How to Use This Tool
Select the day after install you want to compare, then translate that day-specific retention rate into an estimated number of returning users. Compare cohorts at the same checkpoint and with the same denominator.
Why App Retained Users needs more than a raw total
Apple's retention denominator includes devices that installed and later opened, so reconcile the exact dashboard definition before comparing internal events. For this page, the useful comparison is users retained on selected day, not whichever input happens to be largest. The App Retained Users result answers the decision in the heading and should not be reused as a score for a different workflow.
The exact App Retained Users formula
At the selected checkpoint, retained users = qualified install cohort × checkpoint retention rate ÷ 100. The visible fields are Qualified install cohort, Retention rate at checkpoint and Retention checkpoint day. For App Retained Users, read each printed unit before entry and make the values describe one transaction, cohort or reporting window. If those scopes differ, the displayed users retained on selected day may be arithmetically valid but operationally meaningless.
Interpreting users retained on selected day
Compare mature cohorts at the same day offset and investigate onboarding or release changes when the absolute gap is material. The ten-percent comparison is deliberately narrow: it tests the influence of qualified install cohort and is neither a forecast nor a confidence interval. Preserve the values used, their dates and the resulting decision so a later reviewer can reproduce why App Retained Users supported the choice.
What this App Retained Users model leaves out
Privacy thresholds, opt-in coverage, late first opens, multi-device users and rolling retention definitions are excluded. That is where App Retained Users stops being trustworthy. If an excluded factor could reverse users retained on selected day, extend the model explicitly or use the authoritative account system instead of hiding the factor inside an unexplained adjustment.
Evidence and independent verification
The reference reviewed for App Retained Users is Apple Developer — App retention. Apple Developer — App retention supports the named definition or rule but does not supply private values for users retained on selected day. Before acting on the result, reconcile the worked example with the relevant dashboard, invoice, export or measurement.
Private, reproducible calculation
App Retained Users runs its arithmetic in the current browser tab and requests no login or API key. That keeps the App Retained Users inputs away from the site's calculation server, while leaving the user responsible for detecting stale data or a changed platform rule. When an assumption changes, reopen Apple Developer — App retention and rerun the saved App Retained Users scenario.
Sources & assumptions
Tool Spec v2 · verified 2026-08-22. Platform rules and fees can change; the editable inputs remain authoritative for your account.
Official references
- Apple Developer — App retention (checked 2026-08-22)
Model assumptions
- Every input covers the same reporting period or cohort.
- Privacy thresholds, opt-in coverage, late first opens, multi-device users and rolling retention definitions are excluded.
- The calculator uses only the visible fields and does not fetch account data.
