There are almost 7 billion smartphone users worldwide, which ought to produce many app statistics.

This means that 48.16% of the world’s population use smartphones.

In 2016, world smartphone usage marked 33%. Smartphones are most used by 18- to 24-year-olds.

Now the actual question is, what is the reason behind the widespread of smartphones?

Its innovative applications available in smartphones makes them valuable. 

An average smartphone contains 80 or more apps installed.

Apps make people’s lives easier and better by offering a wide range of functions.

It changed people’s shopping experience, long-distance relationships, social relations, lifestyle, etc.

This article showcases some of the most exciting smartphone and mobile app statistics in 2023, including usage and download stats.

Key Statistics

• There are around 80 million active monthly TikTok users in the US alone.
• 3739 android apps are added to the Play Store every day.
• 81.8% of Facebook users access Facebook only through the mobile app.
• People viewed 68% of websites from a smartphone in 2020.
• 25% of mobile apps are left unused after a single-use.
• 104,911 paid apps in the Google Play Store.
• 1 billion people use Google Map each month.
• There are 477,877 gaming apps in Google Play Store in 2021.
• 728,020 app publishers on iOS app store while 1,031,894 app publishers on Play Store. 
• $76.7 billion revenue from gaming apps in 2020.
• $102.8 billion gaming market in 2023.
• 935.2 billion app revenue by 2023.
• 49% of people regularly visit the Google Play Store.

The Mobile Phone Evolution

In their early days, the primary use of mobile phones was to call somebody. This wireless trick saved people from getting tied around a land phone.

But that was just the beginning.

The evolution of mobile phones to smartphones has reached a stage where calling somebody is just one of the many basic operations it can perform.

Advanced smartphones compete based on a better camera, gaming support, screen performance, audio, and video advantages, social media app performance, and so forth

Mobile App Statistics: Usage & Download Data for 2023

1. $111 billion revenue through apps

In 2020’s app statistics, it showed that the combined app revenue of Google Play Store and Apple App Store crossed $111 billion.

2. 65% of The Revenue Was Generated from iOS Apps.

Although the iOS share is a minority in the global market, they generated $72.3 billion in 2020.

Most iOS users are from China, the US, and Japan.

Since these iOS users enjoy a high income, they often spend money on the apps.

Android users are mainly from India(439 million), South America, Indonesia, Brazil, and most of the apps in the Android Play Store are free of cost.

As android is banned in China, it has 228 million iOS subscribers.

3. 20% of iOS Apps Are Games

There are about 1,007,145 active games available in the iOS App Store, which is 25% of the total app count in the store.

Four hundred eighty thousand eight hundred thirty apps are related to business that comes second in the category.

These statistics show that gaming apps are more than double the rest of the categories of the apps.

4. 2.7 Million Android Apps and 1.85 Million iOS Apps

Statistics held that Google Play Store stands first with more than 2.7 million apps, followed by iOS in the second position.

Apps are distributed among various categories. People can search apps from these categories according to their requirements.

Most apps show the total downloaded count and customer ratings to help people choose the best one for their requirements.

5. Tiktok Was the Most Downloaded App of 2020

The Covid-19 pandemic put several people stuck at home.

This unexpected boring situation was a blessing for the Chinese app Tiktok. People, especially Gen z, were the initial followers of Tiktok.

It later got accepted by all age groups.

Tiktok has a vast fanbase across 154 countries. It was the topper in the app download chart in 2020.

This short video posting app has influenced more than 80 million monthly users in the US alone.

Most of the Titok users are aged between 13-60. Tiktok has 700 million active monthly users globally.

According to the December 2020 statistics, people downloaded this app more than 2.6 billion times.

Most Tiktok lovers are aged between 14-18.

Studies show 14-15 age groups spend more than 80mins a day watching Tiktok.

Tiktok invested $500 million for influencers to join and create their fanbase.

6. 100,000 Android Apps Are Released Each Month

Compared to iOS, the play store is available in a wide range of android devices.

In 2018, mobile app download statistics showed people downloaded around 78 billion Android apps.

The count of annual downloads reached 108.5 billion in 2020.

On average, 3739 android apps are added to the Play Store every day! 

7. 40% of App Usage Is to Access Social Media

There are 3.78 billion social media users globally, 48% of the total global population.

Facebook is the current social networking leader with 2.85 billion active monthly users and is particularly popular in America.

About 98.5 Facebook users check their daily posts from the Facebook mobile app.

Around 81.8% of users access Facebook only through mobile. 

8. Google Owns a Majority of Play Store Apps

Google owns 46% of the most downloaded Play Store apps.

20% of the most used apps are owned by Facebook (Facebook, Facebook messenger, WhatsApp, Instagram). 

9. 50% of Smartphone Usage Time Is Spent on Social Media

The statistics held that more than 90% of social media users access their social networking accounts through smartphones.

Facebook is the popular one in the group, consuming more than 2 hours of its users in a day.

People spend 40 minutes on YouTube and 28 minutes on Instagram daily. 

10. People Viewed 68% of Websites from Smartphones in 2020

Smartphones are cheap compared to the cost of setting up a desktop or laptop.

They are straightforward to use and easy to carry around.

Several facts make smartphones popular over desktops and laptops.

When a desktop and laptop require a good space on the table, people can fit a smartphone inside a jeans pocket.

Studies show that 29% of people use their desktops to access websites, while 68% prefer smartphones.

In 2019 these statistics were 32% for desktop and 63% for smartphones. 

11. An Average Smartphone User Uses Nine Apps a Day and 30 Apps a Month

It is said that a smartphone typically has around 80 apps in which people use 8-9 apps daily.

Almost 60% of the apps on smartphones are not used.

Gaming apps and social media apps are the most frequently used apps.

The one-time used apps are downloaded for a specific purpose, like image editing or video making.

After the requirement, such apps remain unused in the smartphone until they are eventually uninstalled.

25% of mobile apps are left unused after single-use.

12. 78% of People Like Mobile App Shopping Because of The Beautiful Console

Apart from the UI design of the app, 54% of the people use the mobile app version to save a lot of time using the app than visiting the store directly.

The web version usually requires a desktop or a laptop.

Smartphone provides portability to people who like to check out and purchase products from anywhere at any time.

The advanced notifications in the app allow its customers to get regular updates regarding site discount sales and new arrivals.

Some apps provide extra benefits to their regular user account customers. Mobile applications are fast and easy to use.

13. Music Streaming App Spotify Is Used by 365 Million People in A Month 

Spotify is the most downloaded music app, with 9.4 million downloads in 2021.

Spotify earned €7.85 billion in 2020, 16% more than the previous year’s revenue.

Around 60% of millennials use multiple apps to listen to mobile apps compared to people aged 35.

Also, people aged 18-34 listen to 10 hours of podcasts a week.

14. 460,000 Apps in Amazon App Store

E-commerce giant Amazon has now set its foot on the app store.

Currently, it has 46000 apps in the app store.

This count is minimal compared to the large app count in Google Play Store and iOS App Store.

But Amazon has a great marketing team that can build innovative ways to boost its position in the app store market.

However, there are certain drawbacks to their market presence.

Since Amazon play store mainly focuses on tablets and kindles, its reach is shallow compared to the other two giants.

Most of the Amazon customers reside in Europe or America.

15. 96% of People Use Map Apps

Google maps are the most used navigation app in the world.

More than 1 billion people use Google Maps each month.

Apple Maps comes preinstalled with iOS MAC devices serves 56 countries, whereas Google Maps are available in 106 countries worldwide.

Seven hundred seventy-five smartphone users regularly use Google Maps.

16. 3,289,427 Apps in The Google Play Store Are Free

There are 104,911 paid apps in the Play Store.

According to Statista, 96.9% of the android apps are free, while 93.6% of iOS apps are free.

78% of Amazon App Store android apps are free.

iOS users spend two times the money for an app spent by the android user.

17. Male vs. Female: App Usage Statistics

The gender comparison in smartphone and technology usage is mind-blowing.

51.4% of the Instagram audience are Female. 

52% of males and 65% of females use smartphones. In which females use 40% more apps than men on their smartphones.

Women use productivity apps 89% more than men, and they follow news apps 90% more than men.

At the same time, men prefer 85% of the business apps, 61% of gaming apps, and 40% of navigation apps more than women.

18. People Spend 43% of Smartphone Time on Gaming Apps

Compared to iOS users, 30% more android users download and use games from Play Store Android game users are 78% more than iOS game users.

$21.02 billion revenue generated from China alone from downloading and using gaming apps, covering 61% of Asia. Puzzle games are more used in the gaming category.

There are around 2.2 billion gaming app users in the world. 4.5% of females paid for in-app gaming purchases compared to  3.3% males.

19. Free Apps Generate 98% of The App Revenue

Compared to paid apps, more people tend to use free apps because of trust issues.

People are more comfortable paying after experiencing the quality and performance of the app.

They like to test the app’s functionalities, design, and user-friendliness.

Once they like the app, they start to trust it. At this stage, people will be ready to spend their money to unlock certain extended premium features of the app.

Studies show that 24% more people spend their money through in-app purchases than paid app users.

The top 8 out of 10 apps available in the Google Play Store are gaming apps. Another primary source of income for free apps is advertisements.

Apps can use different types of advertisements. Ads pay per install, pay per click, or concerning display size.

20. iOS App Store Apps Have 2x Revenue than Android Apps

In 2020 iOS app store generated $72.3 billion, which is almost double the revenue of the Google Play Store($38.6 billion).

87.3 consumer spending in the iOS app store was recorded compared to Play Store in 2020. Tencent’s “Honor of Kings” game earned $2.5 billion in-app stores.

21. 42% of Online Shoppers Share Their Shopping Experience Using Apps

People often tend to use communication apps soon after online shopping.

They chat with their friends or family mainly to share their purchasing experience.

22. 91% of The Mobile Usage Is at Home

83% of the people use their mobile at washroom while 73% use phones at the dinner table.

78% of them use smartphones while watching the tv.

23. 19.5% Annual Growth Is Expected by 2025

The annual growth rate of apps is expected to reach $270 billion by 2025. The iOS app store will grow up to $185 billion while Google Play Store will grow $85 billion.

European markets show higher app consumer rates than America and Asian countries.

Almost 11 European countries overtake the $1 billion targets to achieve a $42 billion consumer rate.

24. 100%-300% Conversion Rate Success for Mobile Apps Compared to Websites

Many eCommerce websites are mobile user-friendly.

However, statistics show that people are happier using mobile apps than the website’s mobile-friendly versions.

Mobile apps provide easy accessibility push notifications to deliver personalized content.

25. 42% Small Scale Business Depends upon The Mobile Apps

Small-scale businesses face a lot of issues.

One of the significant issues is their target audience’s weak reachability and popularity. 62% of today’s business enterprises have their apps.

The primary purpose of such apps is to build intimacy and trust between the target audience and the business.

Social media digital marketing has a significant influence in the business world. An app connected to various social media platforms can reach a wide range of customers.

Furthermore, customers can easily report issues related to the products and services offered by the business through such apps.

The rating helps the business upgrade its resources to provide a better customer experience. 

26. YouTube Raised $19.7 Billion in Revenue in 2020

It is estimated that more than 2.3 billion users have access to YouTube in a month.

There are around 80 million YouTube premium subscribers around the world.

The most subscribed youtube channel is T-Series, with 176 million subscribers.

27. 66% of People Won’t Use a Poor Performing App 

Apps need to be updated at regular intervals. The latest updates of the smartphone and surrounding systems should never affect any app’s performance.

If the installed app becomes very slow and often crashes, users will check for an alternative solution.

Since Play Store or app store contains so many replacements, the chances are that people will install a new app to get a better experience.

App usage statistics showed that 42% of people would never use the uninstalled app again in their life.

The issues like slow down, app crash, showing errors while clicking buttons, unwanted advertisements, etc., can be fatal for the existence of apps.

28. 3.50 Billion Growth Expected in The Health and Fitness App Market

More than 70,000 health and fitness apps published globally in 2020. The Covid-19 pandemic situation locked people inside their houses.

The shutdown of health clubs and gyms created more health and fitness apps opportunities. 47,000 are in Google Play Store and 24,000 in the iOS app store.

29. $6.5 Trillion Revenue Is Expected from eCommerce Sites by 2023

The increased usage of smartphones and social media sites has paved the way for an advanced shopping experience.

The eCommerce market is booming, with more than 2 billion users on board.

According to Statista, 75% of people do online shopping at least once a month.

49.2% of eCommerce shopping is conducted using a mobile phone. Amazon controls more than 50% of the eCommerce in America.

The eCommerce mobile apps provide advanced facilities like virtual trials, 15-30 days return policy, significant discounts on festival times, etc.

People choose the eCommerce app due to the availability of broad selections of easy payment options, and they can check the detailed customer reviews before the purchase.

30. 361 Million People Use Paypal

22% of all the transactions conducted in the US are through PayPal.

There are 87.5% of online users prefer PayPal over other services. They were able to generate  $5.46 in revenue in 2020.

Paypal has a 70% more success rate than other apps in completing the transactions, and these people trust Paypal as the ideal source of transactions while receiving money from foreign countries.

Freelancers and online gamers often use Paypal to complete their money transactions. 

31. 64% of Millennials Will Spend Money to Buy Mobile Apps in 2020. 

Millennials are a combination of technology and fun enthusiasts.

46% of Millennials have spent at least $5 on an app. Amazon is an essential app voted by people aged between 18-34.

Their statistics are as follows: 69% of millennials use social networking apps, 42% gaming apps, 55% messaging apps, etc.

21% frequently open their mobile apps. Studies show that this app opening count is somewhere near 50 a day! 

32. 3.5 Million Zoom Apps Installed in A Day During April 2020

Like many other apps with unexpected hype in the covid period, Zoom registered a giant leap of 200 million daily participants in May 2020.

Three hundred million daily users subscribed to Zoom in June 2020. In 2020, zoom generated $2.6 billion in revenue, a 317% increase in a year. 

33. 90% of Apps Are Left Unused After Three Months of Installation

People often install apps for their requirements. Sometimes these requirements are just one time. Those installed apps are never used again.

25% of people don’t download the app due to the space issue in their phones. 60% of people don’t install an app that asks for more personal details.

96% of people value the app if it is reliable in speed, performance, and updates. 71% of the mobile app uninstalls are made due to the app crash issue

34. $3.56 Trillion Is the Expected Target Revenue from Mobile eCommerce Platforms by The End of 2021

The smartphone market is increasing all over the world.

People with a smartphone in their hand can buy almost anything from eCommerce sites.

1 in every 3 smartphone users in the UK purchase products via mobile apps.

It is predicted that by 2024, the mobile app commerce revenue will overtake £100 billion.

35. 7.9 YoY Growth for India in Google Play Store Downloads

India registered a new record of 7.23 billion Play Store apps downloaded in Q2 2021.

Earlier, in Q2 2020, the statistics were 6.7 billion downloads. 

36. 64% of Mobile App Downloads Are Done in APAC Regions

19% from EMEA, and 17% from AMER.

But China accounted for nearly 50% of global app downloads.

37. 385% App Market Growth Expected by The End of 2021

More people using smartphones worldwide and the increase in people’s count in the age group 18-34 creates magnificent mobile app growth opportunities.

$157 billion is the expected user expenditure by 2022.

38. 71% of The Digital Media Time Is Spent on Mobile Apps

Gen z (13-24 age) will soon overtake the Millennials(18-34 age) in mobile app usage.

People aged between 13 and 24 use 4.2 smartphone hours a day, and this trend increases by 20% every year. Snapchat is the most trending app among Gen z.

39. 9.3 Billion Twitch Hours Watched

Statistics say that about 96% of people watch a tutorial video to learn something about a product or service.

79% of people buy something based on the brand video they saw. By 2027, the live streaming video market will generate more than $247 billion in revenue.

40% of the viewers use the mobile platform to watch the videos.

74% of the millennials depend upon a comparison video to analyze the product/service quality before purchasing.

The largest paid video content platform is Netflix. $17 billion is spent annually from 195 million subscribers.

40. 17% People Downloaded Four Apps in A Month

According to the smartphone survey in the US, about 51% of people having a smartphone, fast internet, and access to millions of apps from various genres are not downloading even a single app in a month. 

41. 50% of Smartphone Time Is for Social Media and Communication Apps

People use 10% of their smartphone usage time for gaming, and another 10% is used for messaging services.

Users spent 7% of their smartphone time retail shopping while 39% on social media apps.

People of 18-34 age groups use more smartphone time in social media and message services than other age groups.

42. 78% of Smartphone Gamers Are Android Users

Interestingly, females are seen spending more money on games compared to males. 58.86% of mobile gamers are using casual games like puzzles.

Games that are simple and only require basic skills are the most trending ones.

PUBG mobile, owned by Tencent Games, has the highest game revenue in 2020, $225.2 million. About 43% of the mobile gamers are from 45-54.

43. 25.4 Billion Active Io T Devices by 2030

It is estimated to reach $142 billion by 2026. Experts estimate that the economic revenue can be somewhere between $4-11 trillion by 2025. 

44. 95% Accuracy in Voice Search

More than half of the smartphone users are using voice search. 20% of android customers use voice support to search for something. 

45. 58% of People Feel Loyal to Brands Based on Their App Performance

Big brands are trying to utilize the latest technologies that continuously learn human behavior patterns.

The apps and mobile-friendly websites are created with the help of modern algorithms that tries to customize the app experience exclusively for the user.

For example, eCommerce sites can learn about people’s likes and dislikes by conducting regular surveys.

The app algorithms can use their favorite color, cloth type, dressing styles, annual purchase patterns, etc. can be used by the app algorithms to provide a fine selection for the customer.

This approach can build trust and loyalty in customers. They will always feel about buying products from their custom apps!

Sources