A new study from Sensor Tower reveals the apps that users downloaded during the first quarter of this year, with Facebook apps dominating the charts for both Android and iOS. As a result, the top iOS app based on downloads was Messenger, followed by WhatsApp, Bitmoji, Instagram, and Facebook.
On Android, Facebook tops the list, followed by WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram, and Snapchat. It’s clear that iOS and Android users see social media apps as the most important and widely used. Facebook apps will definitely continue to grow in popularity, especially after the company announced a new AI assistant for its Messenger app.
While Facebook managed to dominate the app market in terms of downloads, audio and video streaming apps recorded the largest revenue. Netflix recorded global revenue of $133 million, up 286% compared to last year.
Internationally, global downloads increased from 11.9 billion to 13.5 billion, compared to last year, a 14% increase. An additional 4.7 billion downloads were made for apps on the App Store, while the Google Play Store recorded a total of 8.8 billion downloads. This is not surprising given that the number of smartphones running Android is much higher than that of iOS.
But iPhone users are known to spend more money on apps, with the latest study showing that $1.7 billion of total revenue came from the App Store, while Google Play raked in $504 million in revenue. It's worth noting that the numbers don't include revenue from games, a segment that is quite popular on the App Store and a major source of revenue for the platform.
