Wikimedia Apps/Team/iOS/Activity Tab

In a Nutshell

This project is testing a redesigned iOS tab—transforming the History tab into a richer, more inclusive Activity tab that surfaces insights into reading, editing, and donation behaviors. Leveraging users’ local data enhances personalization while preserving privacy.

This A/B test aims to boost logged-in reader retention and multi-day engagement, contributing to the efforts of the 2025-2026 annual plan where we engage core consumer audiences.

Background

Through last year’s experiments with Year-in-Review, an activity tab prototype on iOS, and private donor recognition, we learned that many of our users appreciate seeing insights about their behavior. It was also clear based on user feedback that users want to have control over what is displayed and ensure privacy is honored, which is why with the exception of editing data that is already public, we will leverage local data for this implementation.

The Android app has already built a production Activity tab that was A/B tested against the edits tab in August 2025. The iOS app will learn from Android’s implementation and create an iOS version to test against iOS's History tab.

The goal is to highlight personal insights while keeping sensitive data private. Each module in the Activity tab can be turned on or off, and reading history can be deleted, giving users full control over what they see.

Experiment Requirements

Update Navigation bar to read Activity instead of History
Require user to have an account to see activity
Temporary accounts accounts should receive the logged-out experience
Show survey to collect feedback on 3rd visit to activity tab
Show an onboarding screen the first time they click into activity (Logged-in and logged-out)
Remember scroll position in the activity tab when someone clicks on a module and then returns
Experiment is run as an A/B or A/B/C test
Add overflow menu with
- Ability to customize and hide/show elements of the module
- Access to an info page that leads to mediawiki
- Ability to clear their reading history from within the Activity Tab
- Allow clearing donation history from Activity tab
Clearing donation history in settings should also clear the donation module in Activity
Clearing history should also clear insights based on History in Activity
In the customization screen, communicate where local data is being used
Empty state for when all activity modules are turned off
Show Standard history tab with CTA to turn modules on
Empty state for logged-out users
For donations made from the donations module, they should be counted as App menu, but attributable to the activity tab
Show Standard history tab with CTA to log-in to see Activity
Insights should cover all app languages, except where necessary they can be solely based on the primary app language

How does the feature work?

Some users in the experiment group see the new Activity tab, while others continue to see the History tab (control).
Each module (reading, editing, donor history) can be toggled on or off.
Empty modules display calls-to-action (for example: “Make an edit” or “Explore Wikipedia”).
Readers have the option to clear their history from the tab menu or Settings.
Users can see a timeline of editing and reading behavior all in one place.

How success will be measured

Key Indicators

Primary KR 1.1 - Users with access to the activity tab have a 1% higher overall app retention rate among logged-in readers of experiment group compared to control
KR 1.2 - 5% higher multi-day visits of activity tab among logged-in users who have the new activity tab vs those that have the history

Guardrails

No more than 10% of users turns feature completely off
At least 80% of qualitative feedback received is positive or neutral

Additional questions of interest

What % of people switch their Activity Tab experience to something other than the default? Which modules are people turning off and at what rate?
By how much did account creation increase for the experimental group compared to control? What did the log-in/account creation funnel look like?
How many new accounts took an action on the activity tab? View an article, saving an article, making an edit, sharing an article.
How does engagement with “History” compare with engagement with Timeline on Activity?

FAQ

Q: Can I still access my History?
- A: Yes, reading history is still available to all users at the bottom of Activity. Users who do not log-in or create an account can still view their reading history in the activity tab. If you are logged-out, you can turn off all activity tab modules except "Timeline" to see only your history.
Q: Will my private data be shared?
- A: No. Only public edit data is used externally; reading and donor data remain on your device.
Q: How can I customize the tab?
- A: Click the overflow menu and go to Customize. Use the toggle controls to hide or show modules as you prefer.
Q: Why may modules be empty?
- A: Empty modules include CTAs encouraging engagement (e.g., “Make an edit” if no recent edits), which are triggered if there is no reading or editing activity or if all modules have been disabled.
Q: Why isn't my editing data updated?
- A: Your editing insights are only updated once per day. Our current API has limitations, but we are working on a solution that will provide more real-time updates in a future release.
Q: I noticed a bug or have a feature request, now do I report it?
- A: Create a task and tag the iOS App board or send an email to iOS-support@wikimedia.org.

How does this work fit into the Wikimedia Foundation's Annual Plan?

Under the Wikimedia Foundation's Infrastructure Goal, and within the group of objectives focused on Wiki Experiences, is an objective related to improving the experience of consumers:

Wiki Experiences 3: Consumer experience Objective: Readers from multiple generations engage, and stay engaged, with Wikipedia, leading to measurable increases in retention and donation activity

Wiki Experiences 3.3 (WE3.2) Key Result: Demonstrate a practically significant increase in logged-in reader retention, as measured through A/B testing of one feature per platform, by the end of Q2 FY2025-26.

iOS team hypothesis	Timeline	Phabricator epic
Wiki Experiences 3.3.11 If we A/B test adding an “Activity” tab on iOS that highlights reading, editing and other participation behaviors, we will see a 1% increase in overall app retention compared to our control experience of “History”.	11 October 2025 – 31 December 2025	T406183

Several Wikimedia Foundation teams are committed to working on projects under the WE3.3 Key Result: Draft Hypotheses.

Wikimedia Foundation teams are approaching annual planning more iteratively this year, so rather than committing to larger year-long projects, this hypothesis is fairly narrow in scope. This should allow us to learn from a brief experiment and deliver value in smaller increments throughout the year, while also ensuring we have the flexibility to pivot as we learn.

Updates & Feedback

Updates will appear on the iOS main page each month. At the end of the experiment, we will share results and next steps on this project page.

Feedback? Leave a comment on the project discussion page—your insights shape this experience!