iTunes Connect and Facebook Analytics app install numbers are different - app-store-connect

I am having difficulty reconciling the app install count from iTunes Connect and Facebook Analytics. I have read other posts that they are different, but in those posts iTunes is always higher. In my case iTunes is LOWER, and never lower by a consistent amount. This is troubling me because, obviously, I make money on the number of downloads. How can I reconcile the two?

Please refer to Apple definition of Installations:
The total number of times your app has been installed on an iOS device with iOS 8 or later. Redownloads on the same device, downloads to multiple devices sharing the same Apple ID, and Family Sharing installations are included. App updates aren’t counted. Totals are based on app users who agree to share their data with you.
App Analytic Guide
The last sentence is makes it very clear:
Totals are based on app users who agree to share their data with you.
So if they did't agree you won't see them in the total count.
Maybe its better to look at the App Units.

Related

Do apps need a purpose to be accepted by the App Stores?

I created an application that simply spins a picture of my goose on screen. That's it. Nothing else.
Could that be deployed to the app stores?
Context:
I'm a mobile app engineer for a few different companies (finTech, gigEconomy, social...) and all of our applications have very specific use cases for the end user.
I'm also an artist in my own time, and have built a few different apps that help people make art.
For each of these, the data gathered by the apps must be well documented and explained to the end user to be accepted by the App Store along with the purpose of that collection.
That's got me thinking, would the Apple App Store accept an app that does not collect any user data at all, but also has no true "purpose"? (Google Play Store too, though I expect their review process is so easy you can get just about anything up there anyways...)
I haven't found any relevant answers to this question online and might test it just for fun, but would love some insight by other curious developers if they have tried uploading apps just for fun
You might find the following section from the official App Store Review Guidelines useful:
4.2 Minimum Functionality
Your app should include features, content, and UI that elevate it beyond a repackaged website. If your app is not particularly useful, unique, or “app-like,” it doesn’t belong on the App Store. If your App doesn’t provide some sort of lasting entertainment value or adequate utility, it may not be accepted.
Does this include a purpose or does this mean that an app like you have suggested in your scenario gets rejected? Absolutely not.
After a quick google search, I have found the IsItMyBirthday app which lets you pick a date and it tells you if that date is today. Is this useful or unique? We could just look up the date in the calendar on the phone itself.
However, this could be considered a 'joke' and a joke has a purpose and might be considered as unique. An app that does nothing, could be considered a joke as well. It has a purpose and Apple might agree or disagree.
In my experience it can be very random on why an app gets rejected or accepted. For example one of our apps got rejected in version X for reason Y. We released a new version without changing Y and it was accepted.

Daily New Users seems to be Incorrect in Fabric Answers

We have a Android and iOS version of our app. The number of active users on iOS is aproximately 25% of the active user on the Android app.
It happens that the count of Daily New Users of the Android app is always far less then the iOS's. And the this number does not seems to match the increase in Daily Active Users.
The app is br.com.bb.android.
Anyone has an idea of what may be causing this?
Would be great if someone in the Fabric team could take a look into this.
Mike from Fabric here.
For apps where they may come pre-installed or not be opened for a length of time, then the installs may not be counted as a daily new user.
A new user will only be counted if the time between downloading the app and opening it (with foreground activity) is less then 7 days.

Where do you find Mac App Store analytics

I have recently published my first Mac app onto the Mac App Store, forgive me if this is a stupid question but i can find no place on iTunes Connect that shows the analytics for it, the App Analytics section on iTunes Connect only shows my iOS app? There must be somewhere to see how many units i have sold?
So i contacted apple an there reply was:
App Analytics is available only for iOS developers at this time, and it reports data only from customers using iOS 8 and above. Therefore you will not see data from your Mac app.
If you would like, I can submit feedback on your behalf for a possible future enhancement. If this is something you would like me to do, please reply with a clarification of your request, and I will be happy to send it up for you.
So the short answer is there is nowhere for you to find how many downloads/revenue you have earned. Which is well, shit

Find out which version of app was first installed - iOS

I want to change my app from a paid version to a free with ads. However, I don't want the people that originally paid for the app to get the ads.
I was thinking I could include a new update that has extra code that sets up some UserDefaults saying the version doesn't have ads and then do the update to the free version. But that doesn't seem like a very reliable solution.
I think, it depends on minimum OS version, that your program can be run on. For iOS 5.0 and later you can try to use iCloud to store some flag about purchased version. It allows you to set this flag not only for one device, but for the user's account.
Or you can store this info in the keychain to get it later. But in this case your user will not be able to have no ADs on some other device with his(her) account.
Anyway, as far as I know, you need to create an update for your app first to write this flag anywhere. And only in some time make an update with ADs.
I will be glad to see comments if someone has another thoughts about this issue.
It seems there is no reliable method to detect whether someone paid for your app or downloaded it later when the price has been changed to free. For this reason I have decided to create two separate entries in the app store.

From my service how do I listen for when a user clicks on a desktop icon or app from within the application menu?

This question is no longer active - I have been officially notified by the company that we're dropping Android and going with a system that is specifically designed for business use.
In our two sister companies we installed almost 500 android phones assuming they'd have security capabilities similar to Linux that would allow us to provide business phones to our employees but limit their access to apps. Unfortunately we've since found out that we were hugely mistaken. Android has decided that whoever has possession of the phone should have full access to everything. Unfortunately for us this has been a business nightmare, with huge data overages, employees downloading and installing anything and everything they can get their hands on from Play Store, the apps we need to run constantly being stopped by the task manager because too many apps are running at the same time with our employees arguing that the apps are buggy or the phone is broken. Due to our type of operation, the phones are passed from one employee to another often for weeks at a time before a supervisor or technician has access to them.
We absolutely need to either secure the phones or get rid of them. So...
From within a service, how do I capture when an employee clicks on an unauthorized app either from the desktop or from the applications menu? I've spent the last 2 days searching Google for an answer, but have turned up nothing. I know it can be done, because I have a couple of apps on my personal phone that do so.
We're using Android 2.2
Why not uninstall Google play store from the phones? And any other apps which are not needed?
It might be easiest too just install a parental control app. Here's an example, though this particular one may not meet all your needs: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kiddoware.kidsplace
Have a look at the 3CX Mobile Device Manager. The sign up process is free and easy. Then you just need to download the app to each phone from GooglePlay and get it set up. I would be interested in knowing if you proceed with it and if it does everything you need it to.