Understanding app analytics

Once your app is live in the stores, obviously you want to measure the results! App statistics can get a bit tricky, so this article explains the various locations where you can find analytics of your app, and more importantly also explains what they actually mean.

First, you have to know that there are two different type of statistics : App Store statistics, and Usage statistics.

App Store statistics are being tracked by the appropriate stores : these numbers are being generated by Apple and Google.

App Usage statistics are numbers which are generated when a user opens an AppMachine app, and can be located in the AppMachine CMS.

Please note that this article pertains to apps published using the classic AppMachine platform. New apps will be published as Flutter apps and will not be able to use the "Analyze" section in the AppMachine CMS. Instead you can set up Firebase Analytics for your Flutter app. More info on this can be found here: V2 How to setup Analytics - overview

App Store statistics : Apple - iTunes Connect

In order to gain access to iTunes Connect metrics, please follow these steps :

Sign in to your iTunes Connect account.
Click App Analytics.
Select an app.
In the top of the screen, click Metrics.
Select the date range you want to view.

The data in the Usage section is only from customers that have opted in to share their data with developers. The data in the Sales section is from all customers.

You can see what percentage of users are opting in, by clicking on 'About App Analytics Data'.

In the example above, approximately 30% of the users opted-in, which means that you will not see the usage statistics of 70% of your users.

If you want more information about the different metrics that you can find here, Apple released a very helpful video, which you can find here :
http://itunespartner.apple.com/en/apps/videos#analytics-metrics

Usage
Now, let's dive a little deeper into these numbers :

App Units
The number of first-time app downloads made on the App Store using iOS 8 or tvOS 9, or later. App updates, downloads from the same Apple ID onto other devices, and re-downloads to the same device are not counted. Family Sharing downloads are included for free apps, but not for paid apps.

Installations
The total number of times your app has been installed on devices with iOS 8 or tvOS 9, or later. Re-downloads on the same device, downloads to multiple devices sharing the same Apple ID, and Family Sharing installations are included. Totals are based on app users who agree to share their data with you.

Sessions
The number of times the app has been used for at least two seconds. If the app is in the background and is later used again, that counts as another session. Totals are based on app users who agree to share their data with you.

If you want to know more, you can find the statistics landing page from Apple here, it includes a Glossary for all the used terms :
https://developer.apple.com/app-store/app-analytics/

App Store statistics : Google Play Developer Console

In order to gain access to Google Play statistics, please follow these steps :

Sign in to your Google Play Developer Console.
Select an app.
On the left menu, click Statistics.
Select the date range you want to view.
- To compare data from two date ranges, check the "Display date comparisons" box and select a second date range.
At the top of your screen, select Configure report. Select the metrics you want to view.
- Compare metrics: You can compare up to two metrics. Keep in mind, some metrics can't be displayed together.
- View data by dimension (optional): In the right column, select a dimension.
Select Finished.

Note : Installation data is based on Pacific Time (PT).

There are several metrics here, the image below provides an overview :

AppMachine analytics dashboard

In order to gain access to AppMachine analytics, please follow these steps :

Sign in to your AppMachine account.
Select an app.
On the left menu, click Analyze.
Select the date range you want to view.
On the left menu, select the metrics you want to view.

As you now know, there are several limitations in the way that Apple measures your statistics. The good news is that in the AppMachine CMS every user is being counted, regardless if they opted in- or out on usage data. Every AppMachine app performs a few tasks when it starts :

1. Is there an active internet connection?
2. Is there a valid license?

During this phase, it also sends some usage statistics to our servers, which means that in the AppMachine CMS you can see the actual total number of users and sessions.

What is important to note is that these statistics are different than the numbers you get from the App Store.

Downloads = the amount of times your app was opened for the first time on a unique device.
So, this is a Usage statistic, and not a Store statistic.

You could also say that this number reflects the amount of new users in a specified period.

Google analytics

Please note that this Goole Analytics implementation only pertains to apps built with the classic AppMachine platform. It is not the same as the Google Analytics implementation through Firebase for AppMachine apps that have been built through our new Flutter publishing system. To implement analytics for Flutter apps, please refer to this article: V2 How to setup Analytics - overview

Finally, there is also an option to include your Google Analytics code in your app. The amount of data that you will get from this is limited however.

Google Analytics tracking is done using web-page tracking. Therefor, Google Analytics is only able to show the amount of sessions, the amount of page views, and the language setting of your users device.

Sign in to your Google Analytics account.
Select your account.
On the left menu, click Overview.
Select the date range you want to view.

The following article provides in-depth information on how a web session is defined in Google Analytics: https://support.google.com/analytics/answer/2731565?hl=en

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