As of March 2017, there are over 2.2 M and 2.8 M mobile apps in the App Store and Play Store respectively. Literally ‘There is a mobile app for everything!’
Indians spend an average of four hours a day on their smart phones and check their phone more than 100 times a day. This is a ringing endorsement of the hold that smartphones have on the Indian psyche. However, Indians don’t go overboard when it comes to installing apps on our smartphones. On an average, Indians install 32 apps on their phones. The App market is promising but there is much competition within.
For app developers looking to break into the Indian market, Decoding the Top Mobile App Categories will give an insight into which types of mobile app categories could be the most lucrative.
TOP APP CATEGORIES: ANDROID vs IOS
IOS users clearly have more affinity towards Photography, Education, Business, Health and Fitness, Lifestyle, Maps and Navigation apps than Android Users.
Android Users have relatively more affinity for Games and Personalization apps.
TOP PAID APP CATEGORIES
Paid apps are the ones where users pay to download your apps. There may or may not be in-app purchases, advertisements etc. You may also run a subscription service for on top monetization.
ANDROID
| PAID ANDROID APP CATEGORY | %SHARE |
| Games | 29.50% |
| Personalization | 22.60% |
| Tools | 11% |
| Productivity | 5.90% |
| Music And Audio | 5.40% |
IOS
| PAID IOS APP CATEGORY | %SHARE |
| Games | 27.40% |
| Photography | 13.10% |
| Utilities | 10.70% |
| Productivity | 6.40% |
| Healthcare/Fitness | 5.50% |
| Entertainment | 5.10% |
| Lifestyle | 5% |
| Education | 4.30% |
TOP FREE APP CATEGORIES
There are several of ways for monetizing FREE apps. Top 5 are:
1. Advertisements
2. In-App purchases
3. Building Email and SMS Marketing lists/DaaS
4. Partnerships/Sponsors
5. Monthly/Annual Subscription
ANDROID
| FREE ANDROID APP CATEGORY | %SHARE |
| Games | 43.80% |
| Tools | 8.60% |
| Photography | 7.50% |
| Entertainment | 5.50% |
| Communication | 4.80% |
IOS
| FREE IOS APP CATEGORY | %SHARE |
| Games | 25% |
| Photography | 10.30% |
| Utilities | 8.80% |
| Social/Networking | 7.10% |
| Entertainment | 6.20% |
| Productivity | 4.60% |
| Lifestyle | 4.60% |
| Travel | 4.40% |
LEAST PREFERRED CATEGORIES
We found two primary reasons why these are the least popular mobile app categories:
1. Native experience is good enough for users to download 3rd party apps.
2. Market Domination by certain apps like Uber, Ola in Transportation, Google Maps in Maps and Navigation.
| News And Magazines |
| Maps And Navigation |
| Weather |
| Sports |
| Video Players |
| Transportation |
KNOCK YOURSELF OUT
Feel free to analyze this data and publish your insights and recommendations in the comments below.
| APP CATEGORY | ANDROID PAID | ANDROID FREE | IOS PAID | IOS FREE |
| Games | 0.295 | 0.438 | 0.274 | 0.25 |
| Personalization | 0.226 | 0.011 | ||
| Tools | 0.11 | 0.086 | 0.107 | 0.088 |
| Productivity | 0.059 | 0.027 | 0.064 | 0.046 |
| Music And Audio | 0.054 | 0.029 | 0.042 | 0.038 |
| Photography | 0.037 | 0.075 | 0.131 | 0.103 |
| Education | 0.035 | 0.014 | 0.043 | 0.023 |
| Health And Fitness | 0.029 | 0.004 | 0.055 | 0.026 |
| Media And Video | 0.025 | 0.027 | ||
| Business | 0.022 | 0.011 | 0.042 | 0.041 |
| Books And Reference | 0.02 | 0.009 | 0.009 | 0.011 |
| Communication | 0.019 | 0.048 | ||
| Entertainment | 0.015 | 0.055 | 0.051 | 0.062 |
| Social | 0.008 | 0.018 | 0.024 | 0.071 |
| Finance | 0.007 | 0.023 | 0.014 | 0.039 |
| Lifestyle | 0.007 | 0.02 | 0.05 | 0.046 |
| Weather | 0.007 | 0.002 | 0.006 | 0.003 |
| Transportation | 0.003 | 0.002 | ||
| Travel And Local | 0.003 | 0.036 | 0.018 | 0.044 |
| Maps And Navigation | 0.003 | 0.002 | 0.011 | 0.006 |
| News And Magazines | 0.003 | 0.014 | 0.002 | 0.013 |
| Video Players | 0.003 | 0.004 | ||
| Medical | 0.002 | 0.027 | 0.019 | 0.005 |
| Shopping | 0.002 | 0.038 | 0.001 | 0.039 |
| Libraries/Demo/Reference | 0.002 | 0.004 | 0.023 | 0.017 |
| Sports | 0.002 | 0.004 | 0.005 | 0.006 |
Data Used:
Top 600 apps on ios App Store and Android Play Store in India.
To be Published soon:
– Top Mobile App categories in India by Revenue
– %share and %growth of Mobile Apps per category in the App/Play Store