App marketing player Fiksu said that app downloads returned to a more steady level in February 2012, following the “all time high” experienced in January.

According to the company’s analysis of the top 200 free iPhone adds in the US, download volumes during the month were 6.35 million per day, down by 6 percent over the 6.79 million seen in January.

Fiksu noted an increase in the cost to acquire loyal users, to US$1.31 from US$1.14 in the previous month. It noted that after a period of reduced spending in January, advertisers began gearing-up for new marketing campaigns in February.

The company also said that although it does not track “robotic” install traffic sources, the decline in app volume may have reflected early signs of app marketers responding to Apple’s early-February announcement it would crack down on these tactics.