Independent app store and carrier partner GetJar aims to help developers turn downloaders into active users
GetJar Networks Inc. , which holds the dubious honor of world's second-largest application store behind Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL), is doing something today that Apple can't: taking measurements across all open platforms. Specifically, it will analyze the conversion rate of mobile downloads to actual users across Android, BlackBerry, Flash, Java, Symbian, and Windows Mobile handsets.
GetJar's premise is that developers want mobile phone users to actually use their apps, not just download them. But, in order to make that transition, developers have to be able to differentiate between the two. GetJar has automated this process by setting up conversion tracking codes and analytics to analyze app performance, as well as break it down by phone, country, and network.
The end result, says Patrick Mork, GetJar's vice president of marketing, is developers can increase users, not just downloads.
"Initially we focused on distribution and discovery and getting extra visibility, but we realized that even once a consumer has downloaded an app, as a developer you are only halfway there," Mork said. "If they don't use it or [don't use it] as often as [developers] like, it's hard to monetize it."
The tricky part for developers is testing and tracking their apps across every phone they're available on, which for most is more than just the iPhone. As the largest independent app store, as well as one that's gaining traction as a partner for carriers, GetJar is touting its ability to track 25,000 different Web-capable mobile phones and, thus, every firmware variation and carrier partner -- which is something siloed stores can't do. (See GetJar: Can One App Store Please Everyone?)
GetJar hosts a few iPhone apps, but its conversion software won'’t run on the device due to Apple's third-party tracking policies. Mork said that is not a concern, as GetJar is focusing on serving the world of open operating systems. With more than 68,000 apps on its resume, he's confident it can continue to do so without the help of the software giant.
"We're really catering toward the rest of the market; the people who don't have iPhones, but want to have an applications kind of experience," Mork said. "You'd be amazed what you can do already on other handsets... We've grown to 900 million downloads so far without being involved in the iPhone."
— Sarah Reedy, Senior Reporter, Light Reading Mobile
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