Apple App Store Statistics (2024)

David Curry

Updated: November 5, 2024

Before the launch of the iPhone, Apple's then CEO Steve Jobs was against the idea of allowing third-party apps to be loaded onto the device, wanting instead for developers to create web-apps for the Safari mobile browser. A compromise was reached in 2008 after backlash from developers, with Apple announcing an SDK and the iPhone App Store.

The iPhone App Store launched alongside the iPhone 3G in July 2008, with 500 applications available. In comparison to how the App Store runs today, at launch a large percentage of apps were paid, as Apple did not allow in-app purchases until a year later.

In-app purchases, or microtransactions, quickly surpassed paid apps as the most popular way for apps to earn income. For the first few years, this was often a one-time payment made in-app to remove ads, access more levels or premium functionality. It has since developed into subscriptions, cosmetics, and other multi-layered payment options.

Apple App Store grew alongside the iPhone, which has become one of the most recognisable brands in the world. By 2016, it housed 2.2 million apps and games, covering every sector and sub-sector. Apple started to invest more time into culling non-compliant apps from its store in 2016, although it has saw a steady increase in the past few years.

While the Apple App Store is dwarfed in size by the Google Play Store in terms of number of users and downloads, it remains responsible for the majority of app consumer spending. In 2023, it generated more than double what the Google Play Store brought in, despite having less than half of the number of annual app downloads.

Over the past few years, Apple has been embroiled in several cases regarding its high in-app purchase fee, which was 30 percent for all developers. It has since changed that to 15 percent for developers for the first $1 million revenue, which includes the vast majority of developers on the Apple App Store.

Still, large companies such as Epic Games, Netflix, and Spotify have called out Apple for its charges, with two of those companies taking Apple to court. It is reportedly planning to allow third-party app stores in the near future, if EU legislation forces the company to allow other app stores to compete with its own.

We have collected data and statistics on the Apple App Store. Read on below to find out more.

Key Apple App Store Statistics

  • Apple App Store consumer spending reached $89.3 billion in 2023, a 2.8% increase on the previous year
  • Downloads of apps and games on the Apple App Store increased by 7% in 2023
  • There were 2.29 million apps and games on the Apple App Store in 2023
  • TikTok was the top grossing app on the Apple App Store with $1.9 billion in consumer spending
  • CapCut was the most downloaded app on the Apple App Store with 140 million downloads

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