A colleague sent me a link to this posting on the Localytics blog this morning. Apparently they have a bat and are swinging it at the bee hive that is Apple as well.

I think it is safe to say at this point that third party analytics providers need to stop playing with the data they are storing.

For the first in a series of reports, Localytics mined its iPhone analytics data for the US and Canada over the past two months to understand iPhone mobile app usage by day of the week and hour of the day. To adjust for differences in overall usage, the total sessions per hour were normalized as a percentage of the busiest hour for each day of the week. Comparisons were made between devices, application categories, days of the week and hours of the day.

They even go as far as to say they “mined its iPhone Analytics Data”. Ruh Roh! I assume they have no big brands as customers since they would not be too happy with that.

iPhone Still More Personal than Professional

iPhone app usage on weekends and weekdays is both different in usage patterns and overall scale. iPhone users generate 7% more traffic on the weekend than the average weekday. Saturday traffic ramps quickly from a morning low at 6:00 am to over 90% of peak usage by 11:00 am—and stays near the peak for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

By comparison, weekday app usage is more concentrated in the evening with a slow ramp during the working day and a peak at 9:00 pm EST, when East Coast users are at home and West Coast users are commuting home.

And how about this one where they reveal that Blackberry has higher enterprise users during workday than iPhone?

Apple is sharpening its focus on businesses with new enterprise features in iPhone OS 4, but BlackBerry usage of mobile apps is still more concentrated and higher during the workday than iPhone. Localytics also reports that BlackBerry app usage on the weekend is statistically identical to workweek usage. In contrast, iPhone owners use mobile apps more frequently on the weekend with the greatest difference at 2:00 pm EST when weekend usage is 40% higher than the same time Monday through Friday.

In the second study of hourly app usage, Localytics mined its mobile analytics data from millions of phones in the US and Canada over two months for iPhone and BlackBerry application usage. The mobile analytics data were summarized by day of the week and hour of the day. To adjust for differences in absolute usage, the total average sessions per hour for Monday through Friday and the weekend were normalized as a percentage of the busiest hour for each.

And there is that word MINED again…

And then in a more recent posting they go as far as to say:

Localytics Has Always Put Privacy First

Really???

As for Distimo, I love this comment on thenextweb.com:

Distimo makes its money from the people who can afford it: operators and handset manufacturers.  By providing analysis to developers, the company is also gathering information that’s invaluable to the companies with fatter wallets.

Distimo Provides Insight & Analysis Across Top App Stores

iPad applications close in on 5,000 after first month

Keep sharing that great info boys!

Analytics are for the App Developers. NOT for the industry and non-affiliated marketers to use to sell other products and services.

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In the next few days we are going to being beta testing AppClix standard, our single server, developer installed solution for iPhone app analytics.

Since Apple and Steve Jobs’ have made it “Crystal Clear” that they do NOT want analytics data stored on a third party service, we have decided to move away from the shared hosted model completely, except for demo, development and free trial purposes. It will not be used in production applications.

AppClix standard can be installed on either a Windows server, or under Linux running Mono. Using one of the Cloud providers such as Amazon EC2 or GoGrid, you can get a server for less than $100.00 per month. You can also get physical servers from The Planet and other providers for close to that.

Using AppClix on your own controlled infrastructure is no different that having your own application that keeps track of your users and how they use your app. Apple would have a hard time saying otherwise. We are simply a software vendor, and do not have access in any way to your data.

What is bothering Apple is the fact that free analytics providers are harvesting your users’ data and using it as a product to sell to others. They are creating reports and getting trends from your data that is shared with companies completely unaffiliated with you. Announcing that the iPad was showing up in their analytics was purely a way to bring more attention to Flurry and get free PR. Unfortunately it backfired. They got too much attention. http://blog.flurry.com/bid/30019/Apple-Tablet-The-Second-Stage-Media-Booster-Rocket

This is why those services are free. You can be sure that since Apple has specificall banned there developers from using a service that does this, that companies like Flurry will start to charge for their service. Well when you start paying for it, you realize it’s not really worth the price compared to other paid solutions such as AppClix.

And all this is assuming that Apple lets developers use the service that stores their data at all.

We are offering the AppClix license as a one time purchase, or as a monthly lease for those developers that want to start off with a smaller investment. We are also offering “pre-built” Amazon EC2 AMIs that can simple be “turned-on” and used. All you need to do is setup an Amazon EC2 account for free, and you pay them a monthly fee for the server and our license. All billing is done through them, and you can be running in minutes.

For more info on our offerings, visit our iPhone Analytics Pricing page, or contact us.

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Great blog post on Moco News by Tricia Duryee –

How A Company Recovers After Pissing Off Steve Jobs

We found out today how a company regains its composure after infuriating Apple’s Steve Jobs: Concede as quickly as possible.

That’s what Flurry is doing after its high-profile stunt earlier this year led to Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) changing the terms of its iPhone developer agreement and prompted Jobs to blame Flurry during his appearance at the D8 conference on Tuesday.

Ok, so they admit they were wrong and are making some changes.

Flurry said that well before the D8 conference, it was working on complying with the issues raised, and has since been taking steps to address them with the help of its 30,000 customers. Specifically in regards to “device data,” Flurry said it is updating their service to be in compliance and will no longer collect the data. All-in-all, it’s trying to fall in line as quickly as possible. “Regarding sharing some specific aggregated usage statistics, to which Apple is opposed, we will comply with their wishes. Our goal continues to be to add value to the developer ecosystem and be a strong partner to platform providers,” Farago said.

That’s all nice and wonderful, but does it really change much? Steve Jobs made it clear (but is it clear?):

His exact words are: “The use of third party software in Your Application to collect and send Device Data to a third party for processing or analysis is expressly prohibited.”

Flurry also says it will not share device data. But is this enough? Will Apple change it’s policy “BANNING THIRD PARTY ANALYTICS”? I guess we will have to see when the next developer license agreement is drafted.

So I have 2 questions.

1. How will Flurry make money?? Raising capital is not the same as generating income. I had assumed all along they were selling the aggregate data and generating some income from that.
2. Will apple let developers track device info themselves? I assume so. Developers need to know so they can tailor the apps and their capabilities depending on which device it is running on. I assume this will be even more true as the next gen is released.

So for now we will leave the device reporting in AppClix since we are not considered a third party if we do not host the analytics app or the data. As always, the developer is responsible for complying with their aggreement with Apple. If the agreement changes, we will release an update that complies.

Oh and I love this graphic on Flurry’s home page. It’s part of their “Privacy First” initiative. I’ll leave that one alone.

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I’ve been saying it all along. If Flurry would have just kept their mouths shut, all would be fine. I knew that opening their mouths about the iPad was what pissed off Apple. What kind of idiot grabs a baseball and starts swinging it at hornets nest??

“We’re seeing  about 50 iPads and they are all coming from Cupertino, CA… Blah.. Blah.. Blah…” –

Jeez, what were they thinking letting Apple and everyone know publicly that they are combing other app developers data and that Apple is testing iPhone apps on iPads.

Blame Flurry, Jobs said at D8 on Tuesday night. That’s the analytics company that sent Apple (AAPL) “through the roof” when its software helped it peer into Apple’s iPad testing operations in January. So now, Jobs says, he’s cutting out Flurry and everyone who wants to track his customers’ gadgets by transmitting device-specific information. (Jobs was responding, by the way, to a question from First Round Capital’s Chris Fralic, a Flurry investor. Ouch.)

Take a look at the speech: http://d8.allthingsd.com/20100601/d8-video-steve-jobs-explains-his-iads-restrictions-and-blames-flurry/

Well here we are, and now that Pinch and Flurry are one company, they are both screwed!

So here’s my question. Can developers built their own analytics? Can developers track how their apps are used?

Of course they can!

While Apple can easily block the ability to identify what kind of phone it is, they can’t, nor do they want to, block tracking how the apps are used.

While Apple can block third party analytics providers from sticking their nose in app developers data, they can’t, nor do they want, to block app developers from understanding who their users are.

Is it really that big of a deal if we don’t know what type of phone it is, or what version they are on? That’s what Apple is concerned about. That and developers / providers opening their BIG FAT MOUTHS and sharing information.

As we all know, Apple’s always had a non-disclosure with their beta software, etc… and it’s always been honored by developers.

So what’s the answer??

is the answer!

While I continue to be pissed at Flurry, I plan to write them a public thank you letter next. By pissing off Apple, they have opened the market and forced developers to install their own Analytics, Reporting and App Tracking!

And we have it!

We have created stand-alone versions of the AppClix software. It comes in 3 versions from single server personal to multi-server enterprise.

Simply install AppClix on your own server (or rent a turn-key one from us) and go! Connect your apps. You have control and only you have access, and your data is not being mined or looked at by third party reporting companies.

And here’s the kicker! We are developing interfaces so you don’t have to change ANY code in your applications. Simple replace the Flurry, PinchMedia, Localytics (and others coming soon) library with one single line of code and you are GOOD TO GO! You can be up and changed over in days.

And you can even IMPORT your existing data using the PinchMedia API or Flurry & Localytics exports.

So bring it on! Our AppClix free trial will be ready next week and we plan to work over the weekend to get the finishing touched on the installed.

Come and Get It!!!

Visit our site for more info and pricing. We will be offering a migration special shortly.

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What’s going on over there?

This morning I went to check the stats of some of our apps, and found that Flurry’s reporting appears to be down. First I got an error from their load balancer, and now it just says “Loading…”

As a competitor, this makes me smile, but as a customer I would start getting extremely concerned.

The Flurry, Pinch Media transition does not appear to be going well at all. While Pinch has had the bulk of the issues, it appears the Flurry platform is suffering as well.

When I went over to Pinch Media’s reporting to check on a few apps we have with them, I found that they are now 8 days behind in aggregating our data.

Why are we not hearing more about this? If Flurry and Pinch are the biggest players in this arena, then why is there not more public outrage from customers? Are they providing service to the big guys, and letting the smaller ones suffer?

One of the things we have been working on is giving existing Pinch Media users the ability to pull the data from their API into AppClix. This would allow them to continue using Pinch to collect the data, while reporting it with combined sales data from AppClix.

But what’s the point if the data is 8 days old? While it’s one thing to have a confusing reporting interface, it’s a whole other issue when the data is stale. They recently said they expected to catch up over the weekend of April 9th, but it looks like it didn’t happen.

We’d love to hear from some Flurry and Pinch Media customers about their current experiences. Is it worth it for us to continue the API integration? We are trying to find a way to provide an alternate, more comprehensive interface to Flurry and Pinch users, but at this point they are better off moving the whole data collection over to us as well.

Since we don’t plan to sell aggregate data, it makes no difference to us if users stay with “the big boys”, and use us to combine analytics with sales data. In fact we prefer it. Let them deal with the traffic and aggregation.

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It is definitely interesting timing that Apple’s change of their developer agreement banning some app analytics, comes as we announce the beta release of the AppClix Enterprise Server.

One of the things that makes many developers uncomfortable is compiling dependencies into their apps that they have no control over. Many also don’t want their data aggregated and shared with the world. On top of that, they want control of their infrastructure, and to be responsible for any downtime that might occur.

With that in mind, we created a version of AppClix that can be installed by the developer on their own servers. Our Enterprise platform consists of a small network of servers that interact with each other to create a full analytics collection and reporting solution.

We also offer “CloudClix” which is a dedicated solution hosted on the Amazon EC2 virtual cloud. There will be a more detailed post on this shortly.

With the recent changes in Apples Developer Agreement, we are going to put together a small single server solution as well to accommodate smaller developers who do not need the full scalability of the Enterprise version.

We are also creating a 14 day free trial license. If you are interested, please contact us.

Here are a few reasons (from our web site) why a number of developers are looking for their own solution:

No Third-Party dependency compiled into Your Application

I don’t know about you, but I got a little uncomfortable when I submitted an app with a library to a third-party service that may not be around tomorrow compiled into it.

Does anyone remember AppLoop?

For those of you who don’t know, AppLoop was one of the first analytics platforms and they closed their doors. Imagine compiling code into your applications for a service that no longer exists!

Now, we don’t plan on going out of business, but it is nice to have that piece of mind knowing that you won’t need to issue updates for all your applications if we did.

You are in control.

You never have to worry about not being in control of your hardware and network. Possible unforeseen downtime of the AppClix hosted platform would have no affect on your services.

Your data resides in your own dedicated database and is not subject to our aggregation and public summary reporting that we might offer as a product or service. Your data is owned and controlled by you and only you.

You have complete control over your traffic and aggregation. You choose how often to summarize the data, and how to configure the AppClix service.

Unlimited Scalability

You can scale your network at any time to meet your needs. If your traffic grows to the point where you need more power, you can simply purchase an additional “collection server” license for a small fee.

Private Label Dashboard

The user dashboard can be branded as you see fit. Your logo and graphics can be used to match your company’s look and feel.

While you can’t start an application analytics company, you can provide AppClix services to your customers as a value added service. Create logins and accounts just as we do, within your AppClix platform.

Personal API Access

Create your own front-end or integrate AppClix into your existing applications or customer dashboards.

You have complete access to the AppClix API. The same API we use to provide data to our Dashboard.

No Ongoing Monthly Costs

You are not incurring monthly costs. You own the license and can use it for as long as possible for a single license fee!

Updates and Upgrades

Minor updates and upgrades are included for the first year, and available for a small annual support fee after that. Take advantage of new features as we release them.

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Well I have good news and bad news.

The potential bad news is Apple is apparently looking to dictate the way application developers can track the usage of the applications.

Apparently Apple’s latest developer agreement includes this clause:

Device Data may not be provided or disclosed to a third party without Apple’s prior written consent. Accordingly, the use of third party software in Your Application to collect and send Device Data to a third party for processing or analysis is expressly prohibited.

We’re not sure where this came from, but clearly Flurry is starting to make too much noise. Their constant blog posts reporting on device usage to the public might be rubbing Apple the wrong way.

Maybe this one:

http://blog.flurry.com/bid/30019/Apple-Tablet-The-Second-Stage-Media-Booster-Rocket

or this one:

http://blog.flurry.com/bid/31410/Day-74-Sales-Apple-iPhone-vs-Google-Nexus-One-vs-Motorola-Droid

What seems unclear to me is what Apple means by “third party” software “in Your Application”

First of all, the software that is installed in the app for using AppClix is just a small class file that is not even compiled as a third party library. Does that include us?

Also, is their only issue the collection of “device data”? What is”device data”? Screen size? Memory? Handset ID? They need to clarify this.

Now for the good news.

If Apple does indeed ban application developers from using “third party” software, then the AppClix Application Analytics Software License  platform will not be affected. We are uniquely positioned in that we are the only analytics product that can be installed on the application developer’s own server. I will assume that if I own the software, it is not considered “third party”.

We will immediately create a “lite” version of the platform that can be installed on a single server for smaller developers concerned about this provision. Our current version is for larger developers and consists of multiple servers. Contact us if you are interested in being notified when the single server version is available.

We anxiously await Apple’s clarification of this new position to determine  how it affects AppClix.

Stay Tuned….

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Over and over again I read posts and hear from developers who need access to iTunes data through an API.

Of all the websites and products Apple has released, The iTunes Connect portal is probably the worst of the worst. From look, to navigation, to functionality, it does not represent what we know Apple to be.

Developers need access to data. Not only does this include iTunes Connect sales reports, but ALL iTunes data.

We need access to:

• Product Details
• Reviews
• Ratings
• Rankings
• Sales Reports

And not just for iPhone and iPad apps. Content providers need this information for everything including Music and Videos.

Well, here it is. We built it!

We needed this information for our mobile application analytics product AppClix, so we made it a public iTunes Web Service API that developers can use. We also wrapped Apple’s JSON affiliate API into XML for those that need it.

Now with a simple API call, you can get today’s sales data. You can easily see your ratings in every country. Easily access information about developers, applications, content ratings and more.

We are currently in Beta and are looking for users. While some of this API will be free, other method calls will be fee based.

Here are some Available REST Methods we offer:

getProductDetails

• All iTunes data fields including links to small and large icon.
• Current ratings
• Number of reviews

getProductRankings
Returns top rankings for application

getProductReviews
Returns review data including user, rating, version and details

getProductRatings
Returns rating for current version, and overall, by country

getStoresByCountry
Returns the iTunes store country codes to be used in other calls

getDailySalesReport
Returns the iTunes Connect sales report for an account for a specific date range. Optionally filter by specific application id and other parameters.
Optionally specify currency code to return revenue figures in consistent single currency.

getWeeklySalesReport
Returns same as daily report, but aggregated weekly.

searchProducts
Searches for products and returns the same data as the getProductDetails call for each result.

getSellerDetails
Returns info for specific developer or publisher. Optionally includes ids of all products, or full product details.

getProductsBySeller
Returns all products for a single seller

getRelatedProducts
Returns the products that iTunes considers related. Could be from other sellers.

getCurrencyExchangeRates
Returns a simple list of exchange rates based on 1 US dollar. Currency codes match up with Sales reporting codes.

getMediaTypes
Returns a list of the iTunes Store Media Types to be used in searches

getEntityTypes
Returns a list of the iTunes Store Entity Types to be used in searches

Visit http://www.itunesapis.com for more information or to sign up for our beta.

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