The Power of Streak: Increasing the Engagement of Learning Apps

With a record 17 million daily active users, Duolingo is a benchmark for engagement and growth. In the Sensor Tower analysis, you will learn about the growing trend towards the use of the “striped” approach in educational applications and its impact on the number of user sessions.

When it comes to retaining mobile app users, Duolingo especially highlights the use of the Streak feature. This approach effectively motivates users to return to the app every day to keep the Streak high, meaning they don’t miss a single day of using the app.

Duolingo has been using this strategy since its inception, which has greatly contributed to Duolingo being one of the most popular educational apps today. In June, Duolingo achieved an outstanding milestone by setting a new record of 17 million daily active users (DAUs). This success is even more impressive when you consider that, in general, educational apps are experiencing a steady decline in downloads below pre-pandemic levels. Despite this trend, Duolingo’s user base continues to grow steadily and shows no signs of slowing down.

According to Sensor Tower, education apps are seeing a significant increase in the number of products using the Streak feature. Two such apps, Busuu and Drops, have recently implemented this feature and seen a noticeable spike in total sessions. In the month since the addition of the stripe feature, the Busuu app has seen a notable 15% increase in total sessions.

Looking at the time spent in language apps and the number of weekly sessions, streak apps show exceptional user engagement, with Duolingo being the most prominent.

The versatility of the “stripe” function has yet to be determined, but its potential benefits are significant. If you’re looking to increase app engagement, reduce churn, and maintain a high DAU, this feature might be a viable strategy for you.