The pandemic that started raging all throughout the world in 2020 resulted in a truly massive paradigm shift in various economies and industries. While most industries saw a downward trend, one industry that actually saw positive growth during this period was the app industry. Many individuals were stuck in lockdown during 2020 as well as parts of 2021, so suffice it to say that this resulted in a lot more apps being downloaded and used on each individual device during this period in time.
The average number of apps that a unique device in the US would open on a monthly basis was at around 47 in 2019, and this increased significantly to 50 apps in 2020. This allowed a lot of app developers to boost their revenue a fair bit, but in 2021 the growth rate reversed and there was actually a decrease in the number of apps that users would open on their phones and tablets in 2021. Everyone knew that this growth rate wasn’t sustainable, and 2021 proved that this was in fact the case.
One rather concerning thing is that the decrease in app usage was in excess of 6%. That meant that it represented a 1% decrease from 2019 as well, although the numbers are not quite as stark as some would like to believe. Another way to look at it is that people’s app usage is returning to pre pandemic levels which makes a lot of sense given that life returned to normal in many parts of the world during 2021 so people were not quite as dependent on apps as they used to be.
However, while app usage is now more or less similar to what it looked like in 2019, the types of apps that people tend to use is quite different from what could be seen during that year. Finance apps have seen 32.5% growth, business apps have done even better with 48.9% growth, and food apps continue to grow despite the suspension of lockdowns with a growth rate of 25.1%. This indicates that people now have different preferences with regards to the apps that they might use on a day to day basis.
H/T: ST.
Read next: GWI's Infographic Shows Privacy Practices Being Maintained By Consumers Across The Internet
The average number of apps that a unique device in the US would open on a monthly basis was at around 47 in 2019, and this increased significantly to 50 apps in 2020. This allowed a lot of app developers to boost their revenue a fair bit, but in 2021 the growth rate reversed and there was actually a decrease in the number of apps that users would open on their phones and tablets in 2021. Everyone knew that this growth rate wasn’t sustainable, and 2021 proved that this was in fact the case.
One rather concerning thing is that the decrease in app usage was in excess of 6%. That meant that it represented a 1% decrease from 2019 as well, although the numbers are not quite as stark as some would like to believe. Another way to look at it is that people’s app usage is returning to pre pandemic levels which makes a lot of sense given that life returned to normal in many parts of the world during 2021 so people were not quite as dependent on apps as they used to be.
However, while app usage is now more or less similar to what it looked like in 2019, the types of apps that people tend to use is quite different from what could be seen during that year. Finance apps have seen 32.5% growth, business apps have done even better with 48.9% growth, and food apps continue to grow despite the suspension of lockdowns with a growth rate of 25.1%. This indicates that people now have different preferences with regards to the apps that they might use on a day to day basis.
H/T: ST.
Read next: GWI's Infographic Shows Privacy Practices Being Maintained By Consumers Across The Internet