APP

ENGAGEMENTThe

State

ofFebruary2021ChapterKEY

FINDINGS

3-4INTRODUCTION

5METHODOLOGY.6-7GLOBAL

BENCHMARKS

8-23REGIONAL

BENCHMARKS

24North

AmericA

24LAtiN

AmericA

30SoutheASt

ASiA

35iNdiAN

SubcoNtiNeNt

.40cJK

(North

PAcific

ASiA)

45WeSterN

euroPe

50eASterN

euroPe

5512345PageTable

of

ContentsKEY

FINDINGSRetainingappusersovertimecontinuestobeamajorchallengeforappmarketers.Only10-12%ofusersremainactivesevendaysafterdownloadinganapp,andamere4-5%arestillactiveafter30days.Whencomparingorganicandnon-organicusers,theformeroutperformedthelatterby15%oniOSand21%onAndroid.YoYretentionratesareup.Thegoodnewsisthatayear-over-yearcomparisonshowsthatoverallretentionhasimproved.Theonlydropin2021wasseenfromAndroidorganicusers(-6%),whileAndroidnon-organicuserretentionwasup4%.iOSdidwellin2021,goingup9%overalland25%amongnon-organicusers.Theimprovementclearlydemonstratesthatmarketersunderstandtheimportanceofretentionandhavedoubleddownontheiroptimizationefforts.Organic/non-organicsessionsgaponly7-9%.TheaveragenumberofappopensperdailyactiveusersonAndroidis3.8vs.3.56,andoniOS4.3vs.4.Monetizingusers,especiallynon-organicones,istough.Fewerthan2%ofthosethatdownloadanappactuallymakepurchasesinsidetheapp.Androidusersmoreengaged,iOSusersstrongerbuyers.Non-organicAndroidusersareslightlymoreengagedearlierinthefunnel(click-to-install,install-to-engagedrates),butwhenitcomestopurchases,iOSusersreignsupreme.Thechancesofanengageduserturningintoabuyerarealmost80%higheroniOS,whiletheoddsofauserwhoinstalledanappbecomingabuyerare55%higher.The

State

of

App

Engagement3Lifetime

activity

significantly

different

across

shopping

and

gaming.

Theaverage

mobile

gamer

performs

about

6

in-appevents

in

90

days,

with

owners

of

AndroiddevicesoutpacingiOSdeviceownersby20%.Theaverageuserofashoppingapp

performs

about

18

in-app

events

in

90

days,

with

iOS

usersalmost

25%

more

active

than

Android

shoppers

across

each

stage

in

the

funnel.Regional

comparisons

show

North

America

leading

in

purchase

activity.

North

America

is

the

leader

in

the

share

of

buying

users

with

the

best

iOS

install-to-buyer

ratio

(2.25%)

and

the

2nd

best

ratio

on

Android

(1.3%)

-

among

non-organic

users.

North

American

shoppers

arealsomost

active

in

adding

products

to

their

in-app

shopping

cart

and

making

purchases:

on

iOS

with

9.5

“add-to-carts“

and

2

purchases,

and

on

Android

with

7

and

2,

respectively.In

the

US,

marketers

will

find

highly-engaged

app

users

where

they

may

not

expect

it.

Cities

like

Salt

Lake

City,

Omaha,

Kansas

City,

Albuquerque,

Oklahoma

City,

Louisville

and

others

in

some

less-prominent

media

markets

see

some

of

the

highest

rates

ofmobile

app

engagement

in

the

country.

Conversely,

some

of

the

largest

media

markets-

like

Seattle,

Los

Angeles,

Silicon

Valley

and

New

York

-

have

populations

that

are

moreselective

about

their

app

engagement.

In

fact,

the

places

that

Amazon,

Google,

Apple,Hollywood

and

Madison

Avenue

call

home

have

populations

that

engage

with

mobile

apps

30%

less

than

those

in

top

“flyover“

cities.Latin

America

has

the

lowest

rate

of

purchase

activity

in

gaming

apps

with

only

about0.07

in-app

lifetime

purchases

(90

days)

per1install

across

iOS

and

Android.

India

is

not

far

behind

with

only

0.09

IAPs.

LATAM

also

has

the

lowest

install-to-buyer

ratio

among

Android

apps

(0.41%),

followed

by

India

(0.84%);

on

iOS,

however,

LATAM

share

of

buying

users

is

higher

at

1.18%.In

terms

of

retention,

North

America

has

the

best

Android

score

among

all

regions,while

CJK

reigns

supreme

on

iOS.

India

and

Eastern

Europe

have

the

lowest

retentionscore

on

Android

and

iOS,

respectively.The

State

of

App

Engagement4INTRODUCTIONIntoday’sfreemium-dominatedappenvironment,theinstallisnolongerthemobilemarketers’goal,butratherameanstoanend.It’sastageinthefunnel–animportantonenonetheless–butstillonlyastage.WithovertwomillionappsinbothGooglePlayandtheAppStore,everyapphasdozens,hundredsandeventhousandsofdirectcompetitors.Withnumerousoptionstochoosefrom,inadditiontoincreasinglyhighuserexpectations,usageandengagementaredwindling,andwithoutcontinuedengagement,monetizationbecomespracticallyimpossible.Thekeyliesingettingenoughqualityuserswhowillengagewithanappovertime.Tohelpmarketersoptimizetowardsthisgoal,AppsFlyer’sTheStateofAppEngagementoffersdetailedengagementbenchmarksfor:RetentionratesAveragesessionsperdailyactiveuserCross-funnelconversionratesLifetimeengagementThereportincludesabreakdownbyplatform,categoryandregion.Itisthemostcomprehensivestudyofitskindtodatecoveringbillionsofdatapointsacrossthesecondhalfof2021.The

State

of

App

Engagement5METHODOLOGYWithAppsFlyer’stechnologyfoundon98%oftheworld’smobiledevices,ourdatabasehasamassivescale.Withsuchscaleandaftertheremovalofoutliers,wewereabletoensurestatisticalvalidity.Whenourstrictthresholdswerenotmet,datawasnotdisplayed–whichexplainsoccasionaldifferencesinspecificregionsand/orsections(forexample,wedidnotincludeafunnelanalysisofiOSappsintheIndianSubcontinent).RETENTIONRATESTimeperiod:Q32021Installsmeasured:3.5+billionNumberofapps:5,000+Howwecalculatedthismetric:Wedividedthenumberofuserswhowereactiveondays1,7,and30outofthetotalnumberofuserswhofirstlaunchedtheapp(onday0).Todetermineourhighlyrobustretentionscore,weexaminednolessthan15daysandassignedmoreweighttoeachpassingdaytoreflectthelogicthatthelongerauserisretained,thehigherthescore.The

State

of

App

Engagement6AVERAGESESSIONSPERDAILYACTIVEUSERTimeperiod:October2021Sessionsmeasured:150+BillionHowwecalculatedthismetric:Wedividedthetotalnumberofsessionsduringeachdaybythetotalnumberofuniqueuserswhowereactiveonthatday,andthenaveragedthedailyfigures.NON-ORGANICFUNNELANALYSISTimeperiod:October2021Non-organicinstallsmeasured:85+millionNumberofapps:800+Howwecalculatedthismetric:Toensureanapplestoapplescomparisonofuniqueuserbehavioracrossthefunnel,weonlyusedappsthatimplementedthespecificeventadheringtoAppsFlyer’sstandardforin-apppurchases–over800appsintotal.Wethencalculatedstandardoverallconversionratesamongtheseapps.Whilethetrackingofclicksandinstallsisstandardizedacrossallourapps,ourdefaultcriterionforanengageduserisonewithatleast3in-appsessions.However,sincethisKPImayvarybasedonthespecificsofeachapp,appownerscanchangethisnumberbasedontheirunderstandingofwhatconstitutesanengageduser.Regardless,thecountofengagedusersisperapp,soiftheaverageamongallappsishigherthan3sessions,itisstillafairrepresentationofanindustrystandard.LIFETIMEENGAGEMENTTimeperiod:Q42021(basedona90daylifetimeperiod)Installsmeasured:380+millionIn-appeventsmeasured:700+millionNumberofapps:2,500+(gamingandshoppingonly)Howwecalculatedthismetric:Wesummedupthetotalofeachspecificin-appeventanalyzedacrossallappswherethateventwasmeasuredanddivideditbythetotalnumberofinstallsoftheseapps.The

State

of

App

Engagement7GLOBAL

BENCHMARKSThe

State

of

App

Engagement8Retention

Rates

by

CategoryDay

1 Day7Day

30Day

7Day

30Day

13.6%4.5%9.6%11.6%33.2%26.6%Non-OrganicOrganicThe

State

of

App

EngagementRETENTION

RATES

/

GLOBAL9GamesOrganic36.9%10.2%2.6%Non-Organic32.8%9.2%2.4%ShoppingOrganic32.0%14.5%6.6%Non-Organic23.3%8.7%4.3%TravelOrganic23.4%8.1%3.5%Non-Organic15.9%6.0%2.7%ProductivityOrganic33.4%12.3%5.0%Non-Organic26.9%11.1%4.2%EntertainmentOrganic29.3%9.5%3.6%Non-Organic22.0%6.7%2.2%LifestyleOrganic28.7%10.2%4.2%Non-Organic19.2%7.0%2.3%Health

&

FitnessOrganic29.5%11.6%4.7%Non-Organic19.2%8.7%2.5%PersonalizationOrganic34.1%12.8%5.7%Non-Organic12.1%4.6%1.4%FinanceOrganic27.2%10.9%5.7%Non-Organic17.3%7.4%2.9%Retention

Rates

by

CategoryDay

1 Day7Day

30Day

7Day

30Day

13.6%4.8%10.1%11.4%30.7%27.6%Non-OrganicOrganicThe

State

of

App

EngagementRETENTION

RATES

/

GLOBAL10GamesOrganic37.8%13.6%3.8%Non-Organic35.5%14.0%4.4%ShoppingOrganic30.6%13.8%7.0%Non-Organic24.2%9.7%4.1%TravelOrganic20.4%7.5%3.4%Non-Organic17.0%7.4%3.5%EntertainmentOrganic27.7%10.0%3.9%Non-Organic17.3%7.9%3.3%LifestyleOrganic24.4%9.6%4.6%Non-Organic17.0%5.5%2.3%Health

&

FitnessOrganic22.4%8.7%3.6%Non-Organic19.1%8.5%3.3%FinanceOrganic25.8%11.6%6.2%Non-Organic15.9%5.9%3.4%Social

NetworkingOrganic36.5%14.7%5.5%Non-Organic30.9%11.2%4.0%Food

&

DrinkOrganic15.8%5.9%2.4%Non-Organic12.2%4.6%2.0%+6%Organic+8%Non-Organic+4%Organic+51%Non-Organic+5%Organic+21%Non-OrganicGames+14%Organic+18%Non-OrganicShopping+6%Organic+25%Non-OrganicALLTheStateofAppEngagementYEAROVERYEARRETENTIONRATECOMPARISONS(Q32021VS.Q32021)-8%Organic+4%Non-OrganicGamesShoppingALL11The

State

of

App

EngagementRETENTION

DATAOBSERVATIONSRetentionratesareachallenge:only10-12%ofusersremainactivesevendaysafterinstallinganapp,andamere4-5%arestillactiveafter30days.Separatingorganicandnon-organicusers,thedatashowsthatthegapinfavoroforganicusersisloweroniOS—15%vs.21%onAndroid.Ayear-over-yearcomparisonshowsthatoverallretentionhasimprovedacrossplatforms.Theonlydropinretentionin2021wasseenfromAndroidorganicusers,whichinturndrovetheoverallAndroidscoredown.TheoverallretentionscoreofAndroidnon-organicuserswasup4%,whileiOSshowedimprovementacrosstheboardin2021,particularlyamongnon-organicuserswitha25%improvement.Clearly,advertisersandnetworksaregettingbetteratimprovingiOSretention.Theyearoveryearimprovementwasalsoseenacrossshoppingandgamingappsonbothplatforms.iOSgained15%and11%respectively,whichwasmainlydrivenbyariseinthenon-organicretentionscore(+18%and+21%).Asignificant51%increasewasrecordedintheretentionscoreamongAndroidnon-organicusersinshoppingapps.Overall,iOSandAndroidhadsimilarretentionratesin2021:Androidleadsamongorganicusersby3.5%,whileiOSleadsamongnon-organicusersby3.5%aswell.OnAndroid,organicusersoutperformnon-organicuserswiththehighestgapinPersonalizationapps(+200%),followedbyFinance(+90%);thegapislowestamongGames(+11%)andProductivity(+18%).OniOS,thegapbetweenorganicandnon-organicusersishighestamongFinanceapps(+75%),followedbyLifestyle(+60%);thegapislowestamongGames(+1%)andTravel(+9%).12The

State

of

App

EngagementWHAT

THIS

MEANSFOR

MARKETERSThe

goodnews

for

marketers

is

that

retention

has

mostlyimproved

–

especiallyamong

non-organic

users

on

both

platforms.

App

marketing

has

shifted

from

a

focus

on

installs

to

a

focus

on

engagement,and

the

results

of

marketers’

optimization

efforts

are

clearly

evident.However,

retaining

usersover

timecontinues

to

be

a

majorchallenge

for

apps.

Marketers

need

to

continue

using

data

to

boosttheir

app’s

usage

and

revenuepotential.

This

includes

data-driven

user

acquisition,

granular

in-app

measurement

forfunnel

optimization

and

sharper

segmentation,

cohort

reporting,

uninstalltracking,andvariousmethodandtoolstoboostengagementsuchasretargeting,push

notifications,

and

deep

linking

to

streamline

the

user

experience.Data’s

instrumental

role

in

app

marketing

success

is

especially

coming

to

fruition

for

gaming

apps.

Gaming

marketers

are

considered

the

savviest

of

them

all,

and

this

is

demonstrated

by

relatively

similar

retention

rates

among

organic

and

non-organic

users.

Following

their

deep-dive

approach

to

data-driven

optimization

istherefore

highly

recommended.133.81Organic3.56Non-OrganicOVERALL4.32Organic3.97Non-OrganicOVERALLThe

State

of

App

EngagementAVERAGE

SESSIONS

PER

DAILY

ACTIVE

USER14GamesOrganic3.58Non-Organic3.11ShoppingOrganic4.55Non-Organic3.73TravelOrganic2.92Non-Organic3.18Utilities

/

ToolsOrganic3.13Non-Organic3.70EntertainmentOrganic3.97Non-Organic3.51LifestyleOrganic4.31Non-Organic4.07Health

&

FitnessOrganic3.67Non-Organic4.22SocialOrganic7.27Non-Organic4.77FinanceOrganic3.46Non-Organic2.86GamesOrganic4.78Non-Organic3.93ShoppingOrganic3.72Non-Organic3.86TravelOrganic3.42Non-Organic3.35Utilities

/

ToolsOrganic5.53Non-Organic4.75EntertainmentOrganic4.18Non-Organic4.00LifestyleOrganic5.50Non-Organic2.96Health

&

FitnessOrganic3.51Non-Organic3.56SocialOrganic6.55Non-Organic5.03FinanceOrganic3.66Non-Organic2.74The

State

of

App

EngagementSESSIONS

DATAOBSERVATIONSAndroid

organic

users

outperform

non-organic

users

by

only

7%

with

3.8vs.

3.56sessions

per

daily

active

user.

A

breakdown

into

category

level

shows

that

organic

users

are

more

engaged

than

non-organic

users

across

all

categories

except

Travel,Health

&

Fitness

and

Utilities/Tools

(+9%,

+15%

and

+18%

in

favor

of

non-organic

users,

respectively).OniOS,thegapisslightlyhigherwithorganicusersoutperformingnon-organic

users

by

9%,

with

Lifestyle

and

Finance

leading

the

way

(+86%

and

+34%,

respectively);

among

Shopping

and

Travel

apps,

the

difference

between

both

types

of

users

is

the

smallest

(2-4%).When

comparing

operating

systems,

iOS

users

have

12-13%

more

sessions

than

Android

users;

among

organic

users,

the

gap

is

highest

among

Utilities/Tools,

Games

and

Lifestyle

apps;

the

only

examined

categories

in

which

Android

users

reign

supreme

are

Shopping

(+22%)

and

Social

(+11%);

among

non-organic

users,

iOS

users

lead

in

all

categories

examined

except

Lifestyle,

Health

&

Fitness

and

Finance.15The

State

of

App

EngagementWHAT

THIS

MEANSFOR

MARKETERSThe

gap

between

organic

and

non-organic

users

across

platforms

is

relatively

small

(7-9%),

which

means

that

there

is

substantial

quality

to

be

found

among

non-organic

users.

With

the

right

data,

marketers

are

now

able

to

find

those

users

and

optimize

their

investments

according

to

quality.A

category

breakdownshows

that

the

differences

between

organic/non-organicandiOS/Android

are

highest

among

Social,

Utilities/Toolsand

Lifestyle

apps,and

lowest

among

Travel,

Entertainment

and

Health

&

Fitness

apps

(based

on

a

standard

deviation

calculation).Assuch,

marketers

with

Social,

Utilities/Tools

and

Lifestyle

apps

have

more

roomfor

optimization

following

an

analysis

and

understanding

what

factors

contribute

to

ongoing

engagement.

For

example,

if

the

difference

between

operating

systems

for

utility

apps

is

76%

for

organic,

and

28%

for

non-organic,

there

is

a

greater

chance

thatby

focusing

on

the

underperforming

Android

organic

users

will

yield

the

best

results.16SHOPPING0.46%TRAVEL0.92%1.3%Install-to-BuyerGAMES0.63%44.70%5.59%2.50%51.13%4.28%2.19%34.29%2.63%0.90%The

State

of

App

EngagementNON-ORGANIC

FUNNEL

ANALYSISOVERALL0.6%

Click-to-Install37.0%3.4%Install-to-EngagedEngaged-to-Buyer17SHOPPING1.32%TRAVEL0.60%GAMES0.40%Install-to-EngagedEngaged-to-BuyerInstall-to-Buyer34.89%4.96%1.73%47.39%4.38%2.70%36.17%4.24%1.54%37.01%15.67%3.10%The

State

of

App

EngagementNON-ORGANIC

FUNNEL

ANALYSISOVERALL0.52%

Click-to-Install18The

State

of

App

EngagementFUNNEL

DATAOBSERVATIONSOverall,

monetizing

users

via

in-app

purchases

–

especially

non-organic

ones

–

is

challenging.

On

average,

fewer

than

2%

of

installers

for

a

given

app

end

up

making

in-app

purchases.Non-organic

Android

users

are

slightly

more

engaged

earlier

in

the

funnel

(click-

to-install,

install-to-engaged).

However

iOS

users

are

stronger

buyers:

The

chances

of

anengaged

user

turning

into

a

buyer

are

almost

80%

higher

on

iOS,

while

the

odds

of

a

user

who

installed

an

app

becoming

a

buyer

are

55%

higher.Gaming

apps

have

a

hardertime

monetizing

non-organic

users

across

both

platforms,

trailing

farbehind

travel

and

shopping

apps

(60%

fewer

installers

go

on

to

make

a

purchase

in

a

game)Travel

apps

have

the

widest

differences

across

platforms:

while

more

Android

clickers

install

apps

(+50%)

and

more

installers

become

engaged

users

(+38%),

the

tables

are

turned

when

purchasing

is

involved.

Engaged

iOS

users

are

2.5x

more

likely

to

become

buyers,

while

installers

are

40%more

likely

to

become

buyers.19The

State

of

App

EngagementWHAT

THIS

MEANSFOR

MARKETERSMobile

marketers

need

to

focus

on

buying

users

and

understanding

exactly

a)

which

channels,

media

sources,

publishers,

campaigns

and

even

creative

variations

delivered

these

users,

b)

whether

and

how

retargeting,

push

notifications,

emailsor

other

engagement

tools

can

be

used

to

drive

users

past

the

finish

line,

c)

whatseparates

converted

users

from

other

users

in

earlier

stages

of

the

funnel,andd)what

characterizes

these

users

so

that

effective

lookalike

campaigns

can

be

created.Also,

marketers

should

consider

opening

additional

revenue

streams

where

appropriate.This

applies

particularly

to

the

use

of

in-app

advertising

which

is

the

largest

revenuestream,

and

the

one

that

is

projected

to

grow

the

fastest

in

many

verticals,

according

to

App

Annie.

The

use

of

a

paid

or

a

free

trial

model

can

also

be

considered,

but

only

if

the

app

is

right

for

it

(offering

a

unique

or

high

value

proposition/service/content).

A

subscription

model

may

work

(especially

since

Apple

announced

developers

would

get

85%

instead

of

70%

of

the

cut

after

1

year),

but

only

if

an

app

can

offer

ongoingvalue

to

users

such

as

regularly

updated

features

or

content.The

fact

that

almost

40%

of

installers

become

engaged

is

a

good

sign,

but

this

can

be

further

improved

with

the

right

welcome

screen

and

a

seamless

onboarding

process,

which

should

be

very

carefully

planned

out

based

on

data

and

multiple

iterations.Low

click-to-install

rates

can

partially

be

explained

by

the

fat

finger

phenomenon

(accidental

clicks).

It

is

clear

that

a)

app

store

pages

are

underperforming

(make

sure

you

test

multiple

variations

of

descriptions,

images

and

videos

to

pinpoint

the

best

performing

version),

and

/

or

b)

the

ad

creative

does

not

match

the

app

store

page(remember

that

ad

relevancy

is

key

to

engagement.)20GamingShoppingGamingShoppingLevelAchieved

EventsPurchase

Events0.903.850.37TutorialsLevelsPurchases0.663.350.221INSTALLORGANIC1INSTALLNON-ORGANIC16.386.561.69Content

View

EventsAdd

to

Cart

EventsPurchase

Events7.794.070.67Content

ViewsAdd

to

CartPurchases1INSTALLORGANIC1INSTALLNON-ORGANICORGANIC1INSTALL1INSTALLNON-ORGANIC0.902.970.45TutorialsLevelsPurchases0.632.760.22TutorialsLevelsPurchases1INSTALLORGANIC1INSTALLNON-ORGANIC19.857.182.1910.395.410.72Content

ViewsAdd

to

CartPurchasesContent

ViewsAdd

to

CartPurchasesThe

State

of

App

EngagementLIFETIMEENGAGEMENTTutorialCompletion

Events21The

State

of

App

EngagementLIFETIMEENGAGEMENT

DATAOBSERVATIONSOverall,

the

average

app

gamer

performs

about

6in-app

eventsin

their

first

90

days,

with

owners

of

Android

devices

outpacing

iOS

device

owners

by

20%

(in-appevents

are

any

action

a

user

performs

in-app:

launch,

purchase,

level

pass,

content

view,

add

to

cart

or

any

other

action

defined

by

the

app

owner)Android

gaming

installs

generate

higher

engagement

with

30%

more

levels

achieved

than

iOS,

and

25%

more

registrations.

However,

when

it

comes

to

purchases,

iOSusers

make

almost

20%

more

in-app

purchases

than

Android

users.Organic

gamingusers

aremoreactive

than

non-organicusers

across

the

board,

andthis

is

especially

true

with

in-app

purchases:

organic

iOS

users

make

almost

twice

as

many

purchases,

while

organic

Android

users

make

70%

more

purchases.The

average

user

of

a

shopping

app

performs

about

18

in-app

events

in

their

first

90

days.

In

this

category,

iOS

users

are

almost

25%

more

active

than

Android

shoppers

across

each

stage

in

the

funnel.Organic

iOS

shoppers

are

far

more

engaged

than

non-organic

users:

organic

iOS

shoppers

view

90%

more

content

pages,

perform

35%

more

add

to

cart

actions

and

most

importantly

and

significantly

make

no

less

than

3x

more

purchases

than

non-

organic

users.

On

Android,

the

situation

is

similar

with

organic

shoppers

generating

110%

more

content

views,

60%

moreadd

to

cartevents

and

2.5x

more

purchases

than

non-org