We’ve been working for a while on our biggest update ever: TimeTune 4.0.
As we explained in a previous post, TimeTune 4.0 modifies some basic functions in the app π
But don’t panic!
TimeTune 4.0 allows you to do the same things you did before, and more.
In this post we’ll go over some of the internal project indicators, so you can understand why this change was necessary.
USERS WERE NOT STAYING
Take a look at what happened to the number of active users during the last two years:
As you can see, in June 2021 we had around 230,000 active users. The same amount we had two years before.
In fact, we’ve had the same amount of active users since the beginning of 2018.
“Hey, isn’t that a good thing?” Unfortunately, no π’
If we take into account that we have around 3,000 downloads every day, what was happening was the equivalent of 3,000 people entering a restaurant each day, taking a look and going away. Only regulars were staying.
It gets even clearer on the chart if we look at the beginning of April 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic exploded π₯π·
From April 2020 through September 2020, a lot of new users came to the app hoping to manage their time during the pandemic. But the vast majority left unexpectedly soon.
That only meant one thing: the app wasn’t useful enough. We needed to improve it.
RATINGS WERE GOING DOWN
On versions prior to 4.0, we received many reviews complaining that the app was confusing and difficult to understand π΅
And we agree. It was.
The consequence of that was that our rating in Google Play had been going down for a long time. What had been a 4.5 time ago, was now a 4.4 (approaching 4.3).
That was another indicator that something was wrong.
If good reviews in a project can’t compensate the bad ones, the project is not good enough.
We needed to be better.
REVENUE WAS GOING DOWN
Unsurprisingly, these problems affected the economic part too. Revenue was going down π
And when the economic part doesn’t work in a project, nothing can work in a project.
We already tweaked our monetization model a while ago to avoid putting the project at risk. But in the end, we needed to face the underlying cause: the project wasn’t good enough.
So the formula is easy:
The more useful an app is, the more users will try it, the more users will keep it and the more users will buy it.
Revenue should be a byproduct of a project’s usefulness.
CONCLUSION
We don’t have a doubt that the old versions of TimeTune were useful to some people. But unfortunately, they were not useful enough to most people.
The goal with TimeTune 4.0 is to increase the usefulness of the app, while keeping the previous possibilities.
Finally, if you have any doubts about how TimeTune 4.0 works, please contact us at timetuneapp@gmail.com and we’ll gladly help you. You’ll see it’s very easy π
(Top illustration byΒ pikisuperstar, onΒ Freepik)
“App not useful enough?” On the contrary!! No, for me it was that the app was confusing.
I returned to it after an update and stopped using it regularly because I then had NO IDEA HOW TO USE IT after new updates.
I’m sure it was useful enough. It was more the customer education that was the problem. I didn’t know how to actually capture that value.
(I used to use this app every day when I bought it sometime around 2017. I loved your product then but haven’t been able to figure it out with all the changes since. Customer retention isn’t always lack of features – it can be lack of clarity in how to use the features. I’m sure I’d love the product again if I knew how to use it).
Thank you very much for your feedback, it’s sincere and helpful, and that’s the kind of feedback we like to hear π
We totally agree on the problem about customer education. We’ve been receiving reviews about the app being confusing for a long time now. We detailed many of the problems in this post: https://timetune.app/templates/
We hope the new version 4.0 solves or alleviates those problems for many users.
If possible, could you please tell us how you used the app back then? In other words, what was your day-to-day interaction with the app? That will help us better understand why some users left.
Thanks!
Hi, love this app, I have 2 kids starting college this week and am looking on your website and unfortunately there is no IOS version. Can you please add?
Hi! Thanks for your suggestion π We’re open to creating an iOS version in the future, provided the project grows adequately π Cheers! π
I would love a youtube clip going through the features and how a new user can set it up as I’m not finding it intuitive.
Hi, are you referring to the new 4.0 version still in beta or the public 3.2 version?