In the constantly growing and evolving world of apps, data needs to be updated. Constantly. Apple just announced that they have 1.3 million apps in their App Store. This number has increased by 100,000 apps since their last announcement at the World Wide Developers Conference held in June.
Although there have been studies done on how users discover apps, with the growth in popularity of smartphones and apps, the data needs some brushing up.
We decided to take on that task, and conducted a study on how users found their last app.
The goal was simple: identify the most popular channels by which users discover apps (segmented by OS).
We wrote an in-depth white paper revealing how popular each discovery channel is, but we thought we’d give you a little taste and share a few of the high level findings with you here.
The App Stores Dominate
For both Android and iOS apps, the app store was by far the the largest channel for app discovery. For both Google Play and the Apple App Store, 68% of users found their last app within the app store.. To see how popular each app store channel was (e.g. Top Charts vs search), you’ll have to download our white paper.
Most Users Download New Apps Weekly
This might seem obvious – but the number of users who have recently downloaded an app might surprise you. 95% of users have downloaded a new app within the last month, and 64% of users have downloaded an app within the last seven days. The users are out there, and they’re downloading a lot of apps. You just need to find them! Or better yet, have them find you!
Android > iOS
When it comes to total number of users, Android wins. Based on our survey, Android (Google Play) holds 55% market share in the US. Apple comes in 15% behind at 40% market share. Now that doesn’t mean that you should definitely develop on Android — different platforms can provide different advantages for your app. But you should be aware that the population of Android users is 15% greater than the population of iOS users in the US.
If you’re interested in seeing more in-depth data about how users found their last app, download our white paper here. We break down exact discovery channels, give a broader view of how often users are downloading apps, and more.
Author
Becky is the Senior Content Marketing Manager at TUNE. Before TUNE, she led a variety of marketing and communications projects at San Francisco startups. Becky received her bachelor's degree in English from Wake Forest University. After living nearly a decade in San Francisco and Seattle, she has returned to her home of Charleston, SC, where you can find her enjoying the sun and salt water with her family.
