Mobile Apps: Use Once, Discard?

[Michael Knutson]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.9to5mac.com/50151/a-quarter-of-apps-are-only-used-once?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+9To5Mac-MacAllDay+(9+to+5+Mac+-+Apple+Intelligence)' target='_blank'>http://www.9to5mac.com/50151/a-quar...e+Intelligence)</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Mobile device users are acquiring ever more discretion about the Apps they use, with 26 percent of Apps only ever getting used once after being downloaded."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/at/auto/1296624806.usr17748.jpg" /></p><p>Pretty interesting statistic from Localytics, that in Q4 of 2010 (per their numbers), 28% of the apps on Android, iOS, Blackberry and Windows Phone were used once, and then never again. This makes a case for having trials available for -every- app, not just limited functionality or lite free versions, that often don't resemble the commercial version. "Try-it/Buy-It" is preferable to "Buy-it/Try-it/Hate-it/Delete-It." A good example from my iPhone is a dozen or so camera apps, of which I regularly use maybe two or three.*</p>

[Jason Dunn]

Indeed - I have more than a few apps on my iPod Touch that I've used once...and never again. It's quite irritating actually how there are no trial apps in Apple's ecosystem. They know that sales will go down, and thus profits, if people download a trial app and then realize they don't like it/don't need it. That's one of the things I really like about the Windows Phone 7 marketplace; trials are available for many apps.