App Store Connect only shows data from users who opt-in to share analytics—typically 20-30% of your user base. This means you're making product decisions based on a fraction of your actual users. Session-based analytics tools take a different approach by minimizing data collection, which may affect how consent requirements apply to your situation.
If you're an iOS developer, App Store Connect is probably your morning ritual. You check impressions, conversion rates, and sales numbers before you've even had coffee. It's the definitive source of truth for your app's business health.
But when it comes to understanding product health—why users drop off, which features drive retention, where the conversion funnel breaks—App Store Connect has significant blind spots.
Many developers rely solely on Apple's built-in tools, assuming they provide a complete picture. In reality, you're often seeing data from less than a third of your actual users. Here's what you're missing and how to fill the gap.
👁️ The "Opt-In" Blind Spot
The single most critical limitation of App Store Connect analytics is one Apple mentions only in the fine print: data availability.
⚠️ The Hidden Setting
App Store Connect only displays engagement and usage data from users who have explicitly opted in:
Settings → Privacy & Security → Analytics & Improvements → Share with App Developers
This setting is often disabled by default or turned off by privacy-conscious users. What does this mean for you?
- • You might be seeing data for only 20-30% of your user base—the rest is invisible
- • Your retention and crash metrics are skewed toward users who opt in, who may behave differently than the general population
- • You frequently encounter "Not Enough Data" warnings on granular reports (by region, device type, or feature)
This isn't a bug—it's by design. Apple prioritizes user privacy, which means developers see only a sample of their actual usage.
🎯 Acquisition vs Engagement: Different Jobs
App Store Connect excels at acquisition analytics. It's phenomenal at telling you:
✓ What App Store Connect Does Well
- ✓ Impressions: How many times your app icon was viewed
- ✓ Conversion Rate: How effective your screenshots and description are
- ✓ Referral Sources: Which websites and campaigns drove traffic
- ✓ Sales and Proceeds: Revenue, refunds, and subscription metrics
However, App Store Connect struggles with engagement analytics. Once a user downloads your app, the visibility drops dramatically.
The Granularity Gap
If you're trying to improve your app's UX, knowing that "retention is down" isn't actionable. You need to know why—which specific flows, features, or screens are causing users to leave.
⏱️ Real-Time vs the 48-Hour Delay
In mobile development, speed matters—especially around releases.
App Store Connect
24-48 hour delay. If you release a buggy update on Friday, you might not see the engagement dip until Sunday—after thousands of users have already churned.
Third-Party Analytics
Near real-time. You can verify a feature launch instantly or spot a crash spike minutes after release.
For launch-day monitoring and rapid iteration, the 48-hour delay in App Store Connect is often too slow to be actionable.
⚖️ Traditional Third-Party Analytics: The Tradeoffs
The obvious solution is to add a third-party analytics SDK. But this introduces new considerations.
Traditional Analytics Often Collect:
- • IDFA/IDFV: Device identifiers for cross-app tracking
- • IP addresses: Often stored persistently, not just for geolocation
- • Persistent user profiles: Track individuals across months of usage
- • Custom properties: Open-ended fields where PII can accidentally end up
Under regulations like GDPR in Europe, collecting persistent personal data typically requires explicit consent. If you add consent dialogs and users click "Reject," you're back to the same blind spot—just with extra steps.
This creates a dilemma: add traditional analytics and deal with consent overhead, or stay with App Store Connect and accept limited visibility.
🔐 The Session-Based Alternative
There's a third option: session-based analytics that minimizes data collection by design.
At Respectlytics, our approach is what we call Return of Avoidance (ROA): the best way to handle sensitive data is to never collect it.
How Session-Based Analytics Works
- ✓ RAM-only session IDs: Identifiers exist only in device memory—never written to disk. They rotate every 2 hours or on app restart.
- ✓ IP addresses discarded: Processed transiently for country lookup, then immediately deleted—not stored in analytics data.
- ✓ 5 fields only: We store exactly event_name, session_id, timestamp, platform, and country. The API rejects anything else.
- ✓ No user profiles: Without persistent identifiers, there's no way to track an individual across sessions.
This architecture minimizes the personal data in your analytics pipeline, which may simplify your privacy considerations—though you should consult your legal team about requirements for your specific situation. The data is transparent (you know exactly what's collected), defensible (minimal data surface by design), and clear (every field has an explicit purpose).
📊 Feature Comparison
| Feature | App Store Connect | Traditional Analytics | Session-Based Analytics |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data Coverage | ~20-30% (opt-in only) | Varies by consent rate | Per-session (consult legal) |
| Data Latency | 24-48 hours | Near real-time | Near real-time |
| Store Metrics | Excellent | Not available | Not available |
| In-App Events | Basic / limited | Granular custom events | Granular custom events |
| Funnel Analysis | Limited | Full support | Session-based funnels |
| Cross-Session User Tracking | Yes (opt-in users) | Yes (persistent IDs) | No (by design) |
| Personal Data Stored | Apple handles | Often extensive | None retained |
| Privacy Label Impact | Minimal | Can be complex | Minimal |
🔧 The Dual-Stack Approach
This isn't an either/or decision. The most effective mobile teams use both tools for different purposes:
🍎 App Store Connect
For Business Health:
- • Downloads & conversion rates
- • Revenue & proceeds
- • Search and browse discovery
- • A/B testing screenshots
📊 Session-Based Analytics
For Product Health:
- • Feature adoption rates
- • Drop-off points in flows
- • Real-time release monitoring
- • Conversion funnels
By adding session-based analytics, you illuminate what happens inside your app. You stop guessing why retention is dropping and start seeing the specific behaviors that drive growth—while maintaining privacy practices that are transparent and defensible.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
What percentage of users does App Store Connect show?
Typically 20-30%, depending on how many of your users have enabled "Share with App Developers" in their iPhone settings. Privacy-conscious users and those with the setting disabled are invisible.
Why does App Store Connect say "Not Enough Data"?
When you filter by region, device, or specific metrics, the already-small opt-in sample gets even smaller. Apple hides data when the sample size is too small to be statistically meaningful.
Can session-based analytics track users across sessions?
No—and that's by design. Session IDs rotate every 2 hours and on app restart. You can see what happens within a session, but you cannot link sessions to the same person. This is a tradeoff for simpler privacy management.
What metrics do I lose without persistent user tracking?
You cannot calculate traditional MAU/DAU (which require identifying unique users) or multi-session retention curves (which require linking the same user across days). However, you can still measure session-based metrics, conversion rates, feature adoption, and real-time engagement.
Do I still need App Store Connect if I add third-party analytics?
Yes. App Store Connect is the only source for store-level metrics: impressions, conversion rates, search rankings, and sales data. Third-party tools cannot access this data—they only see what happens after the user opens your app.
🎯 Summary
- → App Store Connect shows ~20-30% of users—only those who opt-in to share analytics
- → It excels at acquisition (store metrics) but struggles with engagement (in-app behavior)
- → Traditional third-party analytics can fill the gap but often introduces privacy complexity
- → Session-based analytics minimizes data collection while providing per-session insights
- → Use both: App Store Connect for business health, session-based analytics for product health
Additional Resources
- Respectlytics SDK Documentation - Integration guides for Swift, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native
- Mobile Analytics Without Collecting Personal Data - Technical architecture deep dive
- How to Fill Out Apple's App Store Privacy Label - Step-by-step privacy label guide
- iOS Privacy Label Generator - Interactive tool to generate your privacy label
Legal Disclaimer: This article provides technical information about analytics architecture and does not constitute legal advice. Regulations vary by jurisdiction and change over time. Consult your legal team to determine the requirements that apply to your situation.