June Dershewitz on Web Analytics

Review of All Android Analytics Apps

Out of curiosity as much as necessity, I recently evaluated all of the mobile web analytics applications that run on my Motorola Droid phone. As of January 2010, a search for "analytics" in the Android Market turns up the following apps:

1. Analytics Widget (free)
2. mAnalytics (free/paid)
3. DroidAnalytics (free 24-hour trial/paid)
4. Mobile GA for Android (free)

I have installed and reviewed each of these apps:

Analytics Widget

This very simple 1x1 widget sits on your mobile desktop and displays either page views or visits for the Google Analytics profile of your choice. The default (and only) date range is "today" - but this seems appropriate, since it functions as a ticker. The widget auto-refreshes periodically, or you can click to refresh it on demand. I now click it compulsively whenever I see it.

• I like: Very simple, basic and easy to use.
• Wish it had: A period-over-period percent change, or even a little sparkline to go along with the single number. The fact that I've had 11 page views today (on my lowly blog) is meaningless until I can compare it to past performance. Beyond that I'd like to click through to more detailed data. If I see a spike in traffic I might want to drill down and look at referrers or search terms.
• Bug factor: It force-quit on me a few times but always recovered on its own. There's currently a note on the Android Market page for this app indicating that this is a known problem, so hopefully it will be fixed soon.
• Stars: 4 out of 5
• Verdict: I'm going to keep it on my desktop (so I can continue to refresh it compulsively).

mAnalytics

Full-featured application (no widget) displays 7 top-line metrics from Google Analytics including visits, bounce rate, % new visits and more. It also provides detail reports for referrers and search terms. All data appears in tabular form, plus very basic charts for visit and page view trends. Date range choices include several presets (today, yesterday, last 7 days, last 30 days) as well as the option for a custom date range.

• I like: Just a little detail. It's an appropriate amount of data to display on my small mobile screen without feeling cluttered.
• Wish it had: A widget. Actually I wish I could merge Analytics Widget with mAnalytics so I could see a little overview on my desktop and then click through to detail. Other than that, it would be nice to see more of the reports and the drilldowns that I can get in the fixed web version of Google Analytics. More charts would also be a welcome addition. Turns out that there are more detail reports and more charts in the paid (vs free) version; if I develop a burning desire for these features I will buy the Pro license.
• Bug factor: No issues.
• Stars: 4 out of 5
• Verdict: I'm going to keep it. I might even spring for the Pro version. If another free app turns up with more of my desired functionality, though, I may replace it.

DroidAnalytics

This paid app has a 24-hour trial so you can try before you buy. It includes many of the same metrics and reports as the mAnalytics app, plus a whole lot more. There are basic trend charts for 6 main metrics - page views, visits, visitors, bounce rate, average time on site and pages per visit. Additionally, there are 9 detail reports listing out these 6 main metrics for every row of data. I found all of the data a bit overwhelming, but if you think you need all of this detail on-the-go, it's possible to find what you're looking for in the app.

• I like: As much detail as anyone would want on mobile. The settings are a nice touch; it's possible to customize your view quite a bit. I also like the fact that the developers have posted version notes; it's clear that this app has a good development path ahead of it.
• Wish it had: A slightly better user interface. I got the hang of things eventually, but it took more time than I'd like to figure out the icons and get a handle on what exactly was being displayed.
• Bug factor: I noticed several minor interface glitches. For example, rotation from portrait to landscape does not appear to work, and in one instance the date format changed on its own accord after I viewed (but did not edit) the settings.
• Stars: 3.5 out of 5
• Verdict: Although I liked this app, it's not sufficiently better than the free apps for me to keep it at this time. I am going to check back in a couple of months, though, because the developers are bound to include more features and fixes in future releases.

Mobile GA for Android

The screenshots of this app looked very promising but I was unable to get it working on my Droid. I tried a few times with no luck.

• I like: The product screenshots.
• Wish it had: Better recovery from errors.
• Bug factor: Terminal case.
• Stars: 1 out of 5
• Verdict: I'll try reinstalling it in a few months to see if the problems have been resolved.

Conclusion

I was surprised by the variety in functionality across these applications. For the time being I will keep using the Analytics Widget and mAnalytics in combination with one another; they both contain features I like, with a proper amount of detail for mobile.

It's also interesting (but not surprising) to note that Google Analytics is currently the only web analytics tool with apps in the Market. How long will it take before Omniture and Webtrends apps make their debut? There are already iPhone apps for both.

Speaking of the iPhone, here's a recent post from Lars Johansson in which he reviews all Google Analytics apps for iPhone. Hopefully we'll see more web analytics apps for the Droid in the near future.

[Feb 2, 2010. Update: I've been through a round of troubleshooting with the GA for Android developers, so hopefully I will get to test out and review a working release of that app before too long. Also, I have unearthed an Omniture Android app. It was in the Android Market all along; ironically, it just didn't contain the word "analytics" in the description.]

Greg Dowling joins Semphonic as Mobile Analytics Expert

I am thrilled to welcome Greg Dowling to the Semphonic executive team. I couldn't invent a new colleague with a more impressive background: head of analytics at Nokia, industry analyst at Jupiter, VP at Digitas, the list goes on. To round things out, he also spent time as a geologist.

Here's the press release we have just issued. You can also read Gary Angel's take on the new hire, plus a welcome message from Greg himself.

If you follow my blog because I write occasionally about mobile analytics, you'll be glad to hear that Semphonic's thought leadership in this space will really take off now that Greg has arrived. He's got deep experience as a mobile measurement strategist and equal ability as a technologist. I know he'll be a great asset to our company and to our clients. Welcome, Greg!