the need to build apps from scratch. Companies that understand this will not only reduce friction; they will create faster, more human, more scalable experiences that live where their users live.

If you want to see how your processes, sales, or operations could work in this model — without apps, without downloads, without friction — we can show you real examples applied to your business.

Book a demo

Discover how Aida helps you operate in the post-app era with intelligent agents and conversational modules ready to execute.