Snapchat continued its improbable rise to the top of the iOS app store in April, proving there's no such thing as bad publicity. Even with controversial content and security concerns, iPhone users continued to download the app in record numbers.
App Annie released its May apps index this morning-- all apps minus games -- and the giants are doing well: Microsoft, Google, Apple, and Facebook are well-represented on the top publisher lists. But there are also some surprises, and some new entrants to the most-downloaded and highest-grossing app leader lists on iOS and Google Play.
App Annie, along with many of the biggest and most dynamic apps, including Facebook to Google, will be at our MobileBeat event in two weeks. Buy tickets here.
Here's all the key data:
Top publishers by downloads
Interestingly, some companies are much more efficient with their apps, claiming top spots with just a few. Facebook, for instance, takes third place on the iOS app store and first on Google Play with just five apps, while Tencent needs 114 to take fourth on iOS, and GO Launcher requires a massive 371 apps to take fourth on Google Play.
iOS | Google Play |
Google (31 apps) Apple (19 apps Facebook (6 apps) Tencent (114 apps) Outfit 7 (72 apps) Twitter (3 apps) Snapchat (1 app) Baidu (62 apps) Microsoft (50 apps) Smule (14 apps) | Facebook (5 apps) Google (75 apps) Microsoft (28 apps) GO Launcher (371 apps) WhatsApp (2 apps) Outfit 7 (32 apps) NHN (118 apps) LINE (79 apps) Adobe (15 apps) Kakao (9 apps) |
In addition, while the iOS app store is led by U.S. publishers (seven out of the top 10), Google Play is split evenly between the U.S. and other nations -- five out of 10 are American publishers.
Top apps by downloads
And that's not counting Facebook itself, Twitter, and Instagram, all of which have communication aspects.
iOS | Google Play |
Snapchat YouTube Google Maps Vine Instagram Ginger's Birthday Find My iPhone Podcasts Moldiv Gmail | Facebook WhatsApp Messenger Facebook Messenger Skype Instagram LINE Tiny Flashlight + LED Viber Twitter WeChat |
iOS, of course, has Snapchat at number one, up from the second spot in March, but it otherwise shows more diversity of genre, with Moldiv, an oddly named-but-superpopular photo collage app appearing out of nowhere to hit the top 10 list. (It was not even in the top 1,000 last month.)
Top publishers by revenue
iOS | Google Play |
Pandora Apple Line WhatsApp Zoosk ComiXology Disney Badoo Microsoft MLB | Line Gree Pandora Kakao GO Launcher comiXology SwiftKey WhatsApp TomTom June Fabrics Technology |
Perhaps most impressive, however, is the continued success of comiXology, which moved up two slots on Google Play this month and retained its slot as the sixth-highest-grossing app on iOS as well.
Top apps by revenue
iOS | Google Play |
Pandora Radio (Pandora) Line (Line) WhatsApp Messenger (WhatsApp) Zoosk (Zoosk) Comics (comiXology) Pages (Apple) MLB.com At Bat (MLB) Badoo (Badoo) Grindr Xtra (Nearby Buddy Finder) Skype (Microsoft) | Line (Line) Gree (Gree) Pandora (Pandora) KakaoTalk (Kakao) SwiftKey Keyboard (SwiftKey) WhatsApp Messenger (WhatsApp) Comics (comiXology Line (Fortune-telling) (LINE) PDA Net+ (June Fabrics Technology) Next Launcher 3D (GO Launcher) |
Apple's Page's app moved up two slots to hit number six on the iOS app revenue leader list, while Major League Baseball's At Bat app slipped five slots. Skype jumped 10 positions to hit the top ten list.Image credits: MKH Marketing/Flickr