Data from Sensor Tower highlights app downloads across the world in Q1 2022, letting us know what’s really connecting with consumers on app stores.
Apps are a really solid business model, all things considered. Considering just how much we as a species are invested in our phones and tablets, they’re almost the only things that make such electronic devices useful. Seriously, not a lot of people call each other nowadays, when they can rely on WhatsApp and whatnot. Most of the time a person dedicates to their phone is spent on scrolling through Instagram or Gmail, as opposed to checking text messages. Apps drive the tech industry, even if we don’t necessarily associate the two together. The COVID-19 pandemic ended up being a major source of revenue for app stores as a whole; with everyone spending their time inside on tech devices and whatnot, people were found much more likely to buy apps, spend on them, and diversify with different types. Instead of slowing down, however, app downloads continue to accelerate at a remarkable rate, as can be inferred from the report we’re about to dive into.
Q1 2022 saw an estimated total of 37 billion downloads across both the Google Play store and Apple’s App Store. The top publishers this year ended up being ByteDance, Meta, and Google, all of whom found success in non-gaming related apps. In fact, despite mobile gaming being a booming industry, not a single game made it onto the top 20 most downloaded apps of this quarter. Then again, this report is ranked on the basis of downloads as opposed to revenue; while people wouldn’t typically pay on WhatsApp or Instagram (except for sponsored posts and the like for the latter), Genshin Impact enjoys an audience of individuals very content in doing so.
ByteDance in particular is dominating the app industry, despite having only one app on the top 20 list. Then again, the app also happens to be TikTok, which essentially means that you as an app publisher have made it in the industry. Pack your bags, and coast off of its success (for a decade or two, then everyone’s going to move on to something new). TikTok surpassed 3.5 billion downloads in 2022, which has led to it being the most downloaded app for not one, not two, but five years in a row. TikTok made splashes back in 2018, made waves in 2020, and is now the equivalent of a market-dominating tsunami. Which, considering just how much Meta’s tried to rip off of the platform, must not be good news to Mark Zuckerberg. But hey now, Mark. You still have 2nd, 3rd, and 4th position on the podium with Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp respectively. Hold on to that like a blanket of comfort between the 20 lawsuits and Congressional hearings chucked your way every year.
Read next: Data shows Daily Average Mobile usage has reached new heights
Apps are a really solid business model, all things considered. Considering just how much we as a species are invested in our phones and tablets, they’re almost the only things that make such electronic devices useful. Seriously, not a lot of people call each other nowadays, when they can rely on WhatsApp and whatnot. Most of the time a person dedicates to their phone is spent on scrolling through Instagram or Gmail, as opposed to checking text messages. Apps drive the tech industry, even if we don’t necessarily associate the two together. The COVID-19 pandemic ended up being a major source of revenue for app stores as a whole; with everyone spending their time inside on tech devices and whatnot, people were found much more likely to buy apps, spend on them, and diversify with different types. Instead of slowing down, however, app downloads continue to accelerate at a remarkable rate, as can be inferred from the report we’re about to dive into.
Q1 2022 saw an estimated total of 37 billion downloads across both the Google Play store and Apple’s App Store. The top publishers this year ended up being ByteDance, Meta, and Google, all of whom found success in non-gaming related apps. In fact, despite mobile gaming being a booming industry, not a single game made it onto the top 20 most downloaded apps of this quarter. Then again, this report is ranked on the basis of downloads as opposed to revenue; while people wouldn’t typically pay on WhatsApp or Instagram (except for sponsored posts and the like for the latter), Genshin Impact enjoys an audience of individuals very content in doing so.
ByteDance in particular is dominating the app industry, despite having only one app on the top 20 list. Then again, the app also happens to be TikTok, which essentially means that you as an app publisher have made it in the industry. Pack your bags, and coast off of its success (for a decade or two, then everyone’s going to move on to something new). TikTok surpassed 3.5 billion downloads in 2022, which has led to it being the most downloaded app for not one, not two, but five years in a row. TikTok made splashes back in 2018, made waves in 2020, and is now the equivalent of a market-dominating tsunami. Which, considering just how much Meta’s tried to rip off of the platform, must not be good news to Mark Zuckerberg. But hey now, Mark. You still have 2nd, 3rd, and 4th position on the podium with Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp respectively. Hold on to that like a blanket of comfort between the 20 lawsuits and Congressional hearings chucked your way every year.
Read next: Data shows Daily Average Mobile usage has reached new heights
