Apps were more popular than ever in 2016, and it was largely thanks to China

By Lulu Chang January 17, 2017

meizu mx6 — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The appification of the world is going strong, and its epicenter appears to be in China. App Annie’s 2016 Retrospective on the mobile app industry has shed some light on how the industry has grown in the last year, with significant upticks observed in usage, downloads, and revenue for apps. Across the world, apps were downloaded more than 90 billion times, representing an increase of more than 13 billion (or 15 percent) when taking into consideration both the iOS App Store and Google Play.

All in all, smartphone users spent nearly 900 billion hours on various apps, an increase of more than 150 billion hours (or 25 percent) year over year. Unsurprisingly, this notable upward trend in popularity also lent itself to more money for developers — the revenue paid to the folks behind the apps went up by 40 percent.

According to App Annie, China was a major reason behind the increase in iOS downloads. Moreover, despite the historical popularity of games, in 2016, other categories contributed more to overall growth. For example, Finance, Travel, and Photo & Video apps did particularly well for the iOS App Store, whereas the Productivity, Tools, and Social categories proved popular on Google Play.

Overall, publishers saw revenues of more than $35 billion across the iOS and Android app stores, with China again contributing in a major way to this uptick. In fact, the app-crazy nation contributed to almost 50 percent of the iOS App Store’s annual growth. Moreover, China was also the leading source of App Store revenue last year.

App Annie’s report corroborates many of the findings previously released by Sensor Towe r, which also found that users are using apps more often, and that games are not necessarily the most popular category anymore.

You can check out App Annie’s full report, which delves into a number of other interesting trends (including the growth in video streaming, the viability of fintech apps, and the popularity of shopping apps), here.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Fascinated by the effects of technology on human interaction, Lulu believes that if her parents can use your new app…

Mobile

The 5 best ring lights for phones in 2024

The Lume Cube Ring Light Pro with a phone.

There are lots of different types of ring lights, but they all have the same primary purpose -- provide a steady light source that will illuminate your subject, whether that's an object, another person, or yourself. If you need a ring light for your phone, there's also an overwhelming number of options, so to help you out, we've rounded up the best ring lights for phones right here. We're going to take you through our recommendations, their advantages over other ring lights for phones in the market, and our selection process that resulted in our top five choices below.

Whether you're a travel vlogger, a video game streamer, or any other kind of content creator, and you prefer using your phone over a dedicated camera or webcam, then you should check out the best ring lights for phones that we've gathered here. Even if you're only going to use it for your personal photos and videos, it's always better to have nice lighting that will simply make everything look nicer, especially in low-light environments. Not everyone needs a ring light for their phone, but for those who do, read on to determine the one that would be perfect for you.
The best ring lights for phones in 2024

Mobile

This Android phone is a surprisingly great buy at $100

The Moto G Power 5G and Moto G 5G phones in a render.

If you’ve been shopping the best phone deals or are otherwise looking to save on a new phone, we’d like to turn your attention to Motorola. At Motorola right now you can get the Moto G Android phone for just $100. This is essentially an entry-level phone as smartphones go these days, but this savings of $70 from its regular price of $170 makes it a good consideration and one of the best Motorola phone deals you'll find. It’s not everyday you can grab a new phone for just $100, and you can save even more if you have an eligible device to trade-in.

Why you should buy the Motorola Moto G smartphone
You aren’t going to find the Motorola Moto G ranked among the best phones or among the best Android phones, but that doesn’t mean it’s a phone to avoid. And while we aren’t particularly high on the device in our review of the Motorola Moto G, the price point it comes in at with this deal makes it something worth considering if you’re in the market for a new phone. It comes in navy blue with 32GB of internal storage, which isn’t very much as modern smartphones go, but the Moto G does make up for it with some of its other specs and features.

Mobile

This is one of the cheapest 5G phones worth buying today

The Moto G 5G held in a hand with its screen illuminated.

Head straight to the source for one of the best phone deals right now with Motorola selling its Moto G 5G phone for $150 instead of $250. A considerable saving of $100, this might not be the most high-end of phones but it’s ideal if you simply need something cheap but effective. With this 2023 model seeing such a substantial price drop, we’re taking a quick look at what it has to offer and why it might appeal.

Why you should buy the Moto G 5G
You won’t see the Moto G 5G near our look at the best phones. At just $150, that’s hardly surprising. However, it does have the core essentials going for it. It’s powered by a Snapdragon 480+ 5G processor and 4GB RAM which is fine for basic tasks and web browsing. It can handle gaming too if you don’t mind somewhat sluggish load times. Crucially, the phone is 5G compatible so depending on the area you live in, you can enjoy the fastest speeds when browsing online away from Wi-Fi.