The iOS App Store launched in 2008 with 500 apps. Today, 1.85 million different apps are available for users to download. Android users have even more from which to choose, with 2.56 million available through the Google Play Store.
These apps have come to play a huge role in the way we live our lives today. Through them, we can access pretty much the entire Western canon of music (and much beyond it too), meet romantic partners, and manage our diaries, documentation, and payments. Augmented reality apps are changing the way we interact with the world, and mobile gaming now accounts for lion’s share of games industry revenue.
Apps have also played a part during the coronavirus pandemic that has shaped 2020, helping to facilitate social distancing and contact tracing for example. And that is not to mention the crucial role they’ve played in allowing us to keep in touch with distant friends, family, and colleagues.
The market for these apps is about as big as they come. It is estimated that the global number of smartphone users will rise to 3.5 billion over the course of 2020. If we looked at it in terms of devices, there are more connected mobile devices in the world (7.94 billion) than there are people.
These devices are approaching ubiquity in advanced economies, among which median penetration levels stand at 76% of adults. In South Korea, a stunning 95% of adults own a smartphone.
Emerging economies are catching up. Brazil and South Africa already log penetration levels of 60%, while India’s lower figure of 24% still represents hundreds of millions of users.
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Get the ROX guide nowThese figures are growing every year, and along with it, the market for mobile apps. In the below report, we have gathered specific data relating to app downloads and usage. These are intended to give us a better idea of just how many apps are being downloaded every year, which of these are most popular, and how they are being used.
We have collected data and statistics on iOS and Android app downloads. Read on below to find out more.
App download key statistics
- 142.9 billion apps and games were downloaded in 2020
- 56.1 billion of those downloads were games, 86.7 billion were apps
- Google Play was responsible for 108.5 billion downloads in 2020, iOS had 34.4 billion downloads
App and game downloads
Annual app and game downloads
| Year | App downloads |
| 2015 | 64.4 billion |
| 2016 | 78.4 billion |
| 2017 | 95.1 billion |
| 2018 | 105.2 billion |
| 2019 | 115.1 billion |
| 2020 | 142.9 billion |
iOS App and game downloads
Annual iOS app and game downloads
| Year | App downloads |
| 2015 | 22 billion |
| 2016 | 25.5 billion |
| 2017 | 27.8 billion |
| 2018 | 29.7 billion |
| 2019 | 30.6 billion |
| 2020 | 34.4 billion |
Google Play App and game downloads
Annual Google Play app and game downloads
| Year | App downloads |
| 2015 | 42.4 billion |
| 2016 | 52.9 billion |
| 2017 | 67.3 billion |
| 2018 | 75.5 billion |
| 2019 | 84.5 billion |
| 2020 | 108.5 billion |
Game downloads
Annual game downloads
| Year | Game downloads |
| 2015 | 24.3 billion |
| 2016 | 27.9 billion |
| 2017 | 34.7 billion |
| 2018 | 38.4 billion |
| 2019 | 42.1 billion |
| 2020 | 56.1 billion |
iOS Game downloads
Annual iOS game downloads
| Year | Game downloads |
| 2015 | 6.6 billion |
| 2016 | 7.7 billion |
| 2017 | 8.3 billion |
| 2018 | 8.9 billion |
| 2019 | 9.2 billion |
| 2020 | 10.1 billion |
Google Play Game downloads
Annual Google Play game downloads
| Year | Game downloads |
| 2015 | 17.7 billion |
| 2016 | 20.2 billion |
| 2017 | 26.4 billion |
| 2018 | 29.5 billion |
| 2019 | 32.9 billion |
| 2020 | 46 billion |
App downloads
Annual Google Play app downloads
| Year | App downloads |
| 2015 | 40 billion |
| 2016 | 50.4 billion |
| 2017 | 60.3 billion |
| 2018 | 66.7 billion |
| 2019 | 72.9 billion |
| 2020 | 86.7 billion |
iOS app downloads
Annual iOS app downloads
| Year | App downloads |
| 2015 | 15.3 billion |
| 2016 | 17.7 billion |
| 2017 | 19.4 billion |
| 2018 | 20.7 billion |
| 2019 | 21.3 billion |
| 2020 | 24.3 billion |
Google Play app downloads
Annual Google Play app downloads
| Year | App downloads |
| 2015 | 24.6 billion |
| 2016 | 32.6 billion |
| 2017 | 40.8 billion |
| 2018 | 45.9 billion |
| 2019 | 51.5 billion |
| 2020 | 62.4 billion |
Downloads by country
| Country | Number of downloads |
| China | 96.2 billion |
| India | 24.2 billion |
| US | 13.3 billion |
| Brazil | 10.1 billion |
| Indonesia | 6.3 billion |
| Russia | 5.5 billion |
Source: App Annie
Hours spent by country
| Country | Hours spent |
| China | 1153.5 billion |
| India | 650.6 billion |
| Brazil | 183.6 billion |
| US | 176.3 billion |
| Indonesia | 127 billion |
| Mexico | 98.8 billion |
Source: App Annie
App usage by age
| Age | Monthly hours spent on apps |
| 18-24 | 112.6 |
| 25-34 | 102.4 |
| 35-44 | 93.6 |
| 45-54 | 75.6 |
| 55-64 | 69.3 |
| 65+ | 51.4 |
Source: Simform
