It is a truth universally acknowledged, that the more time goes by, the less users will return to some certain apps.
In a world “taken over” by Pokemon Go app, users’ activity regarding new app downloading and deleting is one of the mysteries tech companies are “struggling” to solve. It is understandable why people decide to delete some apps after realizing they are not going to use them anymore, or the apps are taking a lot of their time, but what is still not quite clear yet, is user’s retention based on in-app messages.
According to developer-tech.com “Of users that see an in-app message, 17% will use that app just once; however, 26% of users who did not see an in-app messaging abandoned the app after one use.”
A report by Appboy entitled “Spring 2016 Mobile Customer Retention Report” which was published on May 19, 2016 represented activity on Appboy’s platform by Android and iOS users (but not only), over 90 days since they first used an app. The report found out that only 27% of Android users came back to a mobile app after the 1st day of using it, while 23% of iOS users returned to an app after the 1st day.
“Apsalar took a look at which apps fare the worst in terms of user retention. They found that travel apps and gaming apps had the highest 4-week uninstall rates at 31% and 29%, respectively.
Though gaming users are notoriously fickle, the travel app rate is a bigger mystery. The most likely scenario is that users download travel apps for one specific trip or booking and delete the app after the activity is completed. Retail and shopping apps rounded out the middle of Apsalar’s study at a 28% uninstall rate with entertainment & lifestyle apps (17%) and on-demand services (12%) at the bottom,” according to developer-tech.com.
In total, only 24% of all mobile app users worldwide returned to an app after the first day they used it. The percentages during the first 90 days over the November 2015- March 2016 period started to vanish. But the end of the 90-days-period, only 4% of users returned to an app after purchasing and using it for the first time.
According to emarketer.com “as of April 2016, half of apps studied were used five times or less during the first six months after download. The other half had been used more frequently—more than five times during the same period. [...] Apsalar provides data on another metric for marketers interested in app retention: uninstall rates. The Q1 2016 data, which dealt only with Android apps, found that 31% of travel apps had been uninstalled within four weeks. More than a quarter of gaming, as well as retail and shopping apps, were uninstalled during the same period.”