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 January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app.
Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action.
Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
Thursday January 16, 2025 6:45 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website.
Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50.
We have outlined some examples below:
Device
New Value
Old Value
iPhone 15 Pro Max
Up to $630
U ...
Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features.
Notification Summary Changes
Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines.
For...
Saturday January 18, 2025 10:28 am PST by Joe Rossignol
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr.
The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models:
iPhone 16
iPhone 16 Plus
iPhone 16 Pro
iPhone 16 Pro Max
iPhone 15
iPhone 15 Plus
iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro Max
iPhone 14
iPhon...
Monday January 20, 2025 9:01 am PST by Joe Rossignol
A new iPhone SE is widely rumored to launch this year, and the device has potentially been confirmed today by known leaker Evan Blass.
In a private social media post, Blass shared an image of what appears to be source code mentioning an iPhone SE (4th Gen), which casts doubt on the alternative "iPhone 16E" name rumored for the device. However, the name in the source code could be a...
Sunday January 19, 2025 8:11 am PST by Joe Rossignol
After a four-year wait, a new AirTag is finally expected to launch in 2025. Below, we recap rumored upgrades for the accessory.
A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was aiming to release the AirTag 2 around the middle of 2025. While he did not offer a more specific timeframe, that means the AirTag 2 could be announced by the end of June.
The original AirTag was announced...
Friday January 17, 2025 3:38 pm PST by Juli Clover
For the last several months, we've been hearing rumors about a redesigned version of the iPhone 17 that Apple might call the iPhone 17 "Air," or something along those lines. It's going to replace the iPhone 17 Plus as Apple's fourth iPhone option, and it will be offered alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max.
We know the iPhone 17 Air is going to be super slim, but...
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.
