Topic hub · 81 articles
App growth.
How to acquire, activate and retain app users: app store optimization, analytics, retention and growth loops.
Free tools
App Store Listing Checker
Score any App Store or Play Store listing and get fixes.
Competitor App Compare
Two app listings side by side, check by check.
App Review Insights
AI turns your app reviews into clear priorities.
App Store Copy Writer
AI writes your app title, subtitle, keywords and description.
Google Play Keyword Ideas
AI finds keywords for your Play Store listing.
Retention Curve Calculator
Plot D1 / D7 / D30 retention against benchmarks.
Viral K-Factor Calculator
Is your referral loop actually viral?
Growth Experiment Ideas
AI suggests 8 growth tests ranked by impact and effort.
Articles
Introducing Growth Bug Tools & Resources: 22 free growth tools and a map of the growth stack
Growth Bug is now more than a blog: 22 free growth tools for ASO, SEO, speed, AI search and growth maths, plus a directory of 90+ growth platforms. No sign-up.
30% cap on UPI may never be possible
30% cap on UPI may never be possible WhatsApp can now onboard its 500 million monthly active users to UPI. However, it’s unlikely to help NPCI reach its goal of limiting third-party app share to …
How to calculate Life Time Value (LTV) of your customers correctly
How to calculate Life Time Value (LTV) of your customers correctly Life time value (LTV) of customers is one of the key metric measured by startups to offset a heavy one time customer acquisition …
Why can’t we make revenue generating apps? India contributes less than 1% of global in-app revenues
Why can’t we make revenue generating apps? India contributes less than 1% of global in-app revenues India is world’s no.1 in app downloads on Android with 23bn downloads in 2021, almost 2.5x of …
Driving 100mn users to adopt digital payments:
Driving 100mn users to adopt digital payments: Growth is the fuel that energizes startups to defy heavy odds. It sustains and drives startups in their quest to create value and to build successful …
GTM for early stage startups
GTM for early stage startups The most common question a new startup faces is — how do we acquire users -starting from your first 1000 users? How do we go from 1k to 10k users? How do we launch our …
What retention metric are you measuring?
What retention metric are you measuring? Ask anyone building mobile apps and they’ll tell you retention is the biggest issue they’re facing. Retention for apps sucks. Period. With the different …
Find out the value of an active user in Indian startups: Byju tops the chart with $890/user
Find out the value of an active user in Indian startups: Byju tops the chart with $890/user Last week I did some analysis on MAU of some of the top Apps in India. You can check it here — …
Face off: India top Android Apps by MAU (Dec 2020)
Face off: India top Android Apps by MAU (Dec 2020) This is just going to be a quick visual blog comparing top 2 android apps in each category. I could not find any true competition for other tops …
One of India’s most celebrated apps has bought 26k fake reviews. Find out more!
One of India’s most celebrated apps has bought 26k fake reviews. Find out more! Fake reviews are so commonplace among (well funded) Indian Apps (a trick we all learnt from China probably). But what …
VCs & Founders: Here is a PMF finder tool, download now
VCs & Founders: Here is a PMF finder tool, download now PMF analyzer for early stage startups or/and a Growth dashboard for a post PMF B2C startup: Download FREE excel dashboard Q. What is a Product …
UPI Ubiquity Will Ease QR Code Standardisation
UPI Ubiquity Will Ease QR Code Standardisation This was originally published on Bloombergquint.com https://www.bloombergquint.com/opinion/upi-ubiquity-will-ease-qr-code-standardisation In December …
UPI October 2020: P2M vs P2P, PhonePe takes the crown, Paytm fastest growing on P2M, CRED continues to shine
UPI October 2020: P2M vs P2P, PhonePe takes the crown, Paytm fastest growing on P2M, CRED continues to shine Last week was a big one for UPI with 2 major announcements which may have some far …
What will it take to build an Atmanirbhar App Store
What will it take to build an Atmanirbhar App Store Do we really need one? Or can we make one? After google announced that all apps selling digital products will be mandated to use google billing …
Top UPI merchants — Zerodha, CRED & BharatPe are 3 big surprises
Top UPI merchants — Zerodha, CRED & BharatPe are 3 big surprises UPI is going strong at 1.8bn transactions a month. It is expected to touch 2bn in October. We have roughly 120mn users on UPI …
Hago — Inside the new gaming app that is re-imagining social, voice & communities.
Hago — Inside the new gaming app that is re-imagining social, voice & communities. When was the last time you were so addicted to a particular app? For teens in the US (2013/2014) it was Snapchat …
December 2019: India Digital Payments Data
December 2019: India Digital Payments Data Credit/Debit Card/UPI/Wallet now have 28.5% share in overall retail (offline + online) transactions in India. This is 23% growth over previous year and 1.5X …
Podcast: Building & Growing Consumer Apps for India
Podcast: Building & Growing Consumer Apps for India I have almost stopped writing here and I feel little sad about it. I hope to revive growthbug in 2020. I am currently working on something that is …
How to make your mobile app go viral (on a low budget)?
How to make your mobile app go viral (on a low budget)? Smartphones have become an extension of our body. Many people cannot live without them (me included). That’s why creating your own mobile app …
Google can ban your apps from Play Store: Part 2
Google can ban your apps from Play Store: Part 2 I wrote part 1 about 4 years ago and till date it has garnered some 100k views making it one of the most popular story on Growthbug. I must have …
Top new features for Android App Developers announced at Google I/O 2019
Top new features for Android App Developers announced at Google I/O 2019 Dynamic Delivery is now out of Beta — no need to bundle all features at install. Dynamically deliver certain features …
How to get featured on the App Store Today tab
How to get featured on the App Store Today tab What featured apps and games have in common, and why getting featured is not always for the best Starting with iOS 11, Apple now publishes lists of apps …
Google Play Store Data: 3.7mn Apps, $14.6bn spends, 60bn Installs, Top Categories, CPI Worldwide and over 100 data points
Google Play Store Data: 3.7mn Apps, $14.6bn spends, 60bn Installs, Top Categories, CPI Worldwide and over 100 data points The most comprehensive data on Android Apps from Play Store you will find …
How to build a profitable growth strategy for a mobile app.
How to build a profitable growth strategy for a mobile app. Huge investments in marketing are not the only way to support an app growth. Small business should develop a data-driven and …
Retentioneering 101: Track & Retain your App installs
Retentioneering 101: Track & Retain your App installs By now, most growth practitioners do not talk about App installs. The key metric have changed from Installs to Visitors to Active. First step to …
Proven UX tips for increasing engagement
Proven UX tips for increasing engagement Here’s 11 small changes, from buttons and links, to carousels and lists. Every week we prove how small design details have increased engagement at Anghami …
Mobile user onboarding
Mobile user onboarding How data-driven UX and copywriting doubled a music streaming app’s listeners Every day, more than 50k users download and open our music streaming app Anghami for the first …
Questions you must ask when building a product for billion users
Questions you must ask when building a product for billion users This was originally written for Yourstory. Here is a shorter version of the same: Address the questions below and understand the vital …
India’s Digital Pyramid: 15 Key Data Points
India’s Digital Pyramid: 15 Key Data Points While writing this piece for Yourstory (7 questions you must ask when building a product for a billion users …
6 Reasons You Shouldn’t Hire a Growth Hacker
6 Reasons You Shouldn’t Hire a Growth Hacker (according to growth hackers) Hiring a growth hacker for your startup is an increasingly common practice. As with most new trends (SEO, inbound …
Universal App Campaigns Streamline App Promotion
Universal App Campaigns Streamline App Promotion Google AdWords is now requiring all app promotions go through Universal App Campaigns (UAC), doing away with creating or managing campaigns if they …
Are Cost Per Install campaigns worth it?
Are Cost Per Install campaigns worth it? Why you should choose CPI as your next App Marketing channel How are you promoting your apps right now? If you are into App Marketing, you probably met …
How to boost your app revenues in 24h
How to boost your app revenues in 24h An effective “hack” to increase your paid downloads up to 800% “Making an app can be just a matter of time, making money with it is a totally different …
Infographics: 104 Facts You Don’t Know About Mobile Marketing
Infographics: 104 Facts You Don’t Know About Mobile Marketing This infographic compiled by the team behind Website Builder, you will be able to find 104 interesting facts that you don’t know …
State of Indian Consumer Apps: Have we stopped producing good Apps?
State of Indian Consumer Apps: Have we stopped producing good Apps? I love to keep an eye on App trends in India so I thought of sharing a not so happy analysis for Indian B2C App based …
Android Apps do not need your permission to violate your privacy
Android Apps do not need your permission to violate your privacy General perception is that more permissions = less privacy (which is true), hence smart & privacy conscious users deny and may feel …
Deconstructing Why Apps Get Featured
Deconstructing Why Apps Get Featured Figuring out the why apps get featured by Apple is a constant struggle for app developers large and small, as the reward of being featured is not only increased …
5 Tips on Optimizing Android Apps on Google Play
5 Tips on Optimizing Android Apps on Google Play Check out this article for 5 Play Store optimization tips that you you may not have considered. Feature Image Credit: Google Play 1. Run Google …
KPIs for Measuring the Success of App Store Optimization
KPIs for Measuring the Success of App Store Optimization One of the most important questions to ask in ASO is: “how do we know our ASO efforts are producing a tangible impact on installs and …
Which KPI Should I Use For My Mobile App Marketing Plan?
Which KPI Should I Use For My Mobile App Marketing Plan? When it comes to the task of marketing a mobile app, there is certainly no shortage of statistics, ratios and other performance indicators …
In-App Purchases of the Top Grossing apps
In-App Purchases of the Top Grossing apps How 200 Top Grossing apps price their IAPs Since in-app purchases (or “IAPs”) became a thing the App Store landscape has changed dramatically. From …
The In-App Purchase Checklist
The In-App Purchase Checklist 14 pro tips for making IAPs users actually love This post originally appeared on the Appbot blog. Love them or hate them, In-App Purchases (IAPs) have the potential to …
6 Best Practices for better App Engagement & Retention
6 Best Practices for better App Engagement & Retention Note: This was originally published in a useful App Developer Guide created by Vmax. Must download for all App Developers & Product Managers …
Play Store Trends for India: Chinese Invasion, Downloads doubled, & Indian Apps are still not worthy of IAP Revenues
Play Store Trends for India: Chinese Invasion, Downloads doubled, & Indian Apps are still not worthy of IAP Revenues India has seen a huge surge in Internet usage over last 12 months and it is …
Here’s How to Fix Apple’s Search Ads Platform
Here’s How to Fix Apple’s Search Ads Platform Read our analysis of what Apple search ads got right and where Apple has work to do. Feature Image Credit: Apple Search Ads promo page. This article …
How Many “Real Internet Users” in India? 60mn maybe?
How Many “Real Internet Users” in India? 60mn maybe? I recently had a very interesting session with some Internet Industry leaders at H2.co India meet — we discussed at length the REAL INDIAN …
Why is Apple allowing a scam in its App Store? Thousands of users are losing money
Why is Apple allowing a scam in its App Store? Thousands of users are losing money [29 July, 2016: Some update on this at the end of the post] If you have ever developed an App for iOS, you would …
15 Mobile App Design Tips That Get Results
15 Mobile App Design Tips That Get Results An average app has pretty bad retention metrics. Andrew Chen, Silicon Valley-based entrepreneur and writer believes that the average app loses 77% of its …
10 Quick User Experience Fixes To Increase Your App’s Retention Rates
10 Quick User Experience Fixes To Increase Your App’s Retention Rates Studies show that companies that investment in User Experience or UX result in a lower cost of customer acquisition, lower …
How To Make Money With Mobile Games In The New App Market
How To Make Money With Mobile Games In The New App Market In today’s post we will talk about what it takes for apps to make money in the new app market. I’m sure we all know by now that the …
Optimize your facebook ads — a smart guide
Optimize your facebook ads — a smart guide Facebook can feel like a black-box. Considering facebook is one of the biggest source of quality installs, I figured it’ll be useful to write a guide …
Top 10 growth hacking articles you must bookmark
Top 10 growth hacking articles you must bookmark I’ve always appreciated the power of simplicity. On a lazy Sunday afternoon, I asked myself if I had to pick just 10 articles which had a profound …
Struggling with D1 retention? You need to read this.
Struggling with D1 retention? You need to read this. My experience tackling the hardest problem in app retention — figuring out the best first time user experience. In this post I talk about: 1 …
![App Growth Metrics: eCPI, CAC, True LTV, Retention, Cost of MAU/DAU Calculator for Beginners [Download Excel]](https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1200/1*vnvxHGioGbevnOh1KZSvsA.jpeg)
App Growth Metrics: eCPI, CAC, True LTV, Retention, Cost of MAU/DAU Calculator for Beginners [Download Excel]
App Growth Metrics: eCPI, CAC, True LTV, Retention, Cost of MAU/DAU Calculator for Beginners [Download Excel] I keep stressing upon the fact about using the “Right Metrics” in all my growth …
Data Overage Cost is a killer worldwide. Here is a smart way to save money!
Data Overage Cost is a killer worldwide. Here is a smart way to save money! 4.4 billion people in the World own a mobile phone and 80% connect via 3G or 4G. Data growth worldwide has seen an …
Growth hacker vs Digital marketer: Let them fight! (Just kidding…)
Growth hacker vs Digital marketer: Let them fight! (Just kidding…) There are have been a lot of talks about that already, but I have been ask this question quite a few times while meeting people in …
Stunning New Report: Now track user level data in Google Analytics without passing a UserID
Stunning New Report: Now track user level data in Google Analytics without passing a UserID Just came across a new report in Google Analytics called “User Explorer” today. It is available in beta …
Word of Mouth for Mobile Apps :Let ’em Talk
Word of Mouth for Mobile Apps :Let ’em Talk Planning ways of marketing for your app you definitely got to consider word of mouth. Someone can underestimate its value but just think about it: 83% of …
Optimize facebook ads — Part 2 — get more quality users
Optimize facebook ads — Part 2 — get more quality users In the last post I talked about the basics of facebook app install ads and how to scale a campaign. In this post i’ll talk about how to …
How to send better push notifications — the complete guide to push notifications
How to send better push notifications — the complete guide to push notifications Push is a big channel for retention and engagement for mobile apps. In this post i’ll talk about the best …
![Mobile App’s Survival Funnel: How to stop uninstalls [Infographic]](https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1028/1*60qyj2yqteq3G-DlBis7Gw.png)
Mobile App’s Survival Funnel: How to stop uninstalls [Infographic]
Mobile App’s Survival Funnel: How to stop uninstalls [Infographic] If you are not among the top 0.5% of the Apps which have defied the “Law of Attrition”, then you must be grappling with high …
Rounding up: Four success factors during my first year as a full-time indie app developer
Rounding up: Four success factors during my first year as a full-time indie app developer 28 January, 2015. That was the last time I walked out of my day job, leaving behind a ten-year career in …
Ten links to help in mobile development in 2016
Ten links to help in mobile development in 2016 I’m sharing with you some articles that were written in 2015. They will help you to be modern and create a proper app for 2016. Trends. Let’s start …
100k App users in 25 Days for smartapp with ZERO paid marketing*
100k App users in 25 Days for smartapp with ZERO paid marketing* UPDATE (15th Jan, 2016): It’s been 25 days since I wrote this post and I am happy to announce that we got our next 100k in 24 days …
The Truth About The App Market: 4 Things You Need To Know
The Truth About The App Market: 4 Things You Need To Know A few days ago I released one of my first major pieces of content for medium. With the feedback I received from this post, I’ve decided to …
How Flappy Bird Ruined The App Market
How Flappy Bird Ruined The App Market Unless you’ve been living under a rock, I am sure you’ve heard of Gary V. Gary V has a phrase that he uses and it goes something like: Yep. Marketers RUIN …
What to look for in a growth hacker
What to look for in a growth hacker GROWTH HACKERS DON’T MARKET PRODUCTS. THEY BUILD PRODUCTS THAT MARKET THEMSELVES. We all want a growth hacker on our startup or team, yet we rarely understand …
App Release Checklist: Get ready for the app store, press, product hunt and more
App Release Checklist: Get ready for the app store, press, product hunt and more Culled from a number of people giving me advice, my own experience, and resources around the web, use the …
Google Analytics introduces Postbacks: Inching towards a full service Marketing tool
Google Analytics introduces Postbacks: Inching towards a full service Marketing tool Google Analytics has made some great additions in last one year to transform itself from a vanilla analytics tool …
Measuring Retention For Startups
Measuring Retention For Startups Getting new customers is fun. Losing customers is not. ‘If you’re committed enough, you can make any story work. I once told a woman I was Kevin Costner, and it …
EP 02 — Deepak Abbot — Mobile Growth at Times Internet. | Indian Startup Show.
EP 02 — Deepak Abbot — Mobile Growth at Times Internet. | Indian Startup Show. I talked with Deepak Abbot — head of mobile growth at Times Internet part of the Times of India corporation …
How an expired domain name nearly killed my indie dream
How an expired domain name nearly killed my indie dream I woke up one morning in June and checked my inbox. Four e-mails from Google informing me of various apps being suspended, and then a fifth …
3 Ways To Turn Your Customer Support Into a Growth And Product Machine
3 Ways To Turn Your Customer Support Into a Growth And Product Machine Top startups nowadays are using their customer service teams as a growth and product driver. How might you ask? By collecting …
Beat the Benchmarks to be a Winner
Beat the Benchmarks to be a Winner Here are some Mobile App benchmarks which you need to keep beating to stay ahead For a complete guide on my daily growth hacks, check my presentation here: Growth …
How to improve your App’s retention
How to improve your App’s retention User retention is always at the center of discussion among growth marketers, product & business managers. While acquiring a user is tough, but retaining them is …
Poor State of App Monetization for “Made in India” Apps
Poor State of App Monetization for “Made in India” Apps India might be one of the fastest growing smartphone markets in the world, but it is yet to develop a healthy ecosystem of quality …
A 1-star app review I couldn’t help responding to
A 1-star app review I couldn’t help responding to Having been in the app business for several years means that I’ve received my share of negative app reviews. You know, the kind the goes “I’d …
Why the little guys can still make it in the App Store
Why the little guys can still make it in the App Store “There’s a lot of competition” — I’ve heard it probably hundreds of times from many different people. The truth is they are right …
Why Google is hiding some useful data on its Play Store Dashboard?
Why Google is hiding some useful data on its Play Store Dashboard? Apple has recently unveiled App Analytics in beta offering insights into app engagement & retention data. It does not require …
Analytics Done Wrong: my big whinge
Analytics Done Wrong: my big whinge The use of data and analytics has become de rigueur in the world of business strategy, business intelligence and marketing. It’s moved from being a specialist …
What’s More Important in Growth? The Product, the Tools, or the Process?
What’s More Important in Growth? The Product, the Tools, or the Process? In a world driven by tech it’s easy to fall in love with the product or the software tools used by leading growth teams …