How to Create a Mobile App Dashboard in Google Sheets

Monitoring your mobile app's performance doesn't have to require expensive analytics platforms. You can build a powerful, custom dashboard using a tool you already know and use: Google Sheets. This article will walk you through the entire process, step by step, from planning your key metrics to creating interactive charts that tell your app's story.

Why Use Google Sheets for an App Dashboard?

Before an app gets hundreds of thousands of users, a dedicated business intelligence tool can feel like overkill. Google Sheets offers a practical starting point for indie developers, startups, and marketing teams for a few key reasons:

It's free. There are no subscription costs, making it a budget-friendly option when you're just getting started.
It's collaborative. You can easily share your dashboard with your team, investors, or stakeholders, and everyone can view real-time updates without needing special software.
It's flexible. You have complete control over what your dashboard looks like and which metrics you track. You aren't limited by a software company's pre-built templates.
It’s familiar. Most people have some experience with spreadsheets, lowering the learning curve significantly compared to complex BI software.

Step 1: Plan Your Dashboard by Identifying Key Metrics

A good dashboard tells a story, and you can't tell a story without knowing the plot. Before you touch a single cell, you must decide which metrics are most critical to your app's success. Don't try to track everything, focus on the numbers that drive decisions.

Here are the core categories of mobile app metrics you should consider:

Acquisition Metrics

These tell you how users are finding and installing your app.

Downloads/Installs: The total number of times your app has been downloaded. Break this down by platform (iOS vs. Android) and source (Organic Search, Paid Ads, Social Media, etc.).
Cost Per Install (CPI): If you're running paid campaigns, this shows how much you're spending to acquire each new user.

Engagement Metrics

These metrics show whether people are actually using your app, not just downloading and forgetting it.

Daily Active Users (DAU) & Monthly Active Users (MAU): The number of unique users who open your app in a day or a month, respectively. These are the lifeblood of your app's health.
Session Length: The average amount of time a user spends in your app per session. A longer session often suggests higher engagement.
Stickiness (DAU/MAU Ratio): This percentage shows how many of your monthly users are returning daily. A higher ratio indicates a more loyal user base.

Monetization Metrics

This is all about the money. How is your app generating revenue?

Total Revenue: The total income from all sources (in-app purchases, subscriptions, ad revenue).
Average Revenue Per User (ARPU): This metric gives you a high-level view of how much each user is worth on average.

Conversion Rate: The percentage of users who take a desired revenue-generating action, like upgrading to a premium version or making an in-app purchase.

Retention Metrics

These tell you if users are coming back to your app after their first visit.

Retention Rate: The percentage of users who return to your app after a specific period (e.g., 1 day, 7 days, 30 days after install). High retention is a strong signal of product-market fit.
Churn Rate: The opposite of retention—the percentage of users who stop using your app over a given period.

Choose 5-7 of the most important metrics from these categories to start with. You can always add more later.

Step 2: Gather and Structure Your Data

Your dashboard will only be as good as the data you feed it. The most common way to get data for your app is to export CSV files from your different data sources:

Apple App Store Connect for iOS performance.
Google Play Console for Android performance.
Mobile analytics platforms like Firebase, Mixpanel, or AppsFlyer for user behavior data.
Ad platforms like Google Ads or Facebook Ads for campaign performance.

The key to a successful Google Sheets dashboard is organization. Always follow this structure:

In your spreadsheet, create a tab and name it "Raw Data". This is where you will paste all your exported CSV data. Dedicate another tab and call it "Dashboard" — keep this one clean for now. This physical separation prevents you from accidentally messing up your source data while building your visuals.

Organize your "Raw Data" tab with clean, consistent columns. A simple structure looks something like this:

Each row represents a single day. The cleaner and more organized your data is here, the easier the next steps will be.

Step 3: Build Your Dashboard Visuals

Now for the fun part. Navigate to your empty "Dashboard" tab. We're going to build your dashboard by creating Key Performance Indicators (KPI) cards, charts, and interactive filters.

Create High-Level KPI Cards

At the top of your dashboard, you want to see your most important numbers at a glance. Let's create some summary boxes.

Format a few cells at the top to look like cards (use a background color and bold text).
Label them (e.g., "Total Revenue," "Total Installs").
Use simple formulas to pull the data from your "Raw Data" tab. Let's assume your "Revenue" is in column G and "Installs" are in column D of the "Raw Data" sheet.

For Total Revenue:

For Total Installs:

For Average Daily Users (DAU): (Let's say DAU is in column E)

These simple functions give you an instant overview of your core metrics.

Add Charts to Visualize Trends

Numbers are great, but charts tell a story. Let's create a few essential visuals.

Trend Line Chart (DAU Over Time)

In your "Raw Data" tab, select your 'Date' column and 'DAU' column (hold Ctrl or Cmd to select non-adjacent columns).
Go to Insert > Chart.
Google Sheets will likely default to a line chart, but if not, select it from the Chart Editor on the right.
Use the Customize tab in the Chart Editor to change the title, colors, and axis labels to make it professional.
Once you're happy, cut and paste this chart (Ctrl+X, Ctrl+V) onto your "Dashboard" tab.

Bar Chart (Installs by Source)

First, you'll need to summarize your data. You can do this with a Pivot Table. Go to Insert > Pivot Table. Select your "Raw Data" range and create it in a new sheet.
In the Pivot Table editor, add 'Source' to the Rows section and 'Installs' to the Values section (summarized by SUM).
Now, select your summarized data in the pivot table.
Go to Insert > Chart and choose a Bar or Column chart.
Customize and move it to your dashboard.

Pie Chart (Revenue by Platform)

Using the same Pivot Table method as above, summarize 'Revenue' by 'Platform'.
Select the data, go to Insert > Chart, and select a Pie Chart.
Customize and move it to your "Dashboard" tab.

Make Your Dashboard Interactive

A static dashboard is good, but an interactive one is even better. We can use a slicer to filter the entire dashboard by a specific date range, platform, or source.

Your charts need to be connected to a Pivot Table for a slicer to work on them. If you haven't already, rebuild each of your charts using data from a single, large Pivot Table.
Click anywhere inside your Pivot Table.
Go to Data > Add a Slicer.
In the slicer options on the right, choose the column you want to filter by, such as 'Date' or 'Platform'.
Move the slicer to your dashboard. Now, when you use the slicer, all the charts connected to that Pivot Table will update automatically. This allows you to quickly see performance for a specific month or compare iOS vs. Android with a single click.

Step 4: Automate Your Data Flow

Manually exporting and importing CSV files every week can get tedious. While it's a great initial step, the ultimate goal is automation.

You can use third-party tools like Zapier or Make.com to build automated "zaps" or "scenarios" that pull data from your analytics platforms and add it as a new row in your "Raw Data" Google Sheet automatically. These tools connect to thousands of apps and can update your sheet on a daily or hourly schedule, making your dashboard a true source of up-to-date information without any manual data entry.

Final Thoughts

Building a mobile app performance dashboard in Google Sheets is an empowering, cost-effective way to get on top of your data. By identifying the right metrics, structuring your data, and using the built-in charting and slicer tools, you can create a centralized hub that provides actionable insights to help you grow your app.

Of course, as your data grows, managing even an automated Google Sheet can become time-consuming. We created Graphed because we believe getting insights shouldn't mean spending hours managing spreadsheets. Graphed connects directly to your data sources like Google Analytics, Firebase, and your ad platforms, so all your data is in one place, live and always updated. You can ask questions in plain English like, "show me a dashboard of my DAU vs. revenue from Facebook Ads last month," and get a complete dashboard built for you in seconds, saving you hours of manual reporting work.