Monitoring: You Developed an App, Now What?
Once you’ve launched an app, you have to change your focus from development to marketing. Monitoring that app requires attention to both marketing metrics and performance. An app that looks great on launch will probably end up abandoned by many users. How can you minimize this drop off in use? By knowing what to monitor and how. Pay attention to application performance, user engagement, and various analytics.
Monitor Application Performance
Any issues with downloading or using the software will drive users away. You need to monitor its stability and speed to ensure the user experience remains as good as it was when the app was new. You can monitor your app’s performance in several ways. A variety of performance measures can be useful for tracking application performance:
· Percentage of crash-free users
· Average session time
· Frequency of crashes
Crashing is probably the single biggest reason that users uninstall an app and use something else. Applications can stop responding, so Application Not Responding (ANR) reports are helpful. Those numbers tell you how well the software works, but what users think of the app is probably even more important.
Track User Engagement
Most people who download an app never use it or abandon it soon after they try it out. The uninstall rate is valuable, if you can get that from the app store. Pay attention to the number of users who download an app and never use it. Some people will download an app, log in and then do nothing else for days or weeks. You want to track both groups of users and try to find out why they abandoned the app. Average session length is also a good variable to monitor.
· Return rate (average number of sessions per user over a given time period
· Total users and new users
· Number of users who downloaded the app and never used
· Number of users who uninstalled the app
User reviews are a goldmine, so check them regularly to see what people love and what bugs them. Normal performance metrics won’t tell you if users are unsatisfied with a certain feature’s speed or user-friendliness.
You may learn how to update features that aren’t as useful as they could be. You may also get ideas for version 2.0 of the app.
Review Analytics
Go beyond performance measures to look at Study the different features of your app. Here are some good questions to ask:
· What’s popular?
· What’s not so popular?
· What’s not being used at all?
· If you’ve launched a new version of the app, what percentage of users are downloading it?
The answers will help you decide how best to improve the app before launching a new version.
Update the App’s Code
Your code will probably need to be updated eventually if you keep offering the app. If early users find a bug that slipped past testing, you need to know so you can revise your code accordingly. Here are things consider over the product’s lifecycle:
· If your software draws on third-party tools for some of its functionality, you need to make sure those integrations continue to work seamlessly.
· Review user data to see what features need to be changed.
· Make sure you have a system for implementing version control on code so future development work can be more organized.
· Keep the software up-to-date with security patches.
Get Expert Help to Build and Support Your Mobile App
Creating a great app and making sure it continues to perform are distinct tasks. If your business model relies heavily on that app, you first want to hire an experienced development team. You then need to have ongoing support to keep the app stable, and popular. DevDigital has deep experience with mobile app development for Android and iOS devices.
