Statistics and facts about Mobile App Usage

Mobile apps are software applications designed to run on smartphones, tablet computers and other mobile devices. They are typically available through native distribution platforms, so-called app stores which are operated by the owners of the mobile operating system. Some of the most popular operating system-native stores are Apple's App Store, Google Play, as well as Windows Phone Store and BlackBerry App World. As of June 2014, more than 75 billion mobile apps had been downloaded from the Apple App Store.

Whereas mobile apps were originally offered as productivity and information retrieval tools such as calendars, e-mail, stock market and weather information, the market has rapidly expanded due to public demand and availability of developer tools. Currently, some of the most popular app categories include gaming, entertainment and education.

Many of the most popular mobile properties are mainly accessed via mobile apps instead of mobile browsers. Popular examples are mobile social networking properties, led by Facebook with 1 billion active mobile users. Another growing market is mobile retail via B2C shopping apps, as well as mobile gaming and other possibilities of app monetization.

Mobile messenger apps have also experienced a surge in popularity. According to recent statistics, mobile messaging app WhatsApp has more than 500 million monthly active users who utilize the app's low-cost messaging features as a cheap alternative to SMS. Other popular chat app features are group chats and multimedia messages such as video or photo messages.

According to industry figures, global mobile app revenues are projected to surpass 76.52 billion U.S. dollars in 2017 with the share of paid app revenues declining to 37.8 percent.