iPhone users abandon apps quickly

Only 30% of iPhone users who download applications from the App store use the program within a day of installing it, according to a new survey.

Research from analysis firm Pinch Media shows most applications are abandoned by users quickly, while paid applications are more popular than free programs. The report was presented to the New York iPhone Developers Meetup.

“Paid applications generally retain their users longer than free applications, although the drop-off is still pretty steep,” Pinch Media said. “Users stop using the average applications pretty quickly. Long-term audiences are generally 1% of total downloads.

The survey also shows that dropping the price of an application drops its demand by 130%, while raising it reduces downloads by 25%. Advertising within downloaded applications is not as effective as charging for the original download itself.

Dropping the price of an application increases demand for it by 130% the company said, while raising the price cuts downloads by 25%.