Google Analytics App On iPhone

If, like me, you log into Google Analytics and check your stats for today knowing full well Google has yet to update all the data, then Google Analytics App for the iPhone might be for you. Group therapy to deal with your (my) obsession should also be sought. So is Analytics App from InBlosam worth the £3.49?

In a word, yes. Obviously it won’t replace a web client nor is it meant to: for starters, who in their right mind would prefer a tiny iPhone screen to a dual 20” LCD setup? It also only provides some of the reporting functionality available in Google Analytics (GA) but, then again, it’s not pretending to be a web-client replacement, just a complement to it.

After downloading from the iTunes store (very fast) it requires your GA username & password; then you’re quickly into your account. Analytics App passes your login details direct to GA, a point the marketing blurb and FAQs don’t make, which I think is an oversight for security-conscious users.

Overview Reports

It can handle multiple GA accounts so it works well for single website owners and agencies alike. It also offers a raft of 29 standard reports all nicely laid out with a user-definable date range plus access to any custom reports you’ve created in GA.  The report categories include:

• Overview
• Visitors
• Traffic
• Content
• Event Tracking
• Custom

Incidentally, the Overview group does include a ‘Today’ report to satisfy those analytics junkies that just can’t wait…

Traffic Sources

Each individual report provides key data for the selected period presented in tabular format plus a small graphic showing the trend (see screengrab). A nice touch is that selecting, for example, ‘search engines’ in the traffic sources report changes the trend graph to represent that data. Similar happens in other reports.

One niggle is that many of the reports show only number values without percentage contributions. It would be useful to have this % data  particularly for content, traffic sources and keywords. The data is available in GA so it should be accessible through its API. Maybe in a future app upgrade?

So what is Analytics App for the iPhone good for?

It doesn’t support drill-down analysis so any ideas you have about trawling through data while on the move and gaining any meaningful insight should be ditched. However, it is great for getting hold of key stats in response to questions thrown at you in meetings. It also feeds your obsession when you’re mobile for about the cost of a decent sandwich. Available now on iTunes.

Are you using InBlossam’s Analytics App for the iPhone – what do you think?

Are there any better apps out there?