Let’s rip off the Band-Aid: most event apps suck.
Not because they’re ugly (though many are), or because the idea of a digital event companion is flawed (it’s not). They fail because the experience is broken before your attendees even open the thing—if they ever do.
If you've ever paid thousands for a branded event app only to see 12% adoption and a flood of “I can’t log in” emails, this one’s for you.
1. Nobody Wants to Download Your App
Brutal truth: Your attendees don’t want another app on their phone.
In 2025, download fatigue is real. Between banking apps, airline apps, and AI selfie generators, people are over it. Unless your event app literally prints money, it’s not getting downloaded.
✅ Smart fix: Use a browser-based app that works from a link—no installs, no updates, no friction.
2. Login Hell Kills Adoption
The average event app requires at least 3 steps to access: download, register, confirm email. That’s 2.5 steps too many.
And if someone forgets their password on show day? Chaos.
✅ Smart fix: Skip the passwords. Use magic links, auto-login, or tokenised access that works instantly.
3. The Timing’s All Wrong
Here’s a nasty little secret: most attendees don’t even look at your event app until the morning of the event.
So if your onboarding campaign ran two weeks before doors opened? It was a waste.
✅ Smart fix: Bake your app into the ticketing and check-in experience. One seamless journey—from registration to real-time updates.
4. It’s Just a Fancy Agenda
If your “event app” is just a digitised PDF with an embedded agenda, attendees won’t bother.
People want value: live updates, speaker content, real-time changes, interactive tools.
✅ Smart fix: Give them tools that matter—like live session voting, feedback forms, maps, and updates—all in the same browser tab.
5. It’s Not Integrated With Anything
Disconnected tools = disjointed experience. Your app should talk to your ticketing, your check-in, your forms, your analytics—automatically.
✅ Smart fix: Use a platform that combines everything—site, tickets, app, data—all in one. No syncing. No switching.
6. There’s No Incentive to Use It
If you’re not giving attendees a reason to open the app, they won’t.
They need exclusive content, check-in tools, live updates, or personalised schedules—something that adds real-time value.
✅ Smart fix: Make the app essential. Tie check-in, access, and extras directly to it. That’s how you hit near-100% adoption.
7. You’re Paying for the Wrong Thing
Many platforms charge £10k+ just for the app experience. That’s money that could be spent on actual experience delivery.
✅ Smart fix: Look for tools (like Presso) that include the app experience for free when you use their ticketing. That’s smarter budgeting.
🚀 The Smarter Way: One Link, One Experience
At Presso, we flipped the script. Instead of building “just another event app,” we built an all-in-one platform where:
- The website is the app
- The ticket is the login
- And everything lives in one link
No downloads. No tech nightmares. No wasted fees.
🎯 Want the experience your attendees actually want to use?
👉 Start free with Presso — and run your event smarter.
🧠 TL;DR – Why Most Event Apps Fail
- Nobody wants to download another app
- Logins and passwords kill adoption
- Disconnected tools = poor UX
- Apps aren’t integrated with ticketing or check-in
- Most “apps” offer no real value
💡 The Fix? One seamless, browser-based platform from tickets to check-in to app. That’s what modern attendees expect.