By Tom Krazit, 23 February 2009 11:30
NEWS
When it comes to applications, it appears iPhone users have very short attention spans.
Just 30 per cent of people who buy an iPhone application actually use it the day after it was purchased, according to Pinch Media, which analysed more than 30 million downloads from Apple's App Store. And the numbers plunge from there: after 20 days, less than five per cent of those who downloaded an application are actively using it, with a worse drop off for free applications.
GigaOm and TechCrunch noticed this trend last August - but back then, with the App Store just a month old, it was hard to know whether that usage model would last.
But seven months, 15,000 applications and 500 million downloads later, things haven't changed. App Store activity continues to be huge; Apple has made the App Store the centrepiece of its iPhone marketing over the last few months, highlighting the breadth and depth of applications that are available on the App Store for business and entertainment.
But if most people don't have the staying power with iPhone applications, does it matter how many exist?
But according to Pinch Media CEO Greg Yardley, Apple has built such an easy-to-use distribution platform for iPhone applications that people find it very easy to move between on to the next app. The lack of a try-before-you-buy feature means iPhone users have no choice but to take the plunge, and given that most iPhone applications are free and the ones that do cost money are inexpensive, there's little incentive to carefully shop around.
Only about 10 per cent of iPhone applications appear to retain an audience over time and most of those are games, entertainment applications such as movie listings, and social networking tools such as Facebook.
But developers are still making plenty of money from the other 90 per cent, Yardley said. He advises developers to charge something for their application rather than trying to depend on a free/ad-subsidised model, because the number of people viewing those ads will plummet the day after the application lands on their iPhones.
At some point, however, Apple will need to find a better way to help developers promote their applications, he said. "The App Store fails as a promotional mechanism. There's only so much screen real estate" that Apple can use within the App Store window to promote applications, Yardley said, and if you don't get on those Top 100 or Staff Favorites lists, your application languishes.
Comments
There are 4 comments. Join the discussion
1. Mike Pendray
We have been downloading and buying applications for the palm and windows mobile platform for years.
It is user feedback that is the single most important factor that identifies really useful applications from the mass of also rans.
2. Simon
And where is the news in this ?
Especially with stuff that's free, people will tend to download stuff and try it out - and if it doesn't do what they want then they'll look for something else. Not new, not unique to iPhone.
3. anonymous
The test here is not whether you use it everyday but whether you regard it as an active application - and the value you get from its occassional use, however short.
I have some real life activities I only do every now and again - like going to a movie a couple of times a year. That means Flixster doesn't get used very often but its great when i do look.
Similarly, I fly a couple of times a week - but don't always check Flight Status each time.
I use Apple Remote at home very occassionally - but its superb when I do.
I have a group of around 20 applications I use reasonably often aside from the built in ones, and another 50+ that i've downloaded to play with which still sit on my phone. Another 20 or so have already been deleted.
I could go on. I believe that mobile apps aren't something to sit in (as we would do with some desktop apps like your browser) but stuff that supports you at points in your daily life for just a brief time.
That means all of the findings aren't entirely surprising. Think of the number of Top 10 reviews you've read that highlight some apps that look good and useful but which frankly where never going to be continuously useful to you and hence drop of quickly, even if favourably received.
4. Ken Gilleo
Seems like I'm in some other category having become addicted to apps; I spend more on them than music.