Parse Discrepancy between Installations and Users - ios

Question

I recently released my iOS game to the App Store and was about to send my first Push Notification when I noticed that the # Recipients (= # Installations) is about 1/3 the # Users (on Parse dashboard).
I released using Parse 1.2.21 (and have subsequently upgraded to 1.4.1, but not released yet).
I am skeptical that 2/3 of my users have opted out of notifications.
note: I did not implement didFailToRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithError (now added for next release).
The only theory I have is as follows:
When I released to App Store, I was unaware of the "Released to production" switch (released w/ NO).
A week later, I noticed this button and switched it to YES.
Yesterday, I tested push notifications and verified that it was sent to a good sampling of the installs.
THEORY: Before I enabled "Released to production" the Development APN was being used and thus failed.
Better ideas on why #Installations is 1/3 of #Users? :-)
Here's my code:
- (BOOL)application:(UIApplication *)application didFinishLaunchingWithOptions:(NSDictionary *)launchOptions
{
...
// Parse: Enable auto-user.
[PFUser enableAutomaticUser];
[[PFUser currentUser] incrementKey:#"runCount"];
// Save the user to force a round trip w/ Parse (and obtain objectId if not already).
[[PFUser currentUser] saveInBackgroundWithBlock:^(BOOL succeeded, NSError *error) {
if (succeeded) {
NSLog(#"AppDelegate::application: Save PFUser succeeded: %#, objectId: %#", [PFUser currentUser], [PFUser currentUser].objectId);
} else {
// Log details of the save failure.
if ([error code] == kPFErrorObjectNotFound) {
// This user does not exist.
NSLog(#"AppDelegate::application: RARE CASE: The current PFUser does not exist on Parse! This is probably due to us deleting the user to force a reset or a mistake. Logging this user out... lazily creating new PFUser...");
[PFUser logOut];
} else {
// Other errors.
NSLog(#"AppDelegate::application: RARE CASE: Saving the PFUser currentUser FAILED! currentUser: %#, objectId: %#.... saving eventually in attempt to re-try...", [PFUser currentUser], [PFUser currentUser].objectId);
// Save eventually to ensure it gets saved.
[[PFUser currentUser] saveEventually];
}
NSString *codeString = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"Save PFUser (app init), code:%d", [error code]];
[PFAnalytics trackEvent:#"error" dimensions:#{ #"code": codeString }];
}
}];
...
// Parse: Register for push notifications
if ([application respondsToSelector:#selector(isRegisteredForRemoteNotifications)])
{
// iOS 8 Notifications
UIUserNotificationSettings *settings =
[UIUserNotificationSettings settingsForTypes:UIUserNotificationTypeAlert |
UIUserNotificationTypeBadge |
UIUserNotificationTypeSound
categories:nil];
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] registerUserNotificationSettings:settings];
[[UIApplication sharedApplication] registerForRemoteNotifications];
} else {
// iOS < 8 Notifications
[application registerForRemoteNotificationTypes: UIRemoteNotificationTypeBadge |
UIRemoteNotificationTypeAlert |
UIRemoteNotificationTypeSound ];
}
}
Successful:
- (void)application:(UIApplication *)application didRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithDeviceToken:(NSData *)newDeviceToken {
// Store the deviceToken in the current installation and save it to Parse.
PFInstallation *currentInstallation = [PFInstallation currentInstallation];
[currentInstallation setDeviceTokenFromData:newDeviceToken];
[currentInstallation saveInBackground];
}
Fail:
- (void)application:(UIApplication *)application didFailToRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithError:(NSError *)error
{
// An error occured during register push notifs.
NSLog(#"ERROR:didFailToRegisterForRemoteNotificationsWithError: error: %d, %#", error.code, error.description );
NSString *codeString = [NSString stringWithFormat:#"Register Push Notifications, code:%d", [error code]];
[PFAnalytics trackEvent:#"error" dimensions:#{ #"code": codeString }];
}`

Answer 1

I went through the same situation and can speak to it directly. Yes, your 'Released to Production' problem is the most likely culprit.
It also takes time for users to opt in if they aren't using the app every day/week. When we added Push Notifications, our ratio of Installations:Users was around 70%. The problem was that it was only asking for users to add push after their next usage of the app, and some users might go days or weeks before they open the app again and get asked to register (and create their Installation object). Now that we have had the system up and running with pushes for 3 months, the ratio is over 95%; almost all users have opted in for push.
Just be patient and eventually your coverage will go up as users :)

Answer 2

All of my theories were wrong. :-)
I am now 99% certain that the 2/3 of users were indeed denying approval for push notifications because I was asking immediately during app init (i.e. before the new user had any loyalty or trust established with my app).
And, considering that you really only get ONE CHANCE to ask, this may be an important decision for your app.
After reading a lot of advice on best practices, the consensus appears to be:
Ask the user to approve push notifications at a time that makes sense to the user or after something good has happened. Ideally, you make a good case for why they want to approve. Remember that you only get ONE CHANCE (technically, they can change this setting, but is highly unlikely).
Consider using a two-phase modal: The first modal is a custom modal created by you and asks if they would approve push notifications (plus any motivation and trust you can establish). If they tap YES to your modal, THEN pop the Apple push notification request (ios8:registerUserNotificationSettings,
Several folks have shown data that the two-step modal increases conversion rates significantly.