Earlier this week SurveyMonkey Intelligence shared its statistics suggesting a drop in popularity for Miitomo, with the app seemingly seeing notable drops in download numbers, a high churn rate and declines in weekly average users (WAU). It was data focused on the US, but nevertheless provided an interesting look at something that some (including this writer) have suspected - the social app is struggling with its long term appeal.
There are various potential factors in this - the limitations of the Q & A format mean that, within a week or two, the full depth of the app can seemingly have been covered. Dropping usage by friends means it's less interesting to check on a regular basis (a vicious cycle), and after an initial splurge of tweets the outfits and Miifotos aren't as ever-present as they were at launch. Miitomo Drop, too, is a very one-dimensional (and luck based) minigame.
This writer has been a strong defender of Miitomo, yet will acknowledge that - with the passing of time - it's been lower down the list of priorities for daily checks. The question is whether you, dear reader, have had a similar change of habits.
We have access to quite a lot of data around Miitomo's performance so far, so are planning weekend content to analyse this in detail. First of all, though, we want to know your experiences with Miitomo. Have you downloaded it? If so, are you still a regular user? Let us know in the polls and comments below.
Comments 126
Uninstalled it. Half a gig of app storage freed up, no ragrets.
I downloaded it, but didn't want to link it with a wider social network account, which meant I never added anyone, which meant it could never became a 'social network' in its own right, which rendered it rather pointless. Like an Animal Crossing game with no animals...
Still, I got to design the cover of my autobiography on it:
Coming to all good bookstores... hopefully never.
"I THING it's awesome"
I deleted it because I don't use it and it was huge.
Apart from the loading screens, it's a nice app. I've stopped checking up on it regularly as only one friend ended up joining, he's since stopped using it, and I wasn't about to add strangers after some of the abuse I'd seen from doing that. It's an okay effort for Nintendo's first foray into mobile with DeNA, hopefully Pokemon GO will fare better.
My friends and I still use it quite a bit, ha. We like it!
For me the magic died when I finally added one of my friends. It was at that point that I realized I didn't have anybody else to add, and now the app just makes me feel uncomfortable.
I would like to participate in the poll but... there's no Miitomo in my country. At least I can see the reslults!
Avoided it, knew it wouldn't last. It's amazing that a company that Nintendo, who prides itself on Evergreen titles, couldn't make an evergreen app.
I would have kept it but it eats memory like no tomorrow and sucks the battery life pretty quickly
I still use it to get MyNintendo points, but nobody else on my friendslist uses it anymore.
Uninstalled it after hardly ever using it (none of my friends used it either). My previously overburdened phone is relieved.
Still using it every day. Just wish there was something to spend my 1600 points on.
I'd like to think I'd still use it regularly, but none of my friends ever used it, so all I had was one friend I barely know who likes dank memes or something, and another who either swore or made inappropriate jokes too often... And then their Mii would say it out loud...
I just use it for the points.
i mostly keep it for the Miifoto tbh. I have quite a bit of fun with that
I still use it every day.... But entirely for the platinum coins at this point. And most of my friends have stopped so it's just logging in, chaining my outfit, answering 3 questions, and waiting till I get enough coins for Wario Ware.
After that, I'll probably do the same for the next game they upload for platinum coins.
But what I really can't wait for is for fire emblem's app to come out, that sounds like a much more fun way to get coins.
Also platinum coins should get me fire emblem dlc. Cause there is way too much.
I used it for a couple of weeks for earning points for MyNintendo, but considering there hasn't been anything worth using the points on, I stopped with the daily missions, and will probably remove the app. Doing weekly is quick and easy, granting 120 points.
I'm too lazy to make a Nintendo Account or whatever it's called, so I have it sitting on my phone.
Miitomo was working fine for me from launch up until last Friday morning. It was working last Thursday night and then when I woke up on the Friday morning I kept getting error 801-0011 every time I tried to open the app. I'm on Android and I've tried restarting my phone, force stopping the app, deleting and reinstalling it and clearing the cache but it still doesn't work. It's very annoying because I used Miitomo a few times everyday. Does anyone have any ideas about what is wrong? Thanks.
I never really experienced it fully, as my friends thought it too stupid. I had a lonely poor mii for a while and used him for free platinum coin mining, but grew tired and quit.
Every once in a while I get a very loud notification from it that scares the daylights out of me...... and then I swipe it away and never touch it. I might actually use it if I could add my Miiverse friends easily, since they're obviously people who also care about Nintendo stuff. My "normal" friends don't care, and since they're the only ones I can add easily, why bother? I think I really would use it if I could add all my Miiverse friends, since there's some cool people on there I'd love to see answers from and such, but I imagine Nintendo is terrified of inserting a bunch of weirdos into the daily lives and telephones/tablets of preteens by making that easy to accomplish.
Sadly this app was pretty much garbage. Fun for about 2 days
It's the kind of superfluous "social" junk and "whale bait*" that I don't want Nintendo wasting its time on—but it's highly unlikely Nintendo will listen to me if it actually makes a lot of easy money with Apps like this.
*Did I just coin that term, whale bait, as a way to describe those [mostly] Apps that basically let you start playing for free and then hope to make their money by manipulating/tricking/hooking a few really gullible or naive people into spending obscene amounts of money on them?
I haven't downloaded Miitomo since nobody seems to like developing for Windows Phones. Even if I had downloaded it, I'd probably only use it for coin farming since I know very few people who are using it.
@toxibunny Oh, I know, it's by far the largest app or game on my entire phone, by an order of magnitude...Nintendo really NEEDS to work on that, because I will not install a game if it's too big and will fill up my internal storage. Ability to move to SD Card helps, or even to store all of the data on the actual SD card, is necessary if they're going to have such bloated apps. Additionally, they need to work on how ungodly SLOW it is, every single step of the way.
@Discostew How do you get 120 points from weekly missions? 30 from Mynintendo, 30 from the eshop, 30 from the miiverse?
Where's the other 30 from? I want them.
I love the Miitomo app from what I've seen of it from my friends, but I can never get it to work. Every time I run it, it crashes.
@Captain_Gonru Yeah, it desperately needs things to interact with, to make checking into it worthwhile. On its own, it offers so very little. I'll probably care a bit more again when it has a meaningful interaction with other games, but it really hasn't seemed to do that. For instance, did the app even acknowledge titles for the 3DS or Wii U? Like, was there ever a Star Fox-related item that came out for Star Fox Zero? They need to actually connect their games with this thing for there to be any point or potential benefit. Hopefully with the new mobile games and the eventual NX releasing all these things will actually be meaningfully linked.
Until then, Miitomo is a platform that's linked to almost nothing with very little of substance to do, meaning that like the Wii did before it, it'll collect figurative dust for many users and risk reinforcing a mindset in consumers that Nintendo makes quirky fads that quickly pass and offer little of substance. They may be able to turn that around, but for some, it may prove too late very quickly.
I don't like it. Only log on for the points. It's open and shut again in less than 90 seconds.
It could evolve into something better but right now it's terrible. Just like My Nintendo. I've 1,300+ platinum coins and some gold coins but nothing worth spending them on.
Maybe once or twice in a week, and just for coins. I used daily when I had to reach 1000 coins, but once I spent them, there's no reason to keep coming back very often.
Really wish Miitomo gave more of a Tomodachi Life experience, in addition to what it has now. There were so many different items, and things to create and share in the original game that would still be perfect for mobile and social media.. Oh well...
@Roam85 from my Nintendo, click left side and visit the Nintendo website from there, 30 coins will be added to total
I played the app for about a week. Actually I had forgotten about it still being on my phone until I seen this article. I am going to delete it now.
I got it, and still occasionally use it, almost solely for the MyNintendo Coins. I would have tried it either way, but the coins are why I still have it. That's not to say it's a bad app (I think it's a clever idea). It's just not my thing. I'm looking forward to the Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing games later this year.
Like most, i use it just to gain platinum points. Sad really as it could have become something but it's been left to die out. Also no use for sweets bar questions is ridiculous. Let us use them for something useful like tickets 😧
It's dormant on my phone. Not even worth opening for the reward coins, since it's a chore to get even 20 and there's no good rewards.
Problem: I own a Blackberry phone. Unfortunately I tried downloading it, but can't.
I recently got a smartphone, so I've been using Miitomo daily... So far.
It only lasted 4 days on my phone. It was fun. I did like the text to voice recognition when you'd answer questions and the like. But... about the 3rd day I was pretty much done with it and then deleted it.
It sucks. Make games or watch me buy a PlayStation.
I got it, played it twice, and deleted it.
Just use it for points a few times a week. It got old soo fast.
@erv I'm probably going get a PS4 soon. FF15, KH3, Persona 5, Ni No Kuni 2, MGS5, Uncharted 4, Last Guardian.
I only play it for the platinum points, but I do enjoy it for the time I am playing. Would prefer it if I had a few more irl friends who used it however.
I enjoy it for what it offers. True, my expectations may be more realistic/lower than some. I think it really does depend on having witty friends who use it too. It would be an experience of lesser quality for me without those friends. I would like better rewards, but don't regret the 5 minutes I spend with it every day. Still hoping for some decent incentive in My Nintendo. I can see it becoming less relevant still in general terms if rewards remain "meh".
I only have 3 Facebook friends that used Miitomo, and they're the only people I knew that used it. The novelty wore off rather quick. It would be better if we could add random people that we knew from online forums.
Played with it a bit. Kind of slow and took up too much space on my 8GB iPhone, couldn't complete updates, had to delete it.
I deleted it after a small number of weeks. It's pretty boring and kills my battery. Not to mention it takes a year to boot up only to crash right as it's almost done loading.
I have no friends😂
I need some friends on the app. No one in my social network has this thing except two people. Someone please visit the forums and add me or give me your twitter account so I can follow you and you can send me a friend request.... Please... (sounds of tears falling on keyboard)
I've been using it daily ever since it launched, but I only use it for the My Nintendo points after the first two weeks it launched.
Still waiting for the release in my country.
The whole thing will be dead and forgotten before everyone has had a chance to try it, not releasing it worldwide on day 1 was a big misstake. If they even chose to release it in my region, it's probably to late.
@Roam85 These are the 4 I do weekly (30 points each)
Sign in to Nintendo eShop (weekly)
Sign in to Miiverse (weekly)
Collect the My Nintendo sign-in bonus (weekly)
Sign in to your Nintendo Account on the official Nintendo website (weekly)
Don't have a smartphone, and even if I did the game sounds awful. I'm glad I stayed away from this one.
@Discostew
I've got a pretty similar routine.
@toxibunny good job getting rid of the regrats. conGRATS
@Bolt_Strike
It's about as much of a game as "facebook" is a game.
Every day to get Platinum Points. Waiting on decent rewards, but gotta use within six months or gone.
Probably three or four times a week around 7pm eastern for a few minutes at a time, really wish we could spruce up the apartments somehow.
I would probably enjoy it more if I had more Nintendo fan friends. Having only two cousins as friends was hilarious but got boring after a week
I don't have a phone that can run it.
They should've just tweaked Tomodachi Life a bit and released that on mobile. At least that would be better than... Whatever Miitomo is.
These statistics are unfortunate, but expected. :x Had Miitomo been more full of content like other Nintendo Free to Play games, it could have really caught on. But it just doesn't feel like it was made for mobile devices which is why I ultimately had to it from my phone. For obvious reasons. I just hope Miitomo grows into more than just the odd update, instead of being abandoned.
My girlfriend got a smart phone the other day, so we've been able to cheese the coins pretty good. She's already bored of it, though, within a week...
I've just about given up on it to be honest. If there were worthwhile things to spend my coins on, maybe I'd carry on using it, but there isn't anything on My Nintendo.
It's just a waste of time unfortunately.
@toxibunny the app had that big of a file size? Wow.
it's only good for getting mynintendo points.
It was always trash but used it so Twilight Princess Picross was obtained at a faster rate. Then uninstalled it to make room for more music.
I use it every day for about two minutes to answer three questions, change my hat and rack up 10 platinum points.
Haven't played it in weeks, if I'm being honest. There's just not enough to it.
@Roam85 by searching on the nintendo website with you logged in to your my nintendo account
Tried it, to see what it was like. Then deleted it knowing I would never use it again.
I found it really shallow, but only downloaded it so I could get enough points for the Zelda Picross game.
Miitomo was a complete waste of time for me. Worthless app, in my humble opinion.
Nintendo took way too long to start putting useful and promotional features in it. Why did it take so long to get Splatoon and retro Nintendo clothes?
Instead, I was dressing my character up like half a sandwich. By the time the good clothes came, I was well beyond my 3 day experience with the app.
I only use it enough to get the points. When it asks you a question just add or remove a period from your previous response to get credit. I also despise how when you change clothes it asks if you want to take a picture, you say no and it does it anyways and then asks if you want to share it. And I say no again. It the has the same response every time.
I still enjoy going on this every day, but that's because I have added plenty of interesting people on it. I can imagine how it would be dull if someone doesn't have many Miitomo friends.
@andrew20 @Zemus-DJ @Discostew Ah, much obliged. Closer to Wario Ware now!
I log on a few times a week if I remember to. It's only me and my girlfriend, who btw plays it a lot more than I do. I could get my 3 besties to join but I guess I like the "2's company" rule still
One of those things that is only as good as the people you know.
Miitomo isn't even available in my country...
@Thegentleman
Yup same reason I deleted the app. Too big for little to no real rewards.
The novelty wore off for me pretty quickly. It was cute at first, but because mundane, with the same questions and reactions over and over again. Also, it takes up almost 1GB of space.
Eh, I got bored of it after only a couple weeks. There isn't enough interesting things to do in it to keep me invested.
Takes up TOO much space. Not very good anyway. Those points aren't very convincing. Where's Zelda? 30th anniversary kind of meaningless. They should implement that into the app.
There's really not much to do with it after a while, except for getting more coins...or at least I'd LIKE to get more coins, if the damn app would just stop crashing when it's taking the Miifoto of the Day!
I use it every day, but only to get points.
Sometimes there is some mild amusement to be found in the Q&A interactions, but IME most people are doing as I do - going through the motions for point rewards. That said, I try to give interesting answers and comments, so as not to bore others any more than necessary, and of course to generate point-earning hearts and replies.
Really I'd rather My Nintendo point rewards be earned through actual Nintendo console game achievements and the like. That would be much more fun.
I was still going on every day trying to get a few Nintendo Points and coins but the last week or so I've forgotten all about it. I was trying to view 10 questions each day to get the points but the problem was it was ALL the same person who's questions I was seeing. I have maybe 15 people added but this one guy must be the only one who answers questions regularly because everything was him. It got to the point where I wouldn't even read it if it was him, I'd just skip past to the next one (him again).
So yeah, I got bored of it. Plus the rate you earn coins at is so slow, and the prices so high or the game tickets are given out so rarely that I never get to buy new outfits. It's definitely manufactured to make you spend real money on coins. So I've lost interest to be perfectly honest.
@Williaint Game, app, whatever you want to call it, it looks awful.
I use it everyday solely for the platinum coins. I tossed my name on some "Miitomo friends" forum threads so I have plenty of people to interact with, but yeah, this app is so poorly executed. Badge Arcade does so much more to promote Nintendo games, is more fun, and Badge Arcade Bunny is humorous when he goes on about games.
I think we NintendoLife users should be Nintendo friends since it seems that all our "real" friends don't play Nintendo.
Should we?
The selection of answers could improve. I use it daily but only to farm coins. I don't even look at the screen, just keep tapping to "see" more answers, and when I have to answer I just type whatever.
I don't understand what to do with it, I answer a few questions, get some coins to spend on costumes, drop the guy and that seems to be it.
I only got it because I thought it replaced Club Nintendo and I could get physical goodies...
I played it every day for like, a month or so when it was released, but just to farm those coin things.
But since I won't really be using that stuff anyway I figured, eh, screw it, I'm done with this stupid app. Not worth draining my phone battery with.
The only thing I use Miitomo for are Platinum Points... to spend on Miitomo costumes. (Once you get the 1000-point games, THERE IS NOTHING ELSE EVEN REMOTELY GOOD YOU CAN GET WITH THIS
HALF-BAKED CLUB NINTENDO REPLACEMENT!!!)
@toxibunny Ouch, half a gig?
@LegendOfPokemon It's just starting out; we shouldn't judge it yet.
@eltomo My Nintendo is Club Nintendo's replacement, not Miitomo (maybe I misunderstood).
You're welcome to add me if you have Twitter. My id is Designerjosie. Problem is I stopped using it because it kept giving me a communication error.
Never downloaded it in the first place.
What do I need with Twitter delivered through a gimmick.
it doesnt run very well on my iPhone 4, which isnt Nintendo's fault i suppose. But for that reason i just have no patience for it. When i upgrade i'll give it a better look.
I don't even own an android or ios device (I still use a flip phone for calls and text), so no.
Miitomo isn't even available everywhere, which is odd and stupid in itself, so I haven't been able to test it out.
But knowing what it includes, I can say for sure that it would serve as a small distraction for a week in my small circle of friends, but Miitomo can't have a lasting appeal in a limited social circle, by the very nature of it.
I use it every single day, but everyone on my friend's list is completely dormant. No one is active at all. I think we're all bored with answering questions amongst eachother.
HOWEVER, I like MiiFoto very VERY MUCH. That feature is a great alternative to things like "BitStrip" on Facebook.
I think creating and sharing MiiFotos should be rewarded with "My Nintendo" points. In fact, I think that should be the whole focus of the App going forward!
I think it's still a good application for learning a bit more about friends (and their friends) and MiiFoto is the most fun part about it, but it really needs more minigames beyond Miitomo Drop.
btw, it's easy what they could do to improve it: Just add Nintendo Badge Arcade as a section in Miitomo and incorporate digital badge trading. Even though it sounds like a bit of work, this one idea could give both Miitomo and Badge Arcade fans lots of incentive to use it.
It's a very charming interface and I like the idea of a friendly, locked down social network. But the bottom line is it doesn't enable me to find friends. I still have no Miitomo friends, so I'm answering questions and dressing up for no one but myself. And what's the point in that?
I agree it would probably be better with more friends, and ideally all your good and close friends would join it.
That hasn't been the case for me, and I doubt most of my close friends would use it and regularly.
That said, I still like to dress my character up, answer questions, and miifoto, for the occasional bit of fun and points.
At this point, I'm willing to try random friends to make it more fun (and potentially get some bonuses for having more Miitomo friends) to see if it becomes more interesting.
That said: Anyone want to add me on Miitomo? No strings attached (we can both unfriend each other at anytime), I don't inappropriately joke. Just a kosher, long time, creative, Nintendo fan. If you're similar, and you'll agree not to send me inappropriate jokes or photos or miifotos, or otherwise mess with my mii character offline or online per photos/fotos and the like, let's add each other. Can let me know here and can add me on my twitter account (also DeltaPeng - https://twitter.com/DeltaPeng ), and I'll add you on my Twitter, we'll friend up on Miitomo, then can unfriend on Twitter if desired (my account is basically used for Miitomo friending). Or can try that new email add method. Reply and let me know if so.
My problem is that I don't have any friends
It didn't even function correctly on my phone. So, it's crap.
Barely even touch it. It's nothing more than an dumbed down version of Tomadachi Life.
I find it to be mildly entertaining because I have a small friend list (mostly people who live very far away, taken from my facebook account), so I can see the goofy answers to dumb questions those friends gave and be all like "awww, it kind of makes me feel like I'm hanging out with that friend who lives very far away all over again. So unlike facebook, I don't have to scroll through billions of annoying political things, images that someone slapped some text on in order to call attention to themselves, "interesting" videos that turn out to be incredibly boring, and links to "cool reads" that have no impact on my life all in the slim hope that I'll see something interesting from some friend I don't hear from much these days. However, the thing I still haven't figured out is how to get new questions to answer because I'd love to share my dumb answers to goofy questions with my friends since that's what Miitomo is supposedly all about. Seriously, how do I get asked new questions???
I still use it at least every few days, guess I'm lucky I have a couple actual friends on it plus a few Miiverse friends added. Honestly never expected this app to be more than what it is, and to me it's an app that will probably become once or twice weekly use, that seems to be about the rate people answer questions these days. I'm fine with that. Given what this app is, I think that was ultimately the point.
I still enjoy it, but that's mainly because the people I'm using it with are usually interesting and funny in their answers.
My Nintendo and Miitomo are a huge disappointment!
Didn't we just have a very similar poll here a few days ago? This seems redundant.
It didn't arrive at my country so, I can't say anything, but it looks stupid, and also it is a mobile game, it is destined to be Nibelsnarf.
It's junk. I play it for 2 minutes a day every so often just to get the points but there's no reason to do that really since the stuff you can get with those points is an insult (absolutely useless). The Wario game was the only good thing there ever was and I got that a few days after it became available.
I used to play it daily with about 3 friends, but honestly activity has dropped a few weeks ago, and now just 1 friend plays it on a regular basis. Therefore, I just check in about once a week, maybe even less.
About the Mii drop thing. Well, it's quite slow and dull as a Pachinko game, and the costumes are useless to me as I use one outfit and that's all I need. And most of the time it gave me candies which are rarely needed to see some answers.. I'd rather play Nintendo Badge Arcade on 3DS for that matter, as it's more skill based and the prizes (badges) can be rather fun.
For the points, well, I already got more than 1000 even after getting both free games.
I downloaded it at launch time and had a little fun with it the first couple of days, but now I just log in once every few days when I happen to think about it to collect my daily bonus. I really don't care about answering questions like we are back in the old Wii "Everybody Votes" channel, nor do I care to read the answers of the two or three friends I have on it. Now, find a way to integrate this service into Nintendo's franchises on the console and handheld systems, and maybe we'll talk. Use it to store and share your created Mii, maybe there's something to it. Maybe this is the first step of a larger blueprint that will be connected to the NX down the line. That's really the only reason I'm keeping it. I'll hold out hope.
Downloaded it on day one, deleted it by day three.
My device (droid4x) was rooted. Natively the app doesn't work on rooted devices (who knows why Nintendo probably thinks all rooted users are pirates or something...given how much of it is sever side I'm not exactly sure what you could defraud) unless you use some third party hacks.
One of the updates blocked the hacks I was using to make the app work. I then unrooted my device. App still doesn't work.
So I stopped using it because it stopped working though my use was really collecting 70 My Nintendo coins that honestly I don't actually need due to there being so little My Nintendo content (which I think is a good thing, Club Nintendo was a total nightmare to casual consumers).
I never got to try it, couldn't download it here in Norway for some reason.
In my opinion it's not worth the amount of space it takes up.
Pretty much only use it at this point to get my nintendo coins, still like dressing up my mii tho, make a creative miifoto if I am not lazy.
@eXtremeHippo I think I know the problem. You're using an Android instead of the superior Apple products.
I got tired of answering the same questions repeatedly, and don't do social media so my Mii got a bit lonely. When I realised just how much space it was taking up, I deleted it. I got the Zelda Picross game, but as I was stupid enough once early on to purchase some clothing items, with real money, I actually paid for it! It was amusing for a while though.
Used it to get Zelda Picross, then deleted it. Was a boring and slow app.
Login a couple of times a week to get the handful of "easy" platinum coins. Less bothered right now as got Zelda Picross and Warioware already. None of the current platinum rewards are interesting me at the moment. Got the DK theme and might pick up the Mario one as have over 500 at the moment. Just waiting to see if there are any new rewards this week!
Nintendo: "Still didn't manage to catch that silly hat? Until 20 June, ..."
So does Nintendo realise how senseless Miitomo in the end is?
Still waiting for it to be released globally instead of small regional release like it is now.
Nordic countries are still waiting for Miitomo.
I've downloaded it separately, but no chance to connect my Nintendo Account to it.
I downloaded it for the free points and games, still use it for free points and games and still think it is rather rubbish.
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