20% Of Downloaded Apps Are Only Used Once [Study]

We all know that person who has pages and pages of apps on their smartphone, but in reality how many of them do we actually use? Perhaps it is the idea of what the apps that can do for us that we love, but at the end of the day, using them might be a whole different story. According to a recent report by Localytics, it seems that 20% of downloaded apps are only used once.

This is actually an improvement of sorts, since back in 2011 Localytics found that 26% of apps were only used once, so like we said, it looks like more people are giving apps more tries than before. This is evidenced in apps used more than 11 times, which Localytics found to be 39% of apps, a vast improvement over 2011 which was also at 26%.

Oddly enough it looks like in-between uses are pretty low, suggesting that we either use an app only once to see if we like it, and keep using it if we do, rarely giving it more than one or two chances.

This also seems to be in line with an earlier study from April, which suggested that mobile gamers have a tendency to quit a game after one day. Localytics’ stats agrees with that, claiming that if the user does not return to the game within 12 hours, there is a 50% chance they will never play it again.

Of course some apps tend to be used less than others. For example you might only pull out your banking app when you need to make transfers on the go or check on your balance. You might only use your recipe app when you cook, or a train timetable app when you take the train, but what do you guys make of Localytics’ findings?

Tyler Lee
Categories: Cellphones, Tablets
Tags: Apps, study