Apple's New iOS Analytics and Beta Testing Features

We wrote about the WWDC keynote a couple of days ago and how the changes in iOS 8 will affect app developers and marketers. But there were two things that we left out because we wanted to specifically address them in a separate post.

These two things are the new iTunes Connect Analytics dashboard and the availability of TestFlight for beta testing. This post will show you how they will help you get more data on how your apps are doing and how it will be easier to beta test your apps.

New App Analytics

Let's take a look at the new iTunes Connect Analytics dashboard and the expanded features that it will provide. Here is a photo of the dashboard that Mashable's Lance Ulanoff posted on Twitter.

As you can see, there are going to be ways to measure engagement by being able to track installations, active devices, sessions and stickiness. The tabs on the top also show the ability to track the sources of downloads and user retention. But a lot of this information has been available on other platforms for awhile now.

The most useful metric that we can see on this screen however is App Store Views. This will measure how many times people view your app page. With this information, you can now figure out your conversion rate. If you are getting a lot of traffic, but not a lot of downloads, then now it will be easier to see that you need to improve your ASO.

The Sources tab could also be very useful, depending on the traffic sources that they are able to provide. Wouldn't it be great to be able to actually see how well those Smart App Banners are really working? The most important point is that these metrics are coming directly from Apple, so you will be able to see the exact same data that Apple sees when they decide how to rank apps.

Until now, the data that was available in iTunes Connect was pretty basic. There was previously only the ability to track downloads, revenue and in-app purchases on the App Store.

How Apple Analytics Compares To Other Solutions

So how does this fit in when it comes to the other app analytics solutions out there? Apple's new analytics offering won't necessarily displace other analytics solutions, but it will provide more insight into what happens on the App Store, whereas third party solutions provide more detailed data on user behavior in the app and across platforms.

TestFlight For Beta Testing

Finally, Apple is now offering TestFlight for free to developers to help them beta test their apps. You can now invite up to 1,000 beta test users, with unlimited devices. This fills the need that iOS developers have been wanting for a long time.

Conclusion

So that is a summary of the new analytics and beta testing features that Apple will be releasing soon. These updates will be great for developers and bring them in line with what Google Play offers.

Are you looking forward to the new Analytics and beta testing features?