Worldwide App Store downloads grew 2.4 percent to hit 8.6 billion in the first quarter of 2022, according to data shared today by Sensor Tower (via TechCrunch). Between the App Store and the Google Play store, there were 36.9 billion total app downloads, an increase of 1.4 percent.
As there are far more Android users than iPhone users, there were a much higher number of apps downloaded on Android devices, with Google Play downloads hitting 28.3 billion during the quarter.
TikTok was the most downloaded app on the iPhone and the iPad worldwide, surpassing 70 million App Store downloads. YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook were the other top downloaded apps, which is unchanged from the year-ago quarter.
TikTok has been downloaded more than 3.5 billion times since its launch, and it is the first non-Meta app to hit that milestone. In fact, since the beginning of 2018, no app has surpassed TikTok in downloads, according to Sensor Tower.
As for games, Subway Surfers, Wordle (the original from 2016), Coloring Match, PUBG Mobile, and Roblox were the most downloaded apps. Subway Surfer had more than 15 million downloads during the quarter.
Sensor Tower's full report on the state of the App Store in Q1 2022 can be found on the company's website. [PDF]
Friday February 14, 2025 6:18 am PST by Joe Rossignol
The first iOS 18.4 beta for iPhones should be just around the corner, and the update is expected to include many new features and changes.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman expects the iOS 18.4 beta to be released by next week.
Below, we outline what to expect from iOS 18.4 so far.
Apple Intelligence for Siri
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Thursday February 13, 2025 11:48 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple has yet to announce any new devices this year, but that could change starting next week.
Apple CEO Tim Cook today said to "get ready" for a "launch" on Wednesday, February 19.
"Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," said Cook, in a social media post. The post includes an #AppleLaunch hashtag, along with a short video featuring an animated Apple logo inside of a circle....
Thursday February 13, 2025 8:07 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In a social media post today, Apple CEO Tim Cook teased an upcoming "launch" of some kind scheduled for Wednesday, February 19.
"Get ready to meet the newest member of the family," he said, with an #AppleLaunch hashtag.
The post includes a short video with an animated Apple logo inside a circle.
Cook did not provide an exact time for the launch, or share any other specific details, so...
Thursday February 13, 2025 5:49 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
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iPhone 17 Pro camera design render created by Asher for Front Page Tech
In a video uploaded today, Front Page Tech host Jon Prosser said the camera ...
Wednesday February 12, 2025 6:49 am PST by Joe Rossignol
As the wait continues for Apple's long-rumored, fourth-generation iPhone SE, French electronics retailer Boulanger has prematurely published a product listing for a "new" model of the iPhone SE. The placeholder page says the device is "coming soon," but it offers no further information, and the price shown is obviously not real.
The listing was spotted by a reader of the French technology...
Thursday February 13, 2025 6:20 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple this week began selling refurbished Mac mini models with the M4 chip for the first time, but this has led to a pricing conundrum.
In the United States, Apple is offering a refurbished Mac mini with the base M4 chip, 256GB of storage, 16GB of RAM, and Gigabit Ethernet for $509, down from $599 new. This is the standard 15% discount that Apple offers on refurbished Macs.
The issue is...
Thursday February 13, 2025 2:45 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Last year, Apple tweaked iPhone 16 Pro screen sizes to make them bigger than 2023's iPhone 15 Pro models, and this year we are also expecting a change in the size of the displays in the iPhone 17 lineup. Here's what we know.
Standard iPhone 17
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Friday February 14, 2025 3:41 am PST by Tim Hardwick
There have been several alleged leaked details of the iPhone 17 Air, Apple's rumored new slim iPhone, but images have been limited to grainy shots taken in component factories. However, this hyper-realistic concept created by WEIS Studio gives us the best idea yet of what Apple's thin device might actually look like.
The concept design is inspired by recent leaks indicating that the device...
I knew it was a lot... but 28 billion downloads... in just 3 months?
Well when there that many Android phones on Earth... I guess I shouldn't be surprised. But still.
Does anyone have a purchases and/or revenue chart? I'd love to see how that compares to free downloads.
???
The report is full of interesting information, clearly displayed. I thought that the chart showing top countries by download was particularly interesting, both in the volumes shown for the top 10 countries, as well as for the differences between the App Store and Google Play in each country. Notice that China is not present in the top 10 because Google Play is not available in China:
Those numbers are crazy! Android totally overshadows iOS yet people still claim that Apple is a monopoly.
The number of apps downloaded to Android devices is ONLY counting Google Play. The actual number is likely even millions higher. Apple’s downloads aren’t even a half of what Google Play is seeing.
Knowing apple marketing team, they are including all app updates in the download numbers
Sensor Tower produced the data and they define what they count in the download numbers. Not sure what say Apple would have over the data Sensor Tower is presenting.
Does anyone else remember when Apple used to give prizes to users when Apple reached certain milestones? They've gotten lazy and complacent (like an old marriage mate who takes the other for granted).
The AppStore has been a confusing nightmare for some time now.