20% Of Apps Are Opened Only Once

So your brand has created a useful, engaging app for consumers, and seen a significant number of downloads. That’s great — except you don’t know how often consumers are actually using the app. New data from Localytics finds that one in five apps are only opened once — and compared to previous years, that’s actually a good thing.

App retention (the average number of times an app is used) is on the rise; four years ago, 26% of apps were opened just once.  Last year that number dropped to 22%, and this year it’s down to 20%. It’s good news for app publishers, but there’s still a long way to go.

App Retention Rate Continues to Rise

Here are more highlights from Localytics app retention study:

  • nearly 40% of apps are used 11 or more times (an increase of 13% over the last four years)
  • app retention rates vary between iPhone users and Android users: 45% of Android apps are opened 11 or more times, vs. just 34% of iPhone apps
  • sports and games apps are the most likely to be abandoned (used only once or twice)
  • social networking and weather apps have the highest retention rate

Does your brand have a dedicated app?  Do you think most users are engaging with it more than once after downloading?