How did you retain users?
I'm an introvert who enjoys anonymity ever since I was introduced to internet several years ago. I wanted to make an anonymous app where users could share their thoughts, secrets, confessions etc without being judged or it coming back to haunt them after several years. I learnt Swift, designed and developed the app all by myself, used little paid help when it came to encryption and secure data storage.
I see a few secrets shared everyday on the app past couple of weeks, this was a rarity earlier (like one or two secrets in a week). But I'm unble to retain these users, had over 600 new users in the past 4 weeks.
Could you take a look at app and let me know why you would delete it after using it once and what could I do to retain you?
Direct Link to App Store - http://shhh.fun
Have you asked them why they don't come back? Have you done any user testing with folks logged into the app?
If users aren't using a tool then it may not be hitting the right spot for them/meeting the need/scratching the itch. 600 users is quite a lot, so the value prop seems to be there (otherwise they wouldn't sign up) but once they actually start using the app it seems what they thought they were getting isn't there/there isn't something to bring them back.
What would you say the draw to come back is? What's the point of logging in regularly? How regular would you expect an active user to log in?
I suppose that by being anonymous, the viral aspect of sharing with friends is not there. i did not download the app (I have a droid), but hard to tell from the screenshots what the interface looks like--how would my feed be organized? i assume users would want to be validated and heard, therefore stickiness would be directly correlated to engagement with their message. how involved are you in the chats yourself? if you commented on every post (a lot of work with 600 users), that would likely make a difference. i remember hearing that was how reddit's founders seeded their community, having conversations with themselves.
Notification on comment or like etc can bring them back. Or notification on secrets being posted similar to theirs.
Honestly, a webapp would have sufficed for this need in my view. It's like a message in the bottle. Sometimes you do not wish to see the bottle again.