15 interesting facts about mobile apps

Editor's note: Himanshu Mehra is an online marketer and technology writer at Nine Hertz, a mobile app development company. He hopes to help more companies increase their online exposure and sales. In this article, he lists 15 interesting facts about mobile apps.

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Mobile apps have completely changed our lifestyle. Apps provide a wide range of possibilities for our world - including delicious food, savings, shopping, ticket booking, etc. You can meet these needs anytime and anywhere without restrictions. Among various apps, e-commerce apps are the most noteworthy. Companies of all sizes can use these platforms to find new users.

You might have heard statements like “India has the largest WhatsApp user base in the world”, “Android wins overwhelmingly in terms of app downloads” etc. These things sound unexpected.

So I've collected 15 interesting facts about mobile apps—many of which you've probably never heard of.

1. In the summer of 2015, Apple App Store downloads exceeded 100 million times

In the summer of 2015, Apple found that the number of downloads in the App Store had increased significantly, and the number of downloads in the entire quarter even exceeded 100 million. The largest category was mobile games, accounting for 22.49% of the total downloads, followed by business applications, accounting for 10.38% of the total share.

2. In terms of quantity, Android dominates with 1.6 million apps

Google Play Store is the undisputed king of app stores, with 1.6 million apps, followed by Apple's iTunes, with 1.5 million apps.

3. Android development revenue is highest in India and highest in North America

The study found that the hourly wage for Android developers in India is only $26, while for North American developers, the figure is $168.

4. India has the largest WhatsApp user base in the world – 70 million users

WhatsApp is a global communication tool with a solid foundation of nearly one billion users, with India having the largest number of monthly active users. In May 2014, the number of active WhatsApp users in India reached 50 million. It took only five months for the Indian market to achieve 20 million users that year. As of October 2014, the number of WhatsApp users in India has exceeded 70 million.

5.***'s Android app downloads have exceeded one billion times

The most popular Android apps include Gmail, Google Maps, YouTube, Facebook, etc., and according to data from June 2015, their downloads have exceeded one billion times. In addition, most free Android apps have been downloaded more than 100 million times, and most paid Android apps have been downloaded more than one million times.

6. The most used app in 2015? Facebook!

Facebook alone has a 76.8% share of smartphone users, while Facebook Messenger, another communication tool owned by the company, is not far behind, with 62.5% of smartphone users having downloaded the app. Other popular apps include YouTube and Google Play.

7.66% of users said they most frequently use social apps

In 2015, most of the mobile traffic was contributed by social applications. Studies have shown that 66% of users are using applications such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, and their usage time far exceeds that of other apps.

8. Android has more downloads, but iOS generates more revenue

Android's total app downloads are certainly ahead of other operating systems, but its revenue is much less than iOS. In 2015, Android's app downloads were twice that of iOS. Even so, iOS's revenue is still 75% higher than Android's.

9. Mobile app revenue is expected to reach $77 billion by 2017

Since the advent of Android and iOS, a large number of new applications have flooded the market every year. It is predicted that by the end of 2017, the total revenue of mobile applications will reach 77 billion US dollars. This figure was only 18.56 billion US dollars in 2012, and its growth is indeed considerable.

10. As of 2017, the total number of app downloads may reach 268.69 billion times

The growth in smartphone ownership has led to a surge in app downloads. In 2009, smartphone app downloads totaled 2.52 billion — a fraction of the 268.69 billion that will likely be downloaded in 2017.

11. Apple users spend 24% more time on iPhone apps than on iPads

Apple users spend an average of 50.3 minutes a day using iPhone apps and 40.4 minutes on iPads. Regardless, users spend more time on iPads than on their phones. This means that Apple users check their phones more frequently, and when they open an iPad app, they spend more time immersed in it.

12. Personalized applications grew fastest in 2015

Personalization apps (such as wallpaper apps, emoji apps, etc.) were considered the fastest growing category in 2015, with a growth rate of 332%. In addition, news and magazine apps grew by 135%, second only to personalization apps.

13. American adults spend 4 hours and 39 minutes using messaging apps each month

The average American adult user spends 4 hours and 39 minutes per month on messaging apps — including Facebook, Snapchat, and Tinder.

14. Mobile games are the most popular, while lifestyle apps are the least popular

Of the time users spend on smartphones, 43% is spent on gaming apps. The second largest category is social apps, which take up 26%. The apps that users spend the least time on are fitness and lifestyle apps, which account for only 1%.

15. Push notifications make users more focused

The purpose of push notifications is to increase user engagement. Studies have shown that push notifications for news apps increase user engagement by 28%, while push notifications for social apps increase engagement by 60%.