Jack Chai presented insights from Pebble's analytics on how developers can increase sustained usage of their apps. He showed that apps using Timeline pins on the Pebble watch had significantly higher usage rates than those not using pins. Case studies found apps on the Basalt platform had much higher usage when incorporating pins compared to the same apps on Aplite, which lacks pins. Developers were encouraged to utilize the new analytics in the developer portal and incorporate Timeline pins to directly deliver information to users and reduce button clicks and battery drain.

1. 2015 Pebble Developer Retreat
Data Analytics and Pebble
Jack Chai, Data Scientist

2. What are our common goals?
Pebble’s Goals Developer’s Goals
Increase
app usage
amongst
users
Increase
app usage
amongst
users

3. Where we are right now…
We (you) are doing pretty good so far:
~1/2 of our users will launch an installed app on a weekly basis
But that means there is an opportunity to engage the remaining half of
our users to use watchapps!
Currently, ~80% of users use a non-system watchface (really good)

4. 1.Increase app downloads
2.Increase sustained usage of apps
How do we engage the remaining half?

5. What is sustained usage?
Users this week Users next week
Users who
sustained
usage
Users who left New users

6. What is sustained usage?
Keeping users involved consistently on a weekly basis

7. How can analytics help?
1.Give developers access to data about their app

8. The story of our data
Launch
App
Interact with
app - button
clicks
Close app -
elapsed time
of the app
App crash
Hourly
counts are
sent to us

9. How can analytics help?
1.Give developers access to data about their app

10. How can dev-portal analytics help you?
1. Give you basic statistics about your apps
2. Hopefully, this can be useful for troubleshooting - high crash
versions
3. Insight into areas of improvement:
A. Battery life
B. Button clicks (user interaction)
C. Timeline implementation

11. How can analytics help?
1.Give developers access to data about their app
2.Communicate to developers insights about sustaining
usage

12. Battery Life - Why it matters?
• Current battery life for:
• Pebble Classic - 7 days
• Pebble Steel - 5 days
• Pebble Time - 7 days
• Pebble Time Steel - 10 days
• Battery life for Pebble Time Round - 2 days
Any significant battery drain will affect experience on Pebble Time Round
If the battery is dead…. users cannot use your apps

13. Battery Life: Why it matters?
BetterBatteryPerformance
Arbitrary App/Face Index
!0.8%
!0.7%
!0.6%
!0.5%
!0.4%
!0.3%
!0.2%
!0.1%
0%
Ba#ery'Life'Performance'
!0.8%
!0.7%
!0.6%
!0.5%
!0.4%
!0.3%
!0.2%
!0.1%
0%
Ba#ery'Life'Performance'

14. Battery Life: Why it matters?
Danger Zone: Really want to
avoid having a battery impact in
this region
Good Region - Goal is to have
battery impact above this
threshold
!0.8%
!0.7%
!0.6%
!0.5%
!0.4%
!0.3%
!0.2%
!0.1%
0%
Ba#ery'Life'Performance'

15. What can be done about battery life?
• Look at the best practices for battery power:
• http://developer.getpebble.com/guides/best-practices/battery-perform-guide/
• Reduce the number of times animations refresh on both watchapps and
watchfaces
• Glancing vs updating every second
• Pebble Graphics (by Matt Hungerford)
• Previous discussion of best practices:
• http://developer.getpebble.com/community/events/developer-retreat-2014/
• See talks on:
• Graphics
• 101000
• Battery Life

16. How can dev-portal analytics help you?
1. Give you basic statistics about your apps
2. Hopefully, this can be useful for troubleshooting - high crash
versions
3. Insight into areas of improvement:
A. Battery life
B. Button clicks (user interaction)
C. Timeline implementation

17. Why do button clicks matter?
What has data taught us about how users like to interact with
watchapps?
Delivering what users want should increase sustained usage!

18. Usage relative to button clicks
Median'Bu*on'Clicks/Launch'
Sustained'Usage'Index'
0'
0.1'
0.2'
0.3'
0.4'
0.5'
0.6'
0.7'
0.8'
0.9'
0' 5' 10' 15' 20' 25'
Median'Bu*on'Clicks/Launch'
Sustained'Usage'Index'
0'
0.1'
0.2'
0.3'
0.4'
0.5'
0.6'
0.7'
0.8'
0.9'
0' 5' 10' 15' 20' 25'
More Button Clicks
BetterSustainedUsage

19. 1. Usage decreases with
more button clicks
2. Rule of thumb - 8
button clicks/launch
maximum
Median'Bu*on'Clicks/Launch'
Sustained'Usage'Index'
0'
0.1'
0.2'
0.3'
0.4'
0.5'
0.6'
0.7'
0.8'
0.9'
0' 5' 10' 15' 20' 25'
Median'Bu*on'Clicks/Launch'
Sustained'Usage'Index'
0'
0.1'
0.2'
0.3'
0.4'
0.5'
0.6'
0.7'
0.8'
0.9'
0' 5' 10' 15' 20' 25'
Median'Bu*on'Clicks/Launch'
Sustained'Usage'Index'
0'
0.1'
0.2'
0.3'
0.4'
0.5'
0.6'
0.7'
0.8'
0.9'
0' 5' 10' 15' 20' 25'
Usage relative to button clicks

20. What Pebble feature can help us streamline our apps?

21. Timeline
• Timeline is developed to deliver information directly and avoid
increased button clicks
Scroll to Timeline
Open the Pin
Take more actions
Launch
app

22. Basalt vs Aplite
• Apps on Aplite cannot push pins (yet)
• Apps on Basalt can push pins to the timeline (but don’t have to)
• Timeline is coming to every Pebble platform (even Pebble
Classic and Pebble Steel)!

23. Timeline
• Timeline is developed to deliver information directly and avoid
increased button clicks
• ~3/4 of users will scroll through Timeline on a weekly basis
(only people on Basalt)
• >1/4 of pin opens will lead directly to app launches
• Currently < 4% of the apps in the App Store push pins to
timeline
Does pushing pins to timeline have a positive impact for app usage?

24. How do we prove the impact of incorporating
pins
• Case Study 1: We can look at apps that exist on both Basalt and Aplite
and look at the relative usage of the apps on Basalt vs Aplite, and
compare apps that use pins on Basalt vs apps that do not use pins.
• Case Study 2: We can look at an app on Basalt and compare its app
usage before it started incorporating pins against its usage after it
started using pins.
• Key point - If pins increase usage, we should see an increase in app
usage in both cases when pins are incorporated

25. Case Study 1: Basalt vs Aplite usage
0"
0.5"
1"
1.5"
2"
2.5"
3"
3.5"
8/18/15"
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9/15/15"
Apps"w/o"TL"pins"
Apss"w/"TL"pins"
Time"
Basalt"Usage"Rela@ve"to"Aplite"Usage" Apps$w/o$pins$
Apps$w/$pins$
0"
0.5"
1"
1.5"
2"
2.5"
3"
3.5"
8/18/15"
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Apps"w/o"TL"pins"
Apss"w/"TL"pins"
Time"
Basalt"Usage"Rela@ve"to"Aplite"Usage" Apps$w/o$pins$
Apps$w/$pins$Equal Usage
HigherUsageonBasalt

26. Usage of apps on Basalt increases greatly with utilization of pins on timeline
0"
0.5"
1"
1.5"
2"
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3"
3.5"
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Apps"w/o"TL"pins"
Apss"w/"TL"pins"
Time"
Basalt"Usage"Rela@ve"to"Aplite"Usage" Apps$w/o$pins$
Apps$w/$pins$
Case Study 1: Basalt vs Aplite usage

27. Case Study 2: Before and after TL
0"
0.5"
1"
1.5"
2"
2.5"
6/29/15"
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9/14/15"
9/21/15"
Usage&Rate&
App w/o pin
App w/ pin
Start incorporating Pins
App usage increases
after integrating pins
0"
0.5"
1"
1.5"
2"
2.5"
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Usage&Rate&
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Usage&Rate&
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Usage&Rate&
0"
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1"
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Usage&Rate&
0"
0.5"
1"
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9/14/15"
9/21/15"
Usage&Rate&

28. Timeline usage
Timeline has potential to help apps increase usage
Unique opportunity now to be among first apps to use timeline across
all Pebble platforms
Best Use Cases for Timeline (by Jon Barlow)

29. What I hope to have communicated
1.Use (the new and exciting) developer portal analytics!
2.Try to conserve on battery life
3.Streamline information from apps to decrease number of
interactions
4.Incorporate timeline pins!
We are interested in any feedback and requests for developer
portal analytics
How will you reduce battery drain?
How will you incorporate timeline?

30. Thank you!
Questions?