App Analytics for Indie Developers: 8 Numbers Worth Watching
A small team does not need a hundred charts. It needs a handful of numbers that say whether people find the app, use it, and pay for it. These eight cover the whole path.
1. New users (installs)
How many people opened the app for the first time in a period. It is the top of everything else. Watch it against the changes you make to your listing and your marketing: if it does not move when you improve the listing, the listing was not the limit.
2. Where they came from
Installs from search behave differently from installs from a friend's recommendation or an ad. Knowing the split tells you where to spend effort. If most come from App Store search, your keywords and listing are your growth lever; start there.
3. Activation
Activation is the share of new users who reach the first moment of value: finish onboarding, log a first workout, create a first project. Pick one event that means "this person got it" and count it. Low activation means people install and bounce, and no amount of extra traffic will fix that.
4. Retention
Retention is the share of users who come back after day 1, day 7 and day 30. It is the best single sign of whether the app is worth using. A product people return to can grow; one they do not leaks away as fast as you add users.
5. Trial starts and trial-to-paid conversion
If you offer a free trial, count how many people start one and how many of them become paying customers. Look at both together: lots of starts with few conversions suggests the offer attracts the wrong people or the value arrives too late in the trial.
6. Revenue and recurring revenue
Track revenue over time, and for subscriptions the monthly recurring revenue. Compare it with your costs so you know how long you can keep going. Revenue per new user gives a feel for how well your traffic converts.
7. Churn and renewals
Churn is the share of paying customers who cancel in a period; renewals are the opposite. Small changes in churn compound: lowering it a little keeps customers who each go on paying month after month.
8. Refunds and complaints
A rise in refunds, or a pattern in low-star reviews, is an early warning that something broke or that people expected something else. Read the reviews with the numbers rather than separately.
Keep it light on data
You can learn all this without tracking anything personal. A random device identifier and the events you choose are enough. Tell users in your privacy policy that you use an analytics provider, and avoid putting names or email addresses in events.
Putting it together
MetricNudge shows these numbers for iOS and Android apps in one place, joins them with your keyword rankings, and writes a plain-words plan of what to do first. Add the SDK, connect RevenueCat for revenue, and the Overview fills in. The free plan includes 10,000 events a month, which is plenty for a new app. To see how rankings tie into installs, read how to track keyword rankings.
Try it on your own app
MetricNudge tracks your keyword rankings in every storefront, shows your app's analytics, and writes a plain-words plan of what to do next. The free plan needs no card.