In 2022, global mobile consumers downloaded approximately 255 billion mobile applications onto their devices, spending approximately 167 billion U.S. dollars for the year. While this represents a small decrease from the previous year, the app market appears still strong from the acceleration in usage trends brought by the global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic between 2020 and the beginning of 2022. In 2022, mobile apps were estimated to have generated almost 421 billion U.S. dollars across in-app advertising, in-app purchases, and paid downloads.
Social & gaming drive both downloads and revenues in 2022
While tools, utility management, and productivity apps are affirming categories for smartphone users’, leisure apps occupy the ranking of the most downloaded apps in 2022. During the year, social video app TikTok amassed 672 million downloads worldwide, confirming that global users are still particularly drawn to the social video format popularized by the ByteDance-owned app. The Meta-owned Instagram followed with 548 million downloads, while the Facebook app fell back to around 300 million annual downloads. Despite having experienced a challenging year, Meta’s “Family of Apps” can still command a leading role in the social media market, as its offer spreads from communication to social video and mainstream social networking functionalities.The ranking of the highest-grossing mobile games in 2022 saw three Chinese-developed titles occupying the leading positions: Honor of Kings, published by the tech giant Tencent saw gamers spending over 2.22 billion U.S. dollars, while the mobile version of PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds generated 1.72 billion U.S. dollars. Launched at the end of 2020 by video gaming company miHoYo, Genshin Impact generated over 164 million U.S. dollars from in-app revenues in December 2022.
Despite the commercial success of social and gaming apps, the two categories reported the highest uninstall rates for Android users between September and October 2022, a sign that users might see leisure apps as expendable. Gaming apps are especially subject to churn, as users are susceptible to changing trends and are often looking for more gaming experiences, especially when it comes to Casual or Hyper Casual gaming apps.
M-dating: functionality meets fun
Users are becoming increasingly accustomed to bridging their functional needs with the convenience of mobile apps. Dating apps are examples of valued applications users can approach with a specific need, but also offer the possibility of a social connection and fun. Launched over 10 years ago, Tinder confirmed itself as the leading mobile dating app on the global scene in 2022, with 812 million U.S. dollars in direct app revenues. Owned by the e-dating giant Match Group, Tinder is part of a larger dating portfolio that includes titles like Hinge, PlentyOfFish, and members-only The League. Altogether, Match Group e-dating business saw 16.5 million paying users during the third quarter of 2022. Bumble, launched in 2014 to offer a women-friendlier version of mobile dating and generating 354 million U.S. dollars in app spending for app subscriptions and one-time payment features aimed to put users in a spotlight for a limited amount of time.While the mobile dating experience remains on a freemium base, companies like Match Group’s Hinge and Tinder have advanced the possibility of proposing higher price points for committed or serial daters. Tinder is reportedly testing a monthly 500 U.S. dollars plan, while Hinge proposed a 60 U.S. dollars monthly subscription tier. While it is unclear if the free perks of dating apps might be coming to an end, Match Group appears ready to bet on a rosy future for its app business.
Health, fitness, and meditation: need or treat?
Health apps have experienced one of the most radical transformations for users worldwide in the years of the global COVID-19 outbreak. From downloading several applications, to uploading documents and certificates to their digital profiles, to contact tracing: users worldwide are now fully familiar with the possibilities that health apps have to offer. In 2022, the only case of COVID-19 contact tracing apps ranking among the most downloaded worldwide was the Indonesian PenduliLindugi, with 43 million downloads.Among fitness apps, Sweatcoin was the most downloaded fitness and movement tracking app, attracting 52 million downloads in 2022. The app, which works as a step counter, allows users to accumulate points in its digital currency, which can be then redeemed or donated to charity. Fitness and workout apps represent the strongest subcategory among health-related apps in the U.S. market. In comparison, mental health and meditation apps account for ten percent of all health apps downloads for the market, confirming that while this subcategory is not mainstream yet, it has managed to create a small niche in the market.
