Most iPhone applications gathering dust
iPhone users have very short attention spans.
Just 30 percent of people who buy an iPhone application actually use it the day after it was purchased, according to Pinch Media, which analyzed over 30 million downloads from Apple's App Store. And the numbers plunge from there: after 20 days, less than 5 percent of those who downloaded an application are actively using it. The drop-off is worse for free applications.
Those are amazing numbers. It's not a new pattern--GigaOm and TechCrunch noticed this last August--but back then, with the App Store just a month old, it was hard to know whether that usage model would last.
Now it's clear that 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 centerpiece 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 find iPhone applications very compelling, does it matter how many exist? It's enough to wonder if the App Store is starting to get a bit saturated.
Pinch Media CEO Greg Yardley looks at it a little differently. In his view, Apple has built such an easy-to-use distribution (as well as payment processing) platform for iPhone applications that people find it very easy to move onto the next thing that catches their fancy. 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 very inexpensive, there's little incentive to carefully shop around for the one application that best meets your needs.
Only about 10 percent of iPhone applications appear to retain an audience over time, and most of those are games, entertainment applications such as movie listings, and things like Facebook ("their user sessions must be off the charts," Yardley said).
But developers are still making plenty of money from the other 90 percent, he said. As noted, people are very willing to try new iPhone applications, meaning that building a better mousetrap is still a very viable business model for the world of mobile computing. His advice for developers is to get your money up front, and charge something for your application rather than trying to depend on a free/ad-subsidized 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 within an ocean. "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.
Yardley thinks there is still a great deal of opportunity for developers on the App Store, which isn't that surprising given he makes his living by advising iPhone developers. And it's true that if the installed base of iPhones continues to grow, there will be more and more niche opportunities to cater to the needs of high-school students and seniors, and everyone in between.
Still, how many more currency conversion (37), recipe (67), and fart-joke (30) applications do iPhone users really need, especially if they aren't using the ones they've already got?
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Internet search, including Google, Yahoo, online advertising, and portals, as well as the evolution of mobile computing. He has written about traditional PC companies, chip manufacturers, and mobile computers, spending the last three years covering Apple. E-mail Tom. 
In other news, each song purchased from the iTunes store by consumers is not listened to in an endless loop, but instead may be randomly accessed or accessed at the user's discretion, with very little actual "listening" occurring.
God, what a stupid story.
EX: You can't have Fire Fox on the iPhone because "It replicates an application that already exists on the iPhone." Why don't we have a full Turn by Turn Voice activated GPS on the iPhone? Well Apple claims that it's against there TOS.
Hell earlier this week Apple denied (for the second or third time) the South Park app because some people can find it "Offensive.". Well if that's true then people don't have to download it right? Of course Apple doesn't mind selling episodes of this possibly offensive material to the people who might want to buy it from the iTunes store.
this has nothing to do with Apple's rejection policies !
These pathetic stats are no surprise at all, confirming that most iPhone apps are not productive; they're simply gimmicks.
(Hell, in the CG realm I have an ancient install of 3D VIZ (think: "3DS Max lite") that I haven't touched in eons...)
OTOH, some apps you just can't seem to live without. Take IrfanView (google it, or download it from CNET's download.com site) for instance. Ever since I introduced my Windows-using missus to it a few years ago, she uses the thing almost daily. For me, BBEdit on OSX and WinVi (on the 'doze work machines) are perfect for scripting of any kind when I don't have good old vim or Kate handy.
/P
"WinVi (on the 'doze work machines)"
These would be the Windows systems that you have publically stated previously that you do not own, use, or support? Or would these be some OTHER set of Windows machines that you failed to mention before when you said you didn't have/own/use/support any Windows systems?
Nailed yet again by your own comments.
You sure have a chip (AMD?) on your shoulder about your great 'Doze boxes don't you?
I've got some - have 'em at work.
I can comment.
They make me 'doze.
Well, almost as much as your incessant whining...
You can continue going down on Windows, Linux, and keep shouting "apple rules". But the fact is that most people own a Windows base machine.
Secondly, most people use the iphone for? calling other people!. Yep, it is a cell phone. Also using the calendar, notes, etc., which are included in the iphone, can come in handy. But most people just don't need more functions than the applications that come with the phone.
Ho, and just for you knowledge, most of the people around the world (yes, there are other countries outside the US) use Windows/Linux base computers, and don't have an iphone (great phone, btw).
App changes, and at that point some people who haven't bought it before tend to buy it.
But it is tough getting noticed, all right, just within the App Store, even in the expanded view of it you get in iTunes. So far it's like owning a ski resort- it's a great way to make a small fortune. Out of a big one.
I'm calling bull hockey on this study.
Your numbers are Wa-a-aaaa-y off. i've even purchased expensive ($69.00) iPhone apps and use them on a daily basis.
Just put a negative spin on the world, maybe time will slow down.
Not using iPhone apps is the modern day ?shelf-ware?, something that has been around since software was invented.
If I could give Apple some advice it would be:
1. Clean-up App Store and make it easier to navigate.
2. Let the market decide. If an application isn?t getting traction after a fixed period of time, say six months, then kill it and make room for the apps people do want.
but Apple has dropped the ball on the way they r arranged
and this whole business of 99c apps is the worst idea ever
Apple should stop the 99c apps
if they want the platform to develop into something more than the walmart of software
from where u can download so the problem is not with the way it's delivered
but the way the apps r arranged ,and also this whole 99c app crap is to blame
Apple needs to do something about this in a big way before it get totally out of hand
it's bad enough now imagine when they r more IPhones and apps !
IMO adding the genius feature to the app store to find apps most similar to ones people have installed will be a great move
also I hope they kill the 99c apps these don't benefit n e one in the long run !
or atleast there needs to be a premium section for more expensive quality apps !
I don't think this would work as well with apps as it would with music/ games/ movies... Usually, when you download an app your need is met (hopefully), so you don't need a similar app to do the same thing... I find this trouble on other websites where, let's say, you buy a digital camera, and it decides that you would like more digital cameras... but you just got your camera and don't need another one for quiute some time, thank you...
just sayin'
Singles bought at the iTunes store.
Shoes.
Ties.
Cologne.
Magazines.
So what's the point?
Really?
Nothing against Tom, but this kind of article is amazing for it's lack of meat.
How much software on VersionTracker gets downloaded and never used?
Do we care?
Having 10 applications that do the same things, 8 or 9 will ends up unused by the user.
I used to download trials I fancy of, because of curiosity. Then most of the time before the trial period ends, I found out that I didn't really need that function.
But the drones will never admit it.
Well "homer" you're wrong.
Apple has a nice pile of roughly 26B in cash, and no debt.
Steady sales, and that looks better than most to ME.
Counterpoint?
It also sucks that the apps that get featured the most in the Top Paid/Free and Hot/New sections don't come close to showing the best apps out there.
I wish there were more "Best" classifications that can be used to display apps/music. Sure there's the Top and Most Popular things, but naturally anything that's NEW will be displayed, then slowly float to the bottom as the newer items take their places. What I'm most interested is a way to show the apps/songs with the most CUMULATIVE downloads per day since its release (I wish there could be a cumulative views per day for Youtube videos too...). To me that's the best indication of a popular item.
If there was such a system maybe Apple could remove anything ouitside of the top 100 every month on a 6 month rolling view. It might tidy things up and make it easier to use aswell as promote innovation and competition to be better.
- by mac voodoo February 21, 2009 6:30 AM PST
- This isn't a surprise to me. The same goes for my own PC or Mac. I tend to use very few applications every day and some hardly ever.
- Like this Reply to this comment
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Showing 1 of 3 pages (53 Comments)The iPhone/iPod apps I have downloaded have specialized uses, like looking up a local restaurant, checking on a flight, checking out prices for car repairs in the area, finding a level, etc.
It's nice to know that they're there when needed and don't take up a lot of room on the device.