How can I measure retention using Google Analytics Mobile SDK

Question

I would like to create a retention cohort analysis for my mobile Android application using Google Analytics Mobile SDK.

Basically I would like to segment my cohort by date of installation (e.g. group all users which installed my app on the same day) and measure retention after two weeks (e.g. how many of each group are still using the app after two weeks). I want to end up with a graph showing a date on the X-axis and the relevant retention percent for that date on the Y-axis.

I was able to do this in the past (using the previous analytics version) by using a custom variable which indicated the date of installation for each user and than for each date of installation query the API for all users in that group that were still visitors after two weeks. This is not possible any more using the new Google analytics mobile API.

Answer 1

Google Universal Analytics now support Cohorts. Create a Custom Segment and set "Date of First Session". This works for Mobile, tested on Android, iOS and Unity.

Found a slideshare that shows you how:

http://www.slideshare.net/Local-Ventures/local-ventures-customsegreporting-27989106