First, consumers downloaded plenty of apps. Now, they’re spending billions in them.
Revenue from in-app purchases (IAP) grew 12.5% YoY to $150 billion in 2024. Excluding IAPs from games, mobile apps brought in about $14 billion in IAP revenue in 2024 compared to about $9 billion in 2023, according to the report, which analyzed Apple App Store and Google Play download and revenue estimate data from January 2014 to December 2024. Games make up the majority of overall IAP spend, though, bringing in more than $80 billion in revenue last year.
Outside of gaming, IAP revenue has skyrocketed over the past decade. In 2014, it was $3.5 billion, according to the report, and by 2024, that figure jumped to more than $69 billion.
Overall, new mobile app downloads are slowing slightly, with 136 billion total downloads (or 258,000 per minute) in 2024, a 1% decline YoY, the report found.
AI on the prize: Worldwide downloads of generative AI apps (chatbots and art generators) hit almost 1.5 billion last year, according to Sensor Tower, and IAP revenue from those apps has grown considerably, from $9 million in 2021 to $1.27 billion in 2024. ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and ByteDance’s Doubao were the most downloaded apps in the category last year, per the report.
Swimming upstream: Video streaming apps may still be racking up revenue and downloads, but there are headwinds, including “digital fatigue” on the part of users and economic pressures that stand to affect consumer spend, the report found. While impressions and ad spend on Disney+ and Netflix’s ad-supported tiers are growing, the largest OTT ad platform is still Hulu, per the report. Netflix, India’s JioCinema, and Prime Video were the most downloaded streaming apps last year, Sensor Tower found. In the US, the top three were Max, Netflix, and Peacock.
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No social slowdown: Android and iOS users spent 3 trillion hours on social media and messaging apps in 2024, a 6% increase from 2023, Sensor Tower found, and worldwide, Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp were the most downloaded apps in the category. Some new key players have emerged, too: Text-based social apps like Bluesky and Threads are becoming bigger players as X continues to lose users. At the end of January, Bluesky had 30 million users, while Threads reported having 100 million daily active users as of December.
Gaming revenue grows: Mobile gaming IAP revenue increased 4% YoY to $80.9 billion in 2024, even though downloads declined 6%, according to the report, which it attributed to “market stabilization amid industry consolidation and broader tech sector pressures.” Simulation and puzzle games saw the most growth in the mobile game category, and Free Fire, Roblox, and Block Blast Adventure Master were the most downloaded games in 2024 worldwide.
E-tail as old as time: As consumers worldwide continue to increasingly shop online, Chinese “e-tailers” Shein and Temu have driven up the number of downloads and the amount of time spent in retail apps, according to the report. That being said, downloads and time spent decreased in the US last year, which the report attributed to consumers reining in discretionary spending, and both Shein and Temu could face additional business pressures in the form of new tariffs.
In 2024, Temu led the pack in downloads, per Sensor Tower, along with Shein and Meesho.