App Store Connect metrics explained: units, proceeds, conversion rate

The discovery funnel: impressions to downloads

Impressions count how often your app was seen on the App Store, for example in search results, on the Today, Games or Apps tabs, or on your product page, when it was visible for more than a second. App Store Connect also shows unique impressions, which count each device once per day.

Product page views count how often someone opened your product page. Many downloads happen without a product page view at all, straight from the Get button in search results, which is why your app icon, name, subtitle and first screenshots matter so much.

Conversion rate is downloads divided by unique impressions. Apple counts first-time downloads and redownloads here. A separate product page conversion rate compares downloads started on the product page with unique product page views. Both are calculated from App Analytics data.

A quick example

The following numbers are invented to show the math. Say your app had 40,000 unique impressions, 5,000 unique product page views, 1,500 first-time downloads and 300 redownloads in a month, and 900 downloads started from the product page.

Units, first-time downloads and redownloads

First-time downloads are downloads by people who have never had your app before on their account. Redownloads are downloads by people who had it before, for example after deleting it, on a new device or after restoring a backup. Updates are counted separately and don’t count as downloads.

App units in Sales and Trends count first-time downloads and purchases of your app, not redownloads or updates. Total downloads in App Analytics combine first-time downloads and redownloads. In-app purchases are counted as their own units.

So if someone asks how many downloads your app had, decide first whether you mean new people (first-time downloads) or all installs from the App Store (total downloads).

Sales versus proceeds

Sales is the amount customers paid for your app and in-app purchases. Proceeds is what you receive after Apple’s commission and applicable taxes, and it is the number that matters for your income.

The standard commission is 30 %. Developers in the App Store Small Business Program pay 15 %. For auto-renewable subscriptions, the commission drops to 15 % after a subscriber has completed one year of paid service. In some regions, such as the EU, alternative business terms exist with different rates.

Example with a made-up net price of 4.99 USD after taxes: at 30 % commission your proceeds are about 3.49 USD, at 15 % about 4.24 USD.

Why numbers differ between screens

Sales and Trends, App Analytics and Payments each have their own data source and timing, so small differences are normal.

• Reporting delay: Sales and Trends usually show the previous day, while App Analytics can take a day or two longer.
• Definitions: units in Sales and Trends exclude redownloads, total downloads in App Analytics include them.
• Currency: proceeds in reports are converted at different rates than your actual payment, which uses the exchange rate at the time of payout.
• Refunds and adjustments appear later and change past totals in financial reports.
• Payments follow Apple’s fiscal calendar, so a payment doesn’t match a calendar month exactly.

Which metric answers which question

• Is my App Store listing working? Conversion rate and product page conversion rate.
• Am I getting new users? First-time downloads.
• Are people coming back after deleting? Redownloads.
• How much did I earn? Proceeds, not sales.
• Is the money coming from new customers or existing subscribers? Proceeds split by new subscriptions and renewals.

Seeing all of it in one app

Connect Insights brings these numbers together on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch. The free overview shows downloads, proceeds, sales, active subscriptions, free trials and purchases, compared with the previous period or year, with top apps and countries. In the app, downloads mean first-time downloads, redownloads are listed separately, and proceeds are your earnings after Apple’s commission.

With Connect Insights Pro you add App Store analytics such as sessions, active devices, deletions and where your downloads come from, plus live subscriptions and payouts per month and currency. The app uses your own App Store Connect API key, which stays in your device’s keychain.