Report: Mobile App Installs, Engagement Highest On Weekend & Evenings

This morning,  AppsFlyer released its State of App Marketing report. The report looks at more than one billion “non-organic” (paid) installs and five billion app opens across 6,000 apps in the second half of 2015.

Weekends see peak installs for both iOS and Android apps; however, iOS installs drop off midweek much more dramatically. (The following data are for North America, but the report covers global trends.)

The practical recommendation for iOS developers is to “reduce spend midweek as users are less likely to download your app.” However, Android publishers and developers are counseled by AppsFlyer to continue spending midweek.

The peak time for iOS and Android installs is late afternoon through late evening, between about 4 p.m. and 11 p.m. AppsFlyer says that peak app engagement also follows the same weekend and time of day pattern. However, there’s relatively consistent, if lower, app usage throughout the week.

The report also examined conversion and app retention rates. It found some interesting and meaningful differences between the platforms. For example, the chart immediately below shows click-to-install conversion rates, comparing iOS and Android.

Android apps see much better conversion rates in some categories than others, and the same is true for iOS apps. For example, iOS apps convert much better in the Health & Fitness category, whereas Android sees better conversion rates in the Lifestyle category.

The report doesn’t offer an explanation or speculate on the reasons behind these discrepancies.

Another interesting discussion in the report is app retention by platform. The chart below reflects the differences between iOS and Android in terms of different verticals. Some of the categories — such as Productivity, Music and Social Networking — show significant retention gaps between the platforms.

AppsFlyer advises developers to try to determine “what’s working in the version with the higher retention score” and transfer that to the other platform app.

As the company points out, app engagement and churn remain major problems for developers. Therefore, it’s critical to understand and analyze the available data and implement best practices.