App Store clocks over 9 billion app installs in biggest-ever quarter

App Store
App Store (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • Q2 of 2020 was the biggest ever for app installs.
  • The App Store and Google Play store saw a combined total of nearly 38 billion downloads
  • That means App Store installs grew by 22.6% to 9.1 billion in the period.

A new Sensor Tower report has revealed that smartphone users installed nearly 38 billion apps in Q2 of 2020, making it the biggest quarter on record.

In its latest report Sensor Tower has revealed that both the App Store and Google Play have enjoyed record quarters. The App Store saw its installs grow 22.6% to 9.1 billion, whilst Google Play installs grew 34.9% to more than 28 billion. That makes a combined total of 37.8 billion and collective growth of 31.7%.

As you can imagine, the top app on the App Store was Zoom. It "shattered" the App Store record for quarterly installs with nearly 94 million, surpassing TikTok's previous record of 67 million. Over on Google Play, Zoom's installs increased by 200% to well over 200 million, but that wasn't enough to knock TikTok off the top spot. Combined, Zoom just edged TikTok as the most installed app across both platforms. Zoom was the number one app geographically on both platforms in both the U.S. and Europe.

The top game overall was 'Save the Girl' from Lion studios, taking the top spot on both the App Store and Google Play worldwide with more than 100 million downloads.

Sensor Tower notes:

In Q2 2020, the world began to witness the impact of COVID-19 on the app ecosystem. Categories such as Business, Education, and Health & Fitness saw huge boosts, and Business apps achieved download totals far beyond the previous highs in the category

Accordingly, the biggest growth was seen in Business, Education, and Health & Fitness. As you can imagine, the biggest losers in the quarter were navigation, sports, and travel.

A recent Sensor Tower report revealed that global app revenue in the first half of 2020 also increased significantly.

Stephen Warwick
News Editor

Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design. Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9