Use 'Em and Leave 'Em: 26% of App Uses are One Night Stands

[Jon Westfall]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.localytics.com/blog/post/first-impressions-matter-26-percent-of-apps-downloaded-used-just-once/' target='_blank'>http://www.localytics.com/blog/post...used-just-once/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"The resulting analysis shows that for customers using an app for the first time between January and March, about 22% of them never open the app again. In the second and third quarters, the rate of one-time usage is flat at 26%. One-time usage grows to over 28% in the fourth quarter, but some of those customers may still use the app again in early 2011."</em></p><p><em><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com//adt/auto/1296607625.usr7.png" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></em></p><p>Admit it - you've used an app once and then never bothered to click again. We all do it, although it's interesting to see the data presented here. I suspect we aren't seeing significant differences between those rates above, and I also wonder how much of this depends on app segment. One thing is for certain, it's a lot nicer to have app stores now that let us try before we buy and give us comments and ratings. I recall my early WinMo days of "that looks cool, buy it". I probably spent around $100 (over 3 years) on apps I never used more than 3 times.</p>

[Vincent Ferrari]

No mention of sample size.

A vested interest in promoting their service (which, conveniently tracks application usage).

No mention of what apps made up the study.

Sorry; this chart is being passed around an awful lot and I think it's full of crap, just like when some antivirus or antispyware company jumps out with a press release to sell its own product or service and they shamelessly plugged their product at the end, which to me discredits the whole thing.

[paschott]

I can't think of too many apps I've bought and used only once. Trial apps - that's a different story. I've had a couple of trials that were downloaded, installed, used once, and then promptly removed. I don't know if this study includes trial versions of apps or not, but those should probably be discounted. I have some trial/free apps that I've installed but still haven't used even once for one reason or another. Most times I don't even bother with an app if it doesn't have some form of free trial or really good reviews somewhere.

I guess it can be an interesting insight, but if this is done to peddle someone's product as hinted, then it's probably not that useful as an objective study.

[Vincent Ferrari]

I guess it can be an interesting insight, but if this is done to peddle someone's product as hinted, then it's probably not that useful as an objective study.

Much more than hinted. I'm outright saying it and in the last 3 paragraphs of the accompanying article, they pitch their service.

I'd also be curious to know how many people use their service in their apps and what apps it's used in. I have a feeling that their clientele just produces crap and wants to be tracked, and if so, that would explain a ton.

[Jason Dunn]

Sorry; this chart is being passed around an awful lot and I think it's full of crap, just like when some antivirus or antispyware company jumps out with a press release to sell its own product or service and they shamelessly plugged their product at the end, which to me discredits the whole thing.

So you don't think the basic premise rings as true? It sure does for me. I have probably, oh, 60 apps on my iPod Touch, and there are at least 30 that I've used once or twice and that's it (and many of them are apps I've paid for). Regardless of whether or not this sample is flawed, the premise is correct in my opinion.

[Vincent Ferrari]

So you don't think the basic premise rings as true? It sure does for me. I have probably, oh, 60 apps on my iPod Touch, and there are at least 30 that I've used once or twice and that's it (and many of them are apps I've paid for). Regardless of whether or not this sample is flawed, the premise is correct in my opinion.

No, I don't. In order to change my mind I'd have to know the following.

1. How many apps out of the thousands in the app stores of the various OSes use their product.

2. How accurate their product actually is.

3. What apps run the software.

4. What the price of those apps are.

5. What the ratings of those apps are.

6. What is the full distribution of their numbers? What % is 1-3 times. What % is regularly, and so on.

And honestly, I think it's massively flawed because smack in the middle of this "news," there's a pitch for how this product can remedy this. Sorry. Nope. Not buying it.

[Jason Dunn]

No, I don't. In order to change my mind I'd have to know the following.

How many apps do you have installed on your iPhone/iPod Touch and how many of them do you regularly use?

[Vincent Ferrari]

How many apps do you have installed on your iPhone/iPod Touch and how many of them do you regularly use?

Don't change the metric; we aren't talking about not regularly using apps (although the truth is if I have an app it's because I regularly use it; if I didn't, it wouldn't be installed). I regularly use all the apps I have, which is why I keep 'em readily available. I'm nowhere near 1/4 of my apps being one and done, which is what this survey says without any actual data to back it up.

Everyone has apps that cycle on and off, but that's not what this "study" claims. I'm not saying people don't get tired of apps after awhile, or they don't end up relegated to iTunes and removed from their device, but that's not what this "study" is saying, either.