App acquisition is an important metric when determining the success of an application after its release. Appreneurs recognize that reviews on app stores are important in boosting user growth rate for any app. Data consumption is a major concern for a lot of users. An offline mode for any app is therefore always welcome for a lot of users.

21% of app users never use an app again after their first experience. Unique features, therefore, are always the best appreneurs have for user retention. When many competitors are making competing apps, an offline mode feature can be a competitive advantage. Offline mode an app allows users to use certain features (if not all) even without an internet connection. The developer has to figure out a way to manage data between the client app and the server. When a user takes certain actions, the app stores these changes and then synchronizes data with the server when an internet connection is available.

Why Does Offline Mode Boost User Acquisition?

Offline mode on an app allows users to use an app despite their location. The app is likely to be recommended to users who travel a lot such as truckers. The app is likely to perform greatly regardless of the quality of internet connection because syncing data between the app and the server does not have to happen constantly for features to work. Synchronization can be set to happen at a specific time of day or when connected to WiFi.

Appreneurs who design free apps draw revenue from in-app advertising. These apps can be quite annoying to a majority of users. Offline mode limits ads, which drastically improves user experience.

Limiting data usage is a great selling point for apps with offline mode. The cost of internet access varies in different markets. In markets where the cost is steep, users are quite sensitive to the cost of running specific apps. If an app can run just fine offline and save on data usage, the appreneur is likely to see rapid user growth in such markets.

Data Storage in Offline Mode

There are different approaches to data storage for apps with an offline mode. The first approach is to have all data stored completely offline. The other approach is to have app users make changes offline and later synchronize with the server when connected to the internet. The latter is the most common approach.

Offline mode on most apps will work seamlessly on both iOS and Android.It all depends on the appreneur having a team that can figure out the best implementation of offline mode so that the most important features of an app work as expected. Some of the technical hurdles will include the frequency of data synchronization, the method of synchronization, and handling of sensitive data that may need to be stored locally on the app.

Determining Growth

After including offline mode in an app, appreneurs can still determine user growth rate. The first way to do so would be to monitor new unique downloads. If the app was meant to target people in certain regions where internet connections are slow or expensive, they should see a bump in downloads there.Offline mode should also reduce the churn rate of app users. Tracking this metric would help measure the impact of offline mode on user experience especially without ads. Insights drawn can help further improve customer acquisition and retention.