Estimating Daily, Weekly, and Monthly Active Users for Non-Own Mobile Apps: Techniques and Tools

Are you curious about the daily, weekly, or monthly active users (DAUs, WAUs, and MAUs) of a mobile app that isn't yours? Determining the user engagement of a non-owned app can be crucial for business strategies, competitive analysis, or simply satisfying your curiosity. Fortunately, there are several methods and tools available that can help estimate these metrics. Let's explore the techniques and the key tools you can use.

Methods to Estimate App Usage Metrics

To estimate the number of active users for a mobile app, you can utilize one or more of these approaches:

App Analytics Tools

Several third-party analytics platforms specialize in providing insights into app performance. These tools can offer you comprehensive data on app usage metrics, including estimates of DAUs, WAUs, and MAUs. Some of the popular platforms include:

App Annie: Offers detailed insights into app performance, including downloads and active users. This tool is invaluable for understanding the overall performance of an app. Sensor Tower: Provides market intelligence with user estimates and engagement metrics. This platform is particularly useful for gaining a deeper understanding of an app's user base. SimilarWeb: Offers traffic and engagement statistics for mobile apps. This is a great resource for gauging the app's user behavior and engagement patterns.

Market Research Reports

Research firms often publish comprehensive reports on app usage trends, particularly within specific industries. These reports typically include user statistics for popular apps. By accessing such reports, you can get valuable insights into the app's user base. Some key research firms to check include:

Statista Grand View Research Gartner Research

For accurate and detailed data, market research reports can be a goldmine. They often offer industry-specific analysis and can provide a more detailed picture of the app's user demographics and engagement levels.

Publicly Available Data

Some companies choose to share their user metrics publicly. This data can be found in press releases, annual reports, or during earnings calls. Checking the official website or investor relations pages of the app's parent company can yield useful information. For example, companyName often publishes user numbers and other key metrics that can provide insight into the app's user base.

Social Media and Community Insights

Sometimes, insights into an app's popularity and user base can be gleaned from social media platforms and community forums like Reddit. By monitoring user engagement on these platforms, you can get qualitative insights into the app's popularity and user base. Tools like Social Blade or SimilarWeb can help you track user activity in real-time.

Surveys and User Feedback

Directly surveying users or analyzing user reviews on platforms like the App Store or Google Play can provide indirect insights into active user counts and engagement levels. While this method is not as quantitative as the others, it can still help you understand user sentiment and engagement patterns. Tools like SurveyMonkey or Qualtrics can be used to conduct user surveys effectively.

Competitor Analysis

If the app is part of a larger market, analyzing its competitors can provide valuable context. By assessing the market share and user demographics of similar apps, you can make an educated guess about the user base of the app in question. Tools like App Annie, Sensor Tower, and SimilarWeb can help you compare app performance and user engagement across different apps in the market.

Best Practices and Considerations

While these methods can provide valuable estimates, it's essential to keep in mind that the data may not be entirely accurate. These estimates are often based on sampling or extrapolation techniques, which can introduce some level of uncertainty. Therefore, it's crucial to use multiple data points and methods to get a more accurate picture of the app's user base.

Additionally, the app's marketing strategy, user demographics, and overall market conditions can influence the app's user engagement metrics. Therefore, it's important to consider these factors when interpreting the data.

Using Third-Party Tools

Your best bet for accurate and reliable app metrics is to use a third-party provider of app intelligence. One such tool is 42matters Explorer. You can use this tool to determine the monthly active users (MAUs) of any published or unpublished Android app. If you'd like to try it out, we'd be happy to set you up. Just let us know, and we'll get you started!