Almost a year after the original announcement at WWDC 2014, Apple has opened access to App Analytics in iTunes Connect today.
Sarah Perez, writing for TechCrunch:
Ahead of its annual WWDC developer conference in June, Apple has opened up beta access to a new mobile app analytics service aimed at iOS developers. Simply called “Apple’s App Analytics,” an announcement inviting developers to request early access to the service appeared today on the iTunes Connect developer portal. Those with an iTunes Connect account can also reach the sign-up page using the direct link analytics.itunes.apple.com.
App Analytics are available for devices running iOS 8 and above, and the usage data part is completely opt-in. Every time you set up a new iOS device (or upgrade to iOS 8), you’re asked if you want to share information with app developers to improve their apps through analytics. Other App Store metrics (views, installs, etc.) are returned for all users.
Based on the tweets I saw in my timeline today, first impressions seem positive. Apple can now give developers a level of insight that’s unprecedented for any other app analytic platform. Apple’s App Analytics can plug directly into the App Store and tell developers how customers find their apps, where traffic is coming from, and how many views an app gets on the Store.
iTunes Connect Analytics are such an incredible resource to have now. Feel like we were blind and now we see.
— Merek Davis (@Merekdavis) April 30, 2015
Got in to App Store Analytics. Really impressed so far. VERY helpful info. Finally, we will know what marketing is worth it and what is not
— Jeremy Olson (@jerols) April 30, 2015
This Analytics thing is pretty cool. Can finally get good data of where sales are coming from. pic.twitter.com/r8iFVMPpZ5
— Paul Haddad (@tapbot_paul) April 30, 2015
App Store Analytics has some great data but does not report sources from inside the App Store (eg featured categories, search queries)
— Benjamin Mayo (@bzamayo) April 30, 2015
Looks like, from the analytics, that people use PCalc a lot less at the weekends. Do they have lives or something? pic.twitter.com/BTGi2cjCP9
— James Thomson (@jamesthomson) April 30, 2015
After years of no data about customer behavior on the App Store, it seems like this will be a massive change for how apps are marketed, optimized for international App Stores, and presented to users.