Apple opens beta testing of analytics tool for iOS app developers

Apple mentioned a new app analytics feature at last year’s WWDC conference, and now the company is finally starting to invite registered developers to beta test the product.

Apple sent out invitations to iOS developers today and is admitting participants on a first-come, first-served basis. For some developers who requested access early, the feature is already up and running.

iOS app developers have been waiting a long time for an analytics tool from Apple. Apple tightly controls the customer behavior data from the App Store, and doesn’t share it with third-party analytics firms. So, in a sense, Apple is the only game in town.

App developers can use the analytics tool to learn things like how customers made their way to finding and downloading their app. They can access data on how long people continue using their apps. They can see how many views their App Store page is getting, and where the traffic is coming from.

All this will help them fine-tune their development and marketing efforts.

The analytics tool is free to developers, and there is no code to write, and no software development kit (SDK).

Apple stresses that all analytics data is kept secure and private.

Apple acquired an app analytics company called Burstly (and its products TestFlight and FlightPath) last February, and it was only a matter of time before Apple started to offer the analytics tools it got in the deal.

In January the TestFlight team at Apple said they would be shutting down the old Testflightapp.com service in February, making way for the new analytics tool from Apple.