Ever wondered what your iOS application users do once they’ve downloaded your application? Are you left in the dark about which features resonate most with your audience or how effective your latest marketing campaign truly is?
Many businesses overlook the goldmine of insights that lie within iOS application analytics, and as a result, find themselves grappling with critical blind spots in their strategies. Without a clear understanding of user behaviour, feature performance, and the impact of marketing initiatives, businesses risk missing out on opportunities for growth and improvement.
At Mallow, we’ve successfully helped clients launch iOS applications and always reinforce the pivotal role that analytics play in shaping the trajectory of an application. Over the years, we’ve honed our skills in interpreting complex data sets, unravelling user behaviour patterns, and extracting actionable insights to drive strategic decision-making.
By the end of the article, you will be equipped with the knowledge to not only unravel the mysteries of user engagement but also to harness this data to make informed decisions that can propel your businesses forward. In essence, reading this article is an opportunity for you to empower yourself with the tools and insights necessary to unlock the full potential of your iOS application.
Why do you need iOS app analytics?
Navigating the complex terrain of iOS app analytics requires a keen understanding of the diverse metrics and variables at play. From user acquisition and retention rates to in-app navigation and conversion funnels, each data point contributes to the larger narrative of an app’s performance. By making informed decisions based on user analytics, businesses can optimise their user experience, tailor marketing strategies, and respond dynamically to changing market demands.
Understanding user behaviour, engagement patterns, and feature performance is not just advantageous but absolutely essential for staying ahead in a highly competitive market. The sheer volume of data generated by users provides invaluable insights that can shape the trajectory of an app. Ultimately, the adoption of data-driven decision-making processes empowers developers and businesses to not just survive but thrive in the competitive realm of iOS app development.
What are some of the key metrics to track for analysing the growth of your business?
To make this easy to understand, we’re grouping the metrics to track into several different categories.
Acquisition and Retention Metrics
App downloads
The journey of a successful iOS application often begins with the metric of app downloads. Monitoring the number of downloads provides a foundational understanding of your application’s initial reach. This metric is crucial in assessing the effectiveness of marketing efforts, app store optimisation, and user interest. While app downloads alone do not guarantee success, they serve as a vital starting point for evaluating your application’s visibility and appeal in the competitive iOS ecosystem.
Geolocation – Utilise geolocation metrics to understand where users are engaging with your app. This data is valuable for geo-targeted content, personalised experiences, and analysing user behaviour based on location. It also enables businesses to tailor marketing strategies to specific regions.
User retention rate
User retention is a key indicator of an application’s ability to engage and retain its user base over time. The user retention rate measures the percentage of users who continue to use the app after their initial download. A high retention rate signifies that users find ongoing value in the app, while a declining rate may indicate potential issues with user experience, content, or feature relevance. Monitoring and improving user retention are essential for sustaining long-term success and fostering a loyal user community.
Acquisition channels
Understanding where your users come from is integral to crafting effective marketing strategies. Acquisition channels encompass the various sources through which users discover and download your iOS application. These channels can include organic searches, paid advertisements, social media, referral programs, and more. Analysing acquisition channels helps identify the most effective sources, allowing businesses to allocate resources strategically and optimise their marketing efforts. By knowing which channels bring in the most engaged users, developers can tailor their acquisition strategies for maximum impact, enhancing both reach and user quality.
User engagement metrics
Daily active users (DAU) stands as a pivotal metric in assessing the immediate and short-term impact of your iOS application. This metric provides a real-time snapshot of the number of unique users actively engaging with your app on a daily basis. Monitoring DAU not only gauges the app’s popularity but also helps identify trends and patterns in user behaviour. An upward trajectory in DAU indicates a growing and engaged user base, while a decline might signal issues that require attention, whether in terms of user experience, marketing efforts, or feature performance. Tailor session metrics based on your app’s goals. For example, track the average session length or how often users engage with specific features during a session.
Monthly active users (MAU) offers a broader perspective, providing a measure of sustained engagement over a longer timeframe. This metric encompasses the total number of unique users who interact with your iOS app within a given month. MAU is instrumental in evaluating the app’s overall reach and user loyalty. A steady or increasing MAU suggests that the app is maintaining relevance and retaining its user base. For businesses aiming for long-term success, understanding MAU is essential in crafting strategies for user retention, feature enhancements, and overall user satisfaction.
Session duration delves into the amount of time users spend actively engaged within your iOS application during a single session. This metric is a direct indicator of user interest and the perceived value of your app. A longer session duration often correlates with higher user satisfaction and meaningful interactions. Monitoring session duration helps identify popular features and content, enabling developers and businesses to optimise user experiences based on what captivates their audience. Short session durations, on the other hand, may signal usability issues or a need for more engaging content within the app. Analysing this metric empowers iOS developers to tailor their app’s content and functionality to align with user preferences, ultimately fostering enhanced engagement and satisfaction.
User behaviour- related metrics
Heatmaps
Understanding how users interact with your iOS application is essential for enhancing user experience and optimising key features. Heatmaps visually represent user interactions by highlighting areas of the app that receive the most engagement. For example, a heatmap might reveal which buttons users click most frequently or which sections of a screen attract the most attention. Analysing heatmaps empowers developers to make informed design decisions, identify popular features, and address potential usability issues.
Recordings and behaviour flow
Recordings of user sessions provide an invaluable glimpse into how users navigate and engage with your app in real-time. By recording user interactions, developers can observe the entire user journey, from app launch to specific actions taken within the interface. This not only aids in identifying pain points but also unveils patterns in user behaviour. Coupled with behaviour flow analysis, which visualises the sequential path users take through the app, these tools offer comprehensive insights into the user experience. This understanding enables developers to streamline navigation, enhance user paths, and create a more intuitive app.
Moreover, through user behaviour flow, you’ll be able to pinpoint areas or steps where the drop rate is higher. This crucial insight allows developers to focus on optimising specific aspects of the app experience, addressing issues that might be causing users to disengage. By identifying these drop-off points, developers can implement targeted improvements, ultimately improving user retention and satisfaction.
Page visits metrics
Page visits metrics provide a quantitative overview of user engagement with different sections or pages within your iOS application. By analysing which pages users visit most frequently and how much time they spend on each page, developers can gain insights into content relevance and user preferences. This data informs decisions related to content placement, feature prominence, and overall app layout. Whether it’s optimising the home screen or refining in-app navigation, page visit metrics offer actionable data to align the app with user expectations and preferences.
Please note that the collection and analysis of user data, are subject to user consent. Before proceeding with the tracking and gathering of such details for sampling during analysis, it is imperative to obtain explicit consent from the users.
Custom application-related metrics
Custom application metrics provide a tailored view of your iOS application’s performance, offering insights specific to your unique business objectives and user experience. Here are several types of custom metrics that can be valuable for understanding and optimising your app:
- Conversion rates – Measure the effectiveness of specific actions or user flows within your app. For example, track the conversion rate from app downloads to account registrations or from product views to purchases.
- Gender and age-related metrics – Implementing gender and age-related metrics enables your iOS application to gather information on the age groups and gender distribution of its users. This data can be instrumental in shaping targeted marketing strategies, optimising user interfaces, and personalising content to cater to specific demographics.
- Feature adoption – Understand how users engage with specific features by tracking adoption rates. This involves monitoring the number of users who actively use a new feature or functionality introduced in an update.
- Custom events – Define and track events that are specific to your app’s functionality. This could include interactions like button clicks, form submissions, or any other user actions that are crucial for your application’s success.
- User segmentation – Segment users based on custom criteria such as demographics, geographic location, or user behaviour. This allows for more targeted analysis and personalised strategies.
- In-app purchases and revenue metrics – Monitor the performance of in-app purchases and revenue generation. Track key metrics like average revenue per user (ARPU), customer lifetime value (CLV), and the success of promotional campaigns.
- Custom engagement scores – Develop a custom engagement score that combines various user interactions and behaviours to provide a comprehensive view of user engagement levels. This score can help identify highly engaged users versus those who may need re-engagement strategies.
- User feedback analysis – Analyse user feedback from reviews, surveys, or direct communication channels. Categorise and quantify feedback to identify common themes, concerns, or positive aspects, guiding future updates and improvements.
Performance Metrics
Performance metrics are critical for ensuring a seamless and efficient user experience. Here are key metrics that focus on the performance aspects of your iOS application:
- Load times – Assess the time it takes for your app to load and become fully functional. Break down load times for different components, screens, or features to pinpoint areas that may need optimisation. Metrics like app launch time and screen rendering times are crucial for user satisfaction.
- Network performance – Evaluate the speed and reliability of network requests made by your application. Metrics such as API response times, latency, and network errors can help identify bottlenecks and optimise data fetching processes.
- Frame rate – Monitor the frame rate at which your app renders animations and transitions. A smooth frame rate contributes to a positive user experience. Metrics like frames per second (FPS) can reveal performance issues affecting animations.
- Battery consumption – Assess the impact of your app on device battery life. Battery consumption metrics help identify resource-intensive processes or background activities that may contribute to excessive power usage.
- User response time – Measure the time it takes for the app to respond to user interactions, such as button clicks or screen swipes. Analyse response time metrics to ensure a snappy and responsive user interface.
- Application error rates and crashes – Track the frequency of errors and exceptions occurring within the application. Identify patterns and trends in error rates to proactively address issues that may impact performance and user satisfaction. Regularly monitor and analyse application crash reports to identify and resolve issues that impact stability. Metrics such as crash frequency, crash-free users, and specific crash logs provide insights into the overall health of your application.
- App size – Monitor the size of your app installation package. App size can impact download times, storage requirements, and user willingness to install or update the application.
Device-related metrics
Collect and analyse device-specific data, including information on device models, screen sizes, and operating system versions. These metrics provide insights into the diversity of devices your app supports, aiding in optimisation for various screen resolutions and ensuring compatibility with different iOS versions.
Below mentioned table will give you some overview of the examples of some tools that can be effectively used to measure and analyse the different metrics for iOS applications:
| Analytics Tool | Tracked Metrics |
| Google analytics for mobile | User Engagement (Sessions, Active Users)Crash ReportsUser Acquisition (Source, Medium, Campaign)Retention RateIn-App Events (Custom Events)Conversion TrackingEvent tracking for E-commerce and purchase eventsUser behaviour flow metrics Funnel Metrics |
| Firebase analytics | User Engagement (Active Users, Retention)Crash ReportingUser Behaviour (In-App Purchases, Conversions)Audience SegmentationConversion TrackingCustom Events and Parameters |
| Flurry analytics | User RetentionAd PerformanceSession FrequencyDemographics and User CharacteristicsEvents and Event SegmentationGeographic Distribution |
| Mixpanel | Funnel Analysis and metricsUser RetentionA/B TestingNotifications and Push AnalyticsRevenue TrackingUser Surveys and FeedbackUser behaviour flow metric |
| Amplitude | Behavioural AnalyticsUser SegmentationEvent TrackingRetention AnalysisConversion Funnel AnalysisRevenue Metrics |
| Countly | Session and User RetentionUser SegmentationFunnel AnalysisCrash ReportingPerformance Monitoring |
| Heap analytics | User Interactions and EventsFunnel AnalysisRetention and Conversion TrackingClick and Scroll HeatmapsA/B TestingSession replayHeatmapsUser journey |
| Smartlook | Session RecordingsHeatmapsEvent TrackingConversion FunnelsError TrackingRetention Analytics |
| Uxcam | Session RecordingsTouch HeatmapsUser AnalyticsConversion FunnelsIssue detection |
What would your journey from idea to app store look like?
At this point, you possess a comprehensive understanding of how iOS application analytics can empower you to make informed, data-driven decisions. You are well-aware of the ways in which you can leverage available iOS application analytics to enhance decision-making.
After analyzing the analytics of your business application, if you find that the metrics aren’t reflecting positive outcomes, it’s crucial to optimise the performance of your iOS application. Poor results from the analytics could signify issues such as slow loading times, crashes, or inefficient user experiences, all of which can deter users and impact business success. This emphasises the need to enhance the application’s performance to ensure seamless functionality and user experience. For more details on how to optimise iOS application performance, do check out the article on how to optimise iOS application performance.
Still unsure about your next step? Feel free to reach out to our team.
