A new report from app store analytics firm App Annie this morning offers insight into the most popular – and profitable! – iOS applications of all time. Not surprisingly, the most downloaded app to date is Facebook, which also places elsewhere in the top 10 list thanks to its other mobile properties like Facebook Messenger (#2), Instagram (#4) and WhatsApp Messenger (#6).
Meanwhile, King’s Candy Crush Saga is the world’s most downloaded game, but Supercell’s Clash of Clans edged it out in terms of revenue.
According to the firm, the company determined these rankings by analyzing data going back to July 2010, when it first activated its App Store trackers. It also used newer technologies to determine which apps were the most used.
In the Apps rankings, Google, Facebook and Apple dominate the top 10 most downloaded apps, with Google’s YouTube coming in at #3, and Google Maps at #8. Apple’s Find My iPhone is #7 and its iTunes U app is #10. The only other two companies to make the list were Microsoft with Skype (#5) and Twitter (#9).
For all 10 apps, the U.S. leads in downloads. However, it’s interesting to notes that iTunes U’s top 10 position may be heavily influenced by China. App Annie says that China came in as close second to the U.S. in terms of downloads for that particular app.
In addition, the apps in this list have remarkable staying power that has lasted over the years. Although most are over 4 years old, all 10 continue to have millions of downloads per month. That means these are the apps that the majority of users install when they get their first iPhone or iPad, as well as those they install when moving to a new device from an older model.
Also of note, apps with strong social and sharing features take up over half the top 10.
When it comes to the apps that make the most money, however, the top 10 list looks very different. In this list, entertainment apps (like music and sports) and dating apps rule. Here, Pandora leads, followed by LINE, dating app Zoosk, Apple’s Pages, Spotify, Badoo, Skype, MLB.com At Bat, Grindr, and LINE PLAY.
Pandora’s top spot was also driven by the U.S., which contributed practically all its revenue, says App Annie.
Only Skype appeared on both the top downloads and top revenue lists.
And at $9.99, Apple’s word processor Pages is the only app that generated all its revenue from paid downloads – the other apps are freemium-based. (Pages became free for all new iOS devices in October 2013, but its historical revenue generation allowed it to place on the all-time list.)
Many of the top downloaded and top revenue apps are also the top apps by monthly active usage, except in China. There, none of the 19 apps in the download and revenue rankings are in the top 50 by monthly actives, as users have a preference for local apps.
On the gaming side, nearly 3-year old Candy Crush is still attracting millions of downloads monthly and has reached the #1 daily top iPhone game ranking in over 100 countries.
Most of the games (7 out of 10) are based on a swipe mechanic, 9 out of 10 are casual games, and all 10 are more than 2 years old. The newest one on the list is Despicable Me, released in June 2013.
Clash of Clans and Candy Crush Saga are the only games that appeared on the most-downloaded and top revenue lists, ranking at #1 and #2, respectively, on the latter.
Japan makes a good showing on the top revenue list with Puzzle & Dragons and Monster Strike coming in at #3 and #5.
Supercell also cleans up with Clash of Clans, Hay Day and Boom Beach in top revenue list.
These games, along with Candy Crush and Despicable Me were also among the most used games as well.
Comment