How Many Apps are There in the World (Mar 2024)

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By Ash Turner
As CEO of CompareMyMobile.com and BankMyCell.com since 2009, Ash has been a pivotal figure in the mobile tech industry. With a background in managing Brightstar’s PhoneRecycleBank, he boasts extensive experience with global carriers and MVNOs like T-Mobile and O2, and leading manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung.

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| Updated on March 06, 2024
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Marlene Centeno
Marlene specializes in creating comprehensive guides for smartphones, tablets, and smartwatches from leading brands like Apple, Samsung, and Google, demonstrating a deep understanding of these technologies.

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Kim, an editor with a rich background in digital content management and developmental psychology, brings a unique blend of analytical and creative skills to BankMyCell. With her background in Psychology, Kim is adept at understanding complex concepts and transforming them into engaging, accessible content.

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Mobile App Statistics

Did you know that app developers have created 8.93 million mobile apps and that there have already been 255 billion app downloads? This demonstrates that apps are becoming a part of our daily lives now.

Let us delve deeper into the mobile app industry to learn more about the big two platforms – Apple App Store and Google Play – as well as popular apps today, mobile app usage, and many more interesting facts.

Editors Picks:

  • Apple’s App Store, the second largest app store in the world, has 1.642 million apps in store for iOS devices.
  • Google Play Store is a huge mobile app store with 3.553 million Android apps available for download.
  • Today, there are 8.93 million smartphone apps worldwide, with 3.553 million apps in the Google Play Store and 1.642 million in the Apple App Store.
  • Average Apps Per User: Smartphone users have 40 apps installed on their mobile devices.
  • App Revenue: Mobile apps are expected to generate more than $613 billion in revenue by 2025.
  • App Usage: Mobile users access 9 to 10 apps daily and 30 every month.
  • App Downloads: In 2023, 255 billion app downloads, a 25 billion increase over the previous year.
  • Amazon Appstore, the third largest app store, has 483 thousand apps available for mobile devices with the Android operating system.

How Many Apps are There Today?

There are a total of 8.93 million mobile apps today. Some of the biggest app stores, such as the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store, have 3.553 million and 1.642 million apps, respectively.

In 2025, mobile apps are expected to generate more than US $613 billion in app revenue, with mobile games accounting for the largest revenue share among all app categories.

In 2025, mobile apps are expected to generate more than US $613 billion in app revenue, with mobile games accounting for the largest revenue share among all app categories.

How Many Apps Are There in Mobile App Stores

Number of Apps Available in App Stores (Q3 2022)

App StoreNumber of Apps Available (in millions)
Google Play3.553
Apple App Store1.642
Amazon Appstore0.483
Number of Apps Available in App Stores
Data Table

Number of Apps Available in App Stores (Q3 2022)

App StoreNumber of Apps Available (in millions)
Google Play3.553
Apple App Store1.642
Amazon Appstore0.483
Data Graphic
Number of Apps Available in App Stores

Google Play, the app store for Android devices, is the market leader, with 3.553 million apps available for download. Apple App Store, the app store for Apple devices such as the iPhone and iPad, comes in second with 1.642 million apps available. Amazon Appstore, another app store for Android apps, comes in third with 483 thousand apps available. This platform’s most popular app categories are education, utilities, and gaming.

There are more than 300 app stores globally as numerous companies have established their own. Some examples are Samsung Galaxy Apps, LG SmartWorld, Huawei App Store, Aptoide, F-Droid, GetJar, ACMarket, SlideME, Itch.io, Uptodown Market, Bemodi, Cydia, neXva, AppBrain, 1Mobile, Kongregate, Appolicious, and Appland.

There are also app stores developed in China for its people, such as Tencent Myapp, 360, Baidu, Oppo, AppChina, VIVO, PP Assistant, Wandoujia, HiAPK, Flyme, HiMarket, 2345, Coolmart, and Anzhi Market, and MaoPao.

How Many Apps Are in the Google Play & App Store

Apple App Store and Google Play are currently the leading app stores in the world. The top two app stores have 5.195 million mobile apps between them, with 3.553 million available on Google Play and 1.642 million on Apple’s App Store.

Apple App Store was launched in 2008 and started with 500 applications only. Even though iTunes Store was successful in 2003, Apple App Store made way for shifting users to mobile usage.

Google Play Store, formerly known as Android Market in 2008, was renamed in 2012 and is now the most popular source of Android mobile apps. It initially began incorporating Google Play Movies and Play Books into its central platform in 2011 as a feature for the United States.

Number of Apps in Google Play vs. App Store

App StoreNumber of Apps Available (in millions)
Google Play3.553
Apple App Store1.642
Number of Apps in Google Play vs. App Store
Data Table
App StoreNumber of Apps Available (in millions)
Google Play3.553
Apple App Store1.642
Data Graphic
Number of Apps in Google Play vs. App Store

Android device owners can choose and download from 3.553 million apps in the Google Play Store, the leading app store with the most mobile apps available. Apple App Store follows with 1.642 million apps available for iOS users.

Google Play has 96.9% free apps, and 3.1% paid apps, whereas the Apple App Store has 94.2% free apps and 5.8% paid apps. Despite the large share of free applications on both platforms, global consumer spending is still high. Consumer spending is expected to reach US $233 billion on mobile apps from Google Play and Apple App Store combined by 2026.

Number of Apps in Google Play vs. App Store Per Year (2009-2022)

YearGoogle Play Store (in millions)Apple App Store (in millions)
20223.5531.642
20212.982.226
20202.962.098
20192.81.882
20183.62.03
20173.52.151
20162.62.214
20151.81.77
Number of Apps in Google Play vs. App Store Per Year
Data Table
YearGoogle Play Store (in millions)Apple App Store (in millions)
20223.5531.642
20212.982.226
20202.962.098
20192.81.882
20183.62.03
20173.52.151
20162.62.214
20151.81.77
Data Graphic
Number of Apps in Google Play vs. App Store Per Year

Today, Google Play is the most popular app store, with the most significant number of mobile apps available for download by Android users. However, the Apple App Store outperforms Google Play in terms of monetizing mobile content, with a US $9.4 billion advantage in global consumer spending in the third quarter of 2021.

Google Play shows a significant growth of 1.753 million from 2015 up to the present. Its revenue is expected to generate a 71% share from mobile games, followed by social media apps with 5% in 2025.

The number of iOS mobile apps on the Apple App Store increased by 456 thousand from 2015 to 2021. This year, however, it fell by 584 thousand.

Most Popular Apps: What Are The Most Used Apps

As smartphone users grow, apps also emerge from left to right. The question is, what are the most popular apps today? The following are the most popular apps in the world, as determined by the total number of user downloads: TikTok at 672 million downloads, Instagram with 548 million, WhatsApp with 424 million, CapCult with 357 million, and Snapchat with 330 million.

AppTotal App Downloads (in millions)
TikTok672
Instagram548
WhatsApp424
CapCut357
Snapchat330
Most Popular Apps: What Are The Most Used Apps
Data Table
AppTotal App Downloads (in millions)
TikTok672
Instagram548
WhatsApp424
CapCut357
Snapchat330
Data Graphic
Most Popular Apps: What Are The Most Used Apps

TikTok, the video content-sharing mobile app, is the most popular app today, with 672 million total downloads. Its popularity skyrocketed during the pandemic, garnering 980.7 million first-time installs in 2020. In the following year, it fell by 24.54%.

The social apps Instagram and WhatsApp came in second and third, with 548 million and 424 million global downloads, respectively. CapCut, formerly known as Viamaker, ranked fourth in the most downloaded mobile app, with 357 million downloads. Snapchat took the fifth spot with 330 million downloads.

Most Popular App Categories Worldwide

Mobile gaming appears appealing to smartphone users who own iOS and Android devices. It takes up a 12.68% share of available apps in the Apple App Store and a 13.80% share in Google Play. Furthermore, its global retail value generated US $84.3 billion in 2020, an increase of roughly US $67 billion from the previous year.

Most Popular Apple App Store Categories

App CategoryApp Category Share of Available Apps (%)
Games12.68
Business10.35
Education9.79
Utilities9.22
Lifestyle7.93
Food & Drink6.58
Shopping5.26
Health & Fitness5.08
Productivity4.84
Finance4.16
Most Popular App Categories Worldwide
Data Table
App CategoryApp Category Share of Available Apps (%)
Games12.68
Business10.35
Education9.79
Utilities9.22
Lifestyle7.93
Food & Drink6.58
Shopping5.26
Health & Fitness5.08
Productivity4.84
Finance4.16
Data Graphic
Most Popular App Categories Worldwide

The gaming category dominates in the Apple App Store categories, taking up 12.68% of all available apps on the platform. It is 2.33% ahead of Business, the second most popular category. Education is the third most popular category of iOS apps, accounting for 9.79% of all active apps.

Global iOS users spent most of their money on gaming apps, with US $51.59 billion in 2021. In the United States, Roblox was the highest-grossing iPhone gaming app, with daily revenues of more than US $3.09 million in the same year.

Most Popular Google Play Store App Categories

App StoreApp Category Share of Available Apps (%)
Games13.8
Education10.47
Business7.11
Tools6.46
Entertainment5.5
Music & Audio5.04
Food & Drink4.83
Shopping4.74
Lifestyle4.53
Productivity4.16
Most Popular Google Play Store App Categories
Data Table
App StoreApp Category Share of Available Apps (%)
Games13.8
Education10.47
Business7.11
Tools6.46
Entertainment5.5
Music & Audio5.04
Food & Drink4.83
Shopping4.74
Lifestyle4.53
Productivity4.16
Data Graphic
Most Popular Google Play Store App Categories

Gaming apps are the most popular category in Google Play Store. It accounts for 13.80% of all available apps on the platform, a 3.33% increase over Education, the second most popular app category. Business apps follow with 7.11% share, tools apps with 6.46%, and entertainment apps with 5.50% share.

Coin Master is the leading mobile app in Google Play regarding revenue. It generated US $47.96 million in in-app revenue worldwide, ahead by US $7.3 million from TikTok. It is also worth noting that the majority of the top-grossing Android apps are games.

App Usage Demographics & Statistics

Overall, people from all over the world spend roughly 3,930 billion hours on mobile apps in a year.

China is the country with the most annual time spent on apps. It spent 1,182 billion hours, followed by India, which spent 669 billion hours. The United States came in third place, with 194 billion hours finished.

In this section, you will learn about the monthly app usage, hours spent on apps, the total number of apps used daily by many users, and more.

On average, teenagers and young adults spend more time using apps than smartphone users aged 35 and above. Also, females spend more time on mobile devices and make in-app purchases than males. Thirty-two percent of users check their apps between 1 to 10 times daily.

How Many Apps Does an Average Person Have?

With 175 billion apps downloaded annually, an average smartphone user has 40 apps installed on their mobile device. They access 9 to 10 apps daily and 30 monthly, based on the statistics of App Annie.

Number of Apps Used by a Person Daily

With 40 apps installed on mobile devices, an average smartphone user opens 9 to 10 apps daily and 30 monthly.

Music app users were the most engaged mobile app audiences. Every day, an average of 2.79 music app sessions were generated. On the other hand, shopping app users generated only 1.77 sessions per day, with an average of 2.36 sessions per user.

Mobile App Retention and Churning

  • One month after downloading an app, 43% of global mobile users continue to use it. The global average three-month user retention rate for mobile apps was 29%, with a 71% churn rate.
  • During the most recent measurement period, 32% of users returned to an application 11 times or more. This is a significant decrease from the previous year’s figure of 38%.
  • According to the most recent survey, 25% of apps downloaded by app users worldwide were only accessed once after downloading.
  • Retention in iOS apps after one day was 25.6% in the third quarter of 2022, while retention after 30 days was 43%.
  • After 30 days of installation, the retention rate for Android apps was 2.6% in the third quarter of 2022. Android app retention was 22.6% after one day and 6.5% after seven days.
  • iOS apps had a higher overall retention rate than Android apps. Retention in iOS apps after one day was 25.6%, while retention after 30 days was 43%. Android app retention was 22.6% after one day and 2.6% after 30 days.

FAQs: Apple App Store & Google Play Store

What is the #1 Mobile App on the Google Play & Apple App Store?

Temu: Team Up, Price Down, the shopping app, is currently the most popular free app on the Apple App Store in the US. HotSchedules, the business scheduling mobile app, is the most popular paid app. While YouTube is the highest-grossing mobile app.

In Google Play, the shopping app Temu: Team Up, Price Down is also the most popular free app in the US. The most popular paid app is Minecraft, the gaming app where you can be in your virtual world. While Google One is the highest-grossing mobile app.

Average Number of New Apps Release in Google Play & Apple App Store?

The Apple App Store released 36.6 thousand mobile apps, a 2% increase over the previous month. The number of new mobile apps added to the Apple App Store has fluctuated between 2021 and the first half of 2022.

Compared to the previous month, the Google Play Store released 97 thousand of new mobile apps. In May 2019, the Google Play Store released 134.5 thousand new apps.

How Many Games are there in Google Play & Apple App Store?

490 thousand games are available for download in the Google Play Store in Q3 2022, showing a 2.57% increase over the last quarter. Google began removing apps and games that do not aim at an API level within two years of the most recent Android version in November 2021.

The Apple App Store had over 1 million gaming apps in October 2022. Clash Royale, Candy Crush Saga, and Clash of Clans, the current top-grossing game, are among the most popular games on the platform.