Software Usage Analytics for free with SoftMeter + Google analytics

Google Analytics is the most popular platform for website statistics.

If we imagine our desktop or mobile software as a website, shouldn't we be using the same successful analytics platform also for our software usage analytics?

This is the idea that sparked the creation of SoftMeter, our software usage analytics library for Windows, MacOS and IOS.

SoftMeter is a small library that acts like "glue" between your software application and your Google Analytics account. By embedding SoftMeter into your program, you will be able to see (even in real time) how users around the world are using your program, in the same way as you observe their visits and usage of your website.

Developers have been using Website analytics for years but only recently started to extend the statistics into the software usage analytics

With website statistics, you are able to see how users come to your site, where they come from, and finally, how many decide to download your software. And then, you are left in the dark with questions that directly relate to the profitability of your software product:

• What per cent of the users actually install the software after the download?
• How many face installation problems and quit?
• How many opened the software only the first couple of days and then stopped using it?
• How many uninstall it?
• How many free installations are being actively used?

With SoftMeter you will be able to see beyond the download, beyond the web site statistics

• You will understand which application features matter the most to your users.
• You will monitor if you have a healthy per cent of free users being converted to paying customers.
• You will see how your marketing campaigns affect the installed user base.
• You will be also able to log remotely application errors (like exceptions or crashes) or other non-critical warnings and issues. This will allow you to spot bugs quickly and monitor if your software runs well, in the widest variety of hardware and operating systems: the variety that your user base is having.

Unique benefits of SoftMeter

• Free or low cost by design: You do not have to pay for the cost of the data collection and reporting platform.
• Very simple API for quick implementation: There are UX seminars and UX workshops teaching about optimising the user experience and use SoftMeter as a quick technology to achieve that.
• Very small library size: e.g. 400kb DLL.
• No library dependencies on other frameworks
• Cross-platform: Windows, MacOS, IOS

Ready implementation samples

• Installation analytics for InnoSetup
• Installation analytics for InstallAware
• IOS demo app
• Delphi/Pascal console example
• Delphi GUI example
• C++ console example for Windows and MacOS

Quick wins for you

• If you are an independent developer, add SoftMeter usage analytics to your software to measure your user base and see how they use your application
• If you work for a software house, introduce SoftMeter usage analytics to your next meeting with your product design team and be their hero developer. The embedded software usage analytics will allow them to design a better product, in less time.
• If you are a contract developer, include SoftMeter usage analytics in your next offer. With minimum additional implementation effort, you are offering a development service surpasses the competition. SoftMeter you will win more software development contracts for you.