A weird thing happens when apps try to be helpful.
They don’t fail loudly.
They just… get muted.
Think about the last app you silenced.
Not deleted. Just muted.
Nothing was broken.
It just started doing too much.
I’ve noticed a pattern across a few mobile apps I’ve worked on (and way more I’ve used):
The moment teams add AI, the app gets more confident, not more accurate.
Examples people instantly recognize:
- Spotify playing a vibe that made sense last year, not today
- Duolingo reminding you about a streak you stopped caring about
- Fitness apps pushing goals you already gave up on
- Finance apps nudging you to “optimize” something you barely understand
From the system’s point of view:
- Engagement dipped
- Sessions dropped
- Usage slowed
So AI responds with:
- More nudges
- Smarter timing
- Personalization
But that’s not the real problem.
The real problem is usually misaligned intent.
The user didn’t leave because they forgot.
They left because:
- The value peaked
- The effort outweighed the reward
- The app solved yesterday’s problem
AI is great at reacting.
It’s terrible at noticing when the reason for showing up is gone.
That’s why adding AI too early often makes retention worse:
You scale the wrong behavior faster.
I recently broke this down while writing about which AI features belong at different stages of a mobile app, and which ones quietly push users away instead.
It’s not “don’t use AI.”
It's just: use it after you understand why people came in the first place.
Curious:
What’s one app you’ve muted, not because it was bad, but because it stopped feeling relevant?
Top comments (0)