Product / Design / Engineering / Agile

How we created a financially self-sustaining mobile product and grew to 10 million users

4.4 ★

star rating

9.8 M

monthly active users

99.9%

crash free

Product / Design / Engineering / Agile

How we created a financially self-sustaining mobile product and grew to 10 million users

4.4 ★

star rating

9.8 M

monthly active users

99.9%

crash free

CCleaner is one of the most popular file-cleaning software systems in the world. It automatically deletes old, temporary or unnecessary files from your phone, speeding-up performance and freeing-up space. CCleaner chose Novoda to help with their Android app development and we’re proud to say our app is now cleaning up the phones of nearly 10 million users worldwide every month.
The Brief

When CCleaner approached Novoda they were looking for an app development agency that could help them meet the high standards their customers expected.

Their brief to us covered these key features:

  • Simple user-focused app that cleans your device and makes it faster, no unnecessary bells and whistles

  • Provide a high quality service in multiple countries and languages, ensuring a flawless layout for all

  • Run seamlessly across any device, including more basic models with less storage space, which are able to run better and last longer by using CCleaner

  • Introduce a freemium model with in-app-purchases, without diluting the experience for free users

We needed experienced Android specialists. We shortlisted a number of agencies, but Novoda stood out because everyone else was more about building basic client–server type apps. The nature of our application meant we required someone who really understood the Android platform at a system level.

- Vishal Kara, Head of Products at Piriform

Our Approach

  1. Our first step is to get to know the end-users, so we conducted an in-depth user study to better understand their needs and motivations.

  2. We welcome close collaboration with our clients, so we held regular workshops with the team at CCleaner to discuss new ideas and shape them into useful features.

  3. We rigorously test every possible user flow across multiple devices to ensure perfect functionality in every scenario.

It’s been a great journey so far, working with enthusiastic and skilled people. Sometimes the easiest things are the most difficult to achieve and you can only do so with a great team.

- Vishal Kara, Head of Products at Piriform

The End Results

We designed CCleaner for Android to do one job and do it really well. We focused on:

  • an appealing and simple UI to create an enjoyable experience for our users

  • a well thought-out UX to make the process totally intuitive from the first use

  • a smooth in-app purchase flow, allowing users to upgrade for extra powerful features

The results and impact include:

  • Average rating on the Google Play Store of 4.4 stars

  • 9.8 million monthly active users across 28 languages

  • More than 38 million downloads so far

  • Highly engaged beta testing community of 100,000+ users providing vital feedback on new releases

  • Running at 99.9% crash free