• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, March 21, 2013

Online audience measurement firm Quantcast has launched a new service for tracking mobile app usage across iOS and Android devices. The company's free Measure for Apps offering provides data on app traffic, installs and return usage, which is especially important to help developers see how many engaged users they have.

The service also includes information on visit frequency, traffic by app version, and top countries and top devices for a given app. Among initial publishers showcasing mobile app data along with Web analytics in their public profiles on Quantcast.com are Topix, Goodreads and Big Oven, with more on the way.

Perhaps more importantly, publishers using Quantcast can now track audiences across apps as well as their desktop and mobile Web sites in a single dashboard. In a blog post today, the company said the app measurement tool arose from client demand for a way to track digital usage across platforms in a unified view.

As more traffic shifts over to mobile, Web analytics firms are following suit. ComScore late last year introduced a cross-platform measurement service including mobile Web and app traffic, while Experian Marketing Services earlier this month rolled out Hitwise Mobile, which tracks mobile Web traffic.