What Metrics Should You Track for Mobile App Benchmarking?

Most app developers spend weeks perfecting their launch strategy, but 77% of users never open an app again after just three days of downloading it. This staggering drop-off rate isn't just about poor user experience—it's often because developers have no idea what's actually happening inside their app after users hit download.

I've watched countless clients launch apps with high hopes, only to find themselves flying blind once users start interacting with their product. They can see download numbers climbing, but have no clue whether people are actually using the app, where they're getting stuck, or why they're leaving. It's like running a shop with your eyes closed—you might hear the till ringing, but you don't know if customers are happy or heading straight for the exit.

The difference between apps that succeed and those that fail isn't usually the initial idea—it's how well the development team understands and responds to user behaviour through data

App performance metrics aren't just numbers on a dashboard; they're the story of how real people interact with something you've built. Every tap, swipe, and abandoned session tells you something about whether your app is solving the problem you set out to fix. Without proper benchmarking, you're making decisions based on guesswork rather than reality. The apps that thrive in today's competitive market are the ones that listen to what their data is telling them and act on those insights quickly. This guide will show you exactly which metrics matter, how to track them properly, and most importantly—what to do with that information once you have it.

Getting your metrics foundation right from the start saves you months of headaches down the road. I've seen too many app owners realise six months after launch that they're tracking vanity metrics instead of the data that actually tells them whether their app is succeeding or failing.

The key is setting up your tracking infrastructure before you launch—not after. This means choosing the right analytics platform, defining your key performance indicators, and making sure your development team implements tracking correctly from day one. Firebase Analytics and Mixpanel are solid choices for most apps, though the platform matters less than having clean, consistent data flowing in.

Core Tracking Categories You Need

Your metrics foundation should cover five main areas that give you a complete picture of your app's health. Each category serves a different purpose, but together they tell the story of how users discover, interact with, and find value in your app.

• User acquisition metrics—where users come from and what it costs to get them
• Engagement metrics—how often people use your app and for how long
• Retention metrics—whether users come back and when they drop off
• Performance metrics—technical issues that might be driving users away
• Revenue metrics—how your app makes money and which users are most valuable

Setting Up Event Tracking

Beyond basic screen views and session data, you need to track specific actions users take inside your app. These custom events show you exactly where users get stuck, what features they love, and which parts of your app aren't working. Start with tracking your core user journey—the path from first app open to completing your app's main value proposition. Everything else can be added later once you have this foundation working properly.

User Acquisition and Growth Metrics

Getting users to download your app is just the beginning—tracking how they find you and what happens next makes the difference between sustainable growth and burning through your marketing budget. After working with hundreds of apps across different industries, I've seen too many teams focus purely on download numbers without understanding the full picture of their acquisition funnel.

Cost Per Install (CPI) remains your most fundamental metric, but it's meaningless without context. A £5 CPI might be excellent for a financial app with high lifetime value, but terrible for a casual game. I always tell my clients to track CPI alongside your average revenue per user—this gives you a clear picture of whether your acquisition spend makes financial sense.

Core Growth Metrics to Monitor

• Install-to-registration rate (measures onboarding friction)
• Organic vs paid install ratio (shows brand strength)
• Source attribution accuracy (which channels actually work)
• Day-1 retention by acquisition source (quality of users by channel)
• Time from install to first meaningful action

Monthly Active Users (MAU) growth rate tells you if you're building momentum or just replacing churning users. I've worked with apps that had impressive download spikes but flat MAU growth—that's a red flag that your acquisition strategy isn't sustainable. The magic happens when you can maintain steady CPI while your organic install percentage grows month over month.

Track your install-to-registration rate by acquisition source. If Facebook ads convert at 15% but Google ads only convert at 8%, you might be targeting the wrong audience on Google rather than having a channel problem.

User acquisition becomes profitable when you understand not just how many people download your app, but which channels bring users who stick around and generate value. That's where the real growth happens.

User Engagement and Retention Metrics

Getting users to download your app is only the beginning—keeping them engaged and coming back is where the real challenge lies. I've seen countless apps with thousands of downloads but terrible retention rates, which means all that marketing spend was basically money down the drain. The metrics that matter most for long-term success focus on how users interact with your app after that first download.

Session length tells you how much time users spend in your app during each visit, while session frequency shows how often they return. A shopping app might have shorter but more frequent sessions, whereas a meditation app might have longer, less frequent ones. Daily Active Users (DAU) and Monthly Active Users (MAU) give you the bigger picture—I always look at the DAU/MAU ratio because it shows how sticky your app really is.

The Retention Numbers That Actually Matter

Retention rates are probably the most telling metrics you can track. Day 1, Day 7, and Day 30 retention rates show you exactly where users are dropping off. Most apps lose about 80% of their users within the first three days, so if you're beating those numbers, you're doing something right.

• Day 1 Retention: 20-25% is typical across most industries
• Day 7 Retention: 10-15% is considered good performance
• Day 30 Retention: 5-10% indicates strong long-term value
• Churn Rate: Track weekly and monthly to spot trends early
• Feature Adoption: Which parts of your app do users actually use?

Don't forget about push notification metrics either—open rates, opt-in rates, and how notifications affect session frequency. These can make or break your retention strategy, but only if you're measuring them properly and adjusting your approach based on what the data tells you.

Performance and Technical Metrics

Your app might have the most engaging content in the world, but if it crashes every five minutes or takes ages to load, users will delete it faster than you can say "one-star review." I've seen too many promising apps fail because their creators focused only on fancy features whilst ignoring the technical foundations that keep everything running smoothly.

The metrics that matter most start with crash rate—aim to keep this below 1% for iOS and 2% for Android. Load times are just as important; your app should launch in under three seconds on a decent connection, with key screens loading in two seconds or less. Memory usage is another big one, especially on older devices—if your app consumes more than 100MB of RAM regularly, you're asking for trouble.

Core Performance Indicators

App size matters more than most developers think. Every extra megabyte reduces your download completion rate, particularly in markets with slower internet connections. Battery drain is becoming a bigger concern as users become more aware of which apps are killing their phone's power—monitor CPU usage and background activity carefully.

Users will forgive a missing feature, but they won't forgive an app that doesn't work reliably when they need it most

Network error rates tell you how well your app handles poor connectivity, which is more common than you'd expect. API response times should stay under 500 milliseconds for critical functions like login or search. Don't forget about device compatibility—track which devices and operating system versions are causing problems so you can prioritise fixes that help the most users.

Revenue and Monetisation Metrics

Revenue metrics tell the real story of whether your app is actually making money—not just attracting users. I've seen countless apps with impressive download numbers that couldn't sustain themselves because the team wasn't tracking the right financial indicators. Understanding app ROI justification becomes crucial when you're trying to prove your app's value to stakeholders.

Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) sits at the heart of monetisation tracking because it shows how much each user contributes to your bottom line over a specific period. Calculate this by dividing total revenue by active users for the same timeframe. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) takes this further by predicting the total revenue a user will generate throughout their entire relationship with your app—this metric becomes your north star for determining how much you can spend on user acquisition while staying profitable.

Key Revenue Metrics to Monitor

• Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) for subscription apps
• In-app purchase conversion rate and frequency
• Ad revenue per impression and click-through rates
• Churn rate impact on revenue streams
• Payment failure and recovery rates

For subscription-based apps, Monthly Recurring Revenue provides the clearest picture of business health because it smooths out the ups and downs of one-time purchases. Track your conversion funnel from free trial to paid subscriber, and pay close attention to where users drop off—often it's not the price point but friction in the payment process that kills conversions.

Don't forget about the revenue you're losing through payment failures and involuntary churn. A good retry logic system can recover 15-30% of failed payments, which directly impacts your revenue without requiring new user acquisition.

User Experience and Quality Metrics

User experience metrics tell you how people actually feel about using your app—not just whether they're using it, but whether they're enjoying the process. These numbers can make the difference between an app that gets recommended to friends and one that gets deleted after a frustrating experience.

App crashes are your biggest enemy when it comes to user satisfaction. Keep your crash rate below 1% for iOS and 2% for Android; anything higher and you'll see users abandoning your app faster than you can acquire new ones. I track crash-free sessions rather than just crash rates because it gives a clearer picture of the overall user experience—one user having multiple crashes is worse than multiple users having one crash each.

Quality Indicators That Matter

App store ratings and reviews are obvious quality indicators, but they're lagging metrics—by the time you see bad reviews, the damage is often done. Instead, focus on leading indicators like loading times (aim for under 3 seconds), memory usage, and battery consumption. Users won't always tell you your app is slow, but they will delete it.

Set up automated alerts for quality metrics rather than checking them manually. Your crash rate can spike overnight due to a bad app update or server issue—catching these problems within hours rather than days can save your user retention numbers.

Network request failures and API response times directly impact user experience but often get overlooked. Track these separately from your main app metrics because a slow backend can make even the most well-designed app feel sluggish to users.

Competitor Benchmarking Strategies

Tracking your own app metrics is only half the story—understanding how you stack up against your competition gives you the context you need to make smart decisions. I spend considerable time each month analysing competitor apps, not to copy what they're doing, but to understand where the market is heading and where opportunities exist.

Start by identifying your direct and indirect competitors, then focus on metrics you can actually observe. App store rankings, review scores, download estimates, and user feedback patterns are all publicly available if you know where to look. Tools like App Annie, Sensor Tower, and even simple manual tracking can give you insights into competitor performance trends.

Key Areas to Monitor

Focus on metrics that directly impact your strategy rather than vanity numbers. User review sentiment tells you what features people love or hate; app store keyword rankings show you where competitors are investing their ASO efforts; and pricing changes reveal their monetisation experiments.

• App store ranking positions for key search terms
• Review scores and sentiment analysis over time
• Feature releases and update frequency
• Pricing strategy changes and promotional activities
• User acquisition channels and marketing approaches
• Social media engagement and community building efforts

Turning Insights into Action

The real value comes from connecting competitor data to your own performance metrics. If a competitor's app ranking drops after a particular update, dig into their reviews to understand what went wrong—then make sure you avoid the same mistakes. When you see successful features being adopted across multiple competitor apps, that's usually a signal that user expectations are shifting.

Set up regular competitor audits rather than one-off reviews. Monthly snapshots help you spot trends that might take weeks or months to become obvious, giving you time to adapt your own strategy before falling behind.

Making Data-Driven App Improvements

Collecting metrics is pointless if you don't act on what the data tells you. I've watched countless app owners obsess over their dashboards whilst their apps slowly bleed users—it's like checking your pulse whilst ignoring the wound. When development projects go wrong, it's often because teams aren't responding to what their data is telling them, sometimes requiring switching development agencies to get back on track.

When your retention rate drops or session times decline, you need to dig deeper than the surface metrics. Start by segmenting your users to understand which groups are struggling most; new users might be confused by your onboarding flow, whilst long-term users could be frustrated with new features. Your crash reports and performance data should guide your development priorities—fix the technical issues that affect the most users first, then tackle the smaller problems.

Creating Your Improvement Roadmap

The apps that succeed long-term are those that treat data as a conversation with their users rather than just numbers on a screen. Look for patterns across multiple metrics; if you see high drop-off rates during onboarding combined with low feature adoption, that's telling you something specific about user confusion. Revenue metrics paired with engagement data reveal whether you're monetising effectively or pushing users away with aggressive tactics.

Data without action is just expensive noise—the apps that win are the ones that listen to what their users are actually doing, not what they say they want

Set up regular review cycles where you examine your key metrics and identify the biggest opportunities for improvement. Focus on changes that will move the needle on your most important business goals, whether that's increasing lifetime value, reducing churn, or improving user satisfaction. Small, consistent improvements based on solid data will always outperform big guesses based on gut feelings.

After years of working with clients across different industries, I've seen too many app owners make the same mistake—they track everything but understand nothing. The metrics we've covered throughout this guide aren't just numbers to impress stakeholders; they're the compass that keeps your app heading in the right direction when user behaviour gets confusing or market conditions shift unexpectedly.

The key is starting simple and building complexity over time. Focus on your core metrics first—user acquisition costs, retention rates, and whatever revenue metric matters most to your business model. Once you've got those dialled in and you're making decisions based on that data, then you can start layering on the more sophisticated stuff like cohort analysis and predictive lifetime value calculations. This approach should be part of your broader long-term mobile planning efforts.

What separates successful apps from the ones that burn through their budgets isn't having access to fancy analytics tools or tracking dozens of different data points. It's consistently measuring the right things, comparing those numbers to realistic benchmarks, and actually changing how the app works based on what the data tells you. The apps that thrive are the ones where someone looks at the weekly numbers and asks "what does this mean we should do differently?"

Remember that benchmarking isn't about beating your competitors on every single metric—that's impossible and frankly unnecessary. It's about understanding where you stand, spotting the gaps that matter most to your users, and making steady improvements over time. The mobile app market rewards consistency and user focus, not perfect numbers across every possible measurement.