Q4 2017 | Report

Store
Intelligence
Data Digest
© 2018 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved www.sensortower.com
Executive Summary | Highlights

Worldwide app downloads totaled 23.4 billion in 4Q17, a 10.7% year-

over-year increase. App Store downloads increased 9.6% to 7.1B
while Google Play grew 11.2% to 16.8B.

NetEase’s Rules of Survival was the App Store’s most downloaded

game last quarter, while Kiloo’s Subway Surfers was the top game on
Google Play.

Netflix grew significantly to become the third most installed app in the
United States across both stores, up from No. 6 in the third quarter of
2017. It ranked just behind Messenger and Facebook.

France’s Voodoo established itself as one of the world’s top 10 most

downloaded publishers last quarter. It ranked No. 8 overall, having
entered the top 20 in 3Q17 at No. 20.

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About This Data | Methodology

Sensor Tower’s Mobile Insights team compiled the download estimates provided in
Could your business benefit from
this report using the Sensor Tower Store Intelligence platform. access to Store Intelligence insights
and the highly accurate data used to
• Figures cited in this report reflect App Store and Google Play download build this report? See the fastest
growing apps and publishers by
estimates for October 1, 2017 through December 31, 2017. downloads or revenue. Email
sales@sensortower.com for more
• Download estimates presented are on a per-user basis, meaning that only information.
one download per Apple or Google account is counted towards the total.

• Downloads of the same app by the same user to multiple devices,

updates, or re-installs of the same app by the same user are not counted
towards the total.

• Android app install estimates represent downloads from the Google Play
Store only. Sensor Tower does not provide download estimates for third-
party Android stores.

© 2018 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved www.sensortower.com

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Market Overview | Worldwide Download Growth

Worldwide App Store and Worldwide App Store Worldwide Google Play
Google Play Downloads Downloads Downloads
25B 25B 25B
+10.7%

20B 20B 20B

+11.2%
15B 15B 15B

23.4B
21.6B
10B 10B 10B
+9.6% 16.8B
15.2B
5B 5B 5B
6.5B 7.1B

0 0 0
Q4 2016 Q4 2017 Q4 2016 Q4 2017 Q4 2016 Q4 2017

23.4 Billion 7.1 Billion 16.8 Billion

App Store + Google Play Downloads App Store Downloads Google Play Downloads

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Store Intelligence | Top Apps

Top Apps

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5
Overall | Apps by Worldwide Downloads
App Store Google Play

WhatsApp

Messenger
WhatsApp topped the ranking,
Facebook
becoming the world’s most
Instagram downloaded app for four consecutive
UC Browser quarters. Meanwhile, Messenger
SHAREit replaced Facebook at No. 2.
Snapchat

Subway Surfers

YouTube Tencent’s Honor of Kings dropped

Uber out of the top 20 last quarter, but
Wish
another hit title from China, NetEase’s
Rules of Survival, made the ranking at
Spotify
No. 20 after worldwide success.
Netflix

WeChat

imo
Note Regarding Download Estimates
Amazon Shopping Our estimates include worldwide downloads for iPhone,
iPad, and Google Play for Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2017.
Candy Crush Saga
Apple apps and Google pre-installed apps are
Pinterest excluded. We report unique installs only. Android
estimates do not include third-party stores. Figures
My Talking Tom
represent aggregate installs of all app versions, ex:
Rules of Survival Facebook and Facebook Lite.

20M 40M 60M 80M 100M 120M 140M 160M 180M 200M

© 2018 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved www.sensortower.com

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App Store | Apps by Worldwide Downloads
iPhone iPad

WhatsApp

Messenger
NetEase made a splash last quarter
YouTube
with two “one vs. many” multiplayer
Facebook shooters, Rules of Survival and Knives
WeChat Out. Both reached the top 20 as the
Instagram world’s most-installed iOS games.
Taobao

Alipay

QQ Alibaba’s shopping app Taobao and

Tencent Video payment app Alipay saw their
Google Maps
downloads surge in China during Q4.
The country’s biggest app, WeChat,
Snapchat
entered the worldwide top five.
Gmail

Rules of Survival

PinDuoDuo
Note Regarding Download Estimates
iQIYI Our estimates include worldwide daily download totals
for iPhone and iPad for Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2017.
Knives Out
Apple apps are excluded. We report unique installs only
Spotify (one download per user).

Netflix

Dune!

5M 10M 15M 20M 25M 30M 35M 40M

© 2018 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved www.sensortower.com

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Google Play | Apps by Worldwide Downloads
WhatsApp

Messenger
Alibaba-owned UC Browser
Facebook
continued to grow in popularity,
Instagram reaching No. 5 on the ranking. The top
UC Browser four apps were owned by Facebook,
SHAREit with WhatsApp reaching No. 1 overall.
Subway Surfers

Snapchat

imo Fewer games made the Google Play

Wish top 20 last quarter, dropping to four
Uber
from six in 3Q17. Subway Surfers
remained the most-installed game on
Clean Master
the platform worldwide.
My Talking Tom

Candy Crush Saga

MX Player
Note Regarding Download Estimates
Hotstar Our estimates include worldwide daily download totals
for Google Play for Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2017. We
Truecaller
report unique installs only (one download per user).
Clash Royale Google pre-installed apps are excluded. Android
download estimates do not include third-party stores.
Weather & Radar
Figures represent aggregate installs of all app versions,
Spotify ex: Facebook and Facebook Lite.

25M 50M 75M 100M 125M 150M

© 2018 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved www.sensortower.com

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Overall | Apps by U.S. Downloads
App Store Google Play

Messenger

Facebook
Netflix broke into the U.S. top five
Netflix
for the first time, ranking No. 3
Dune! overall. The app ranked No. 13
Snapchat worldwide on the combined App Store
Bitmoji and Google Play chart.
Wish

Animal Crossing

Spotify Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp,

Amazon Shopping Nintendo’s fourth mobile game, made
Pandora
a strong showing at No. 8 overall in
terms of U.S. downloads last quarter.
Instagram
It did not made the worldwide top 20.
Uber

YouTube

Rules of Survival
Note Regarding Download Estimates
Pinterest Our estimates include worldwide downloads for iPhone,
iPad, and Google Play for Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2017.
Google Maps
Apple apps and Google pre-installed apps are
WhatsApp excluded. We report unique installs only. Android
estimates do not include third-party stores. Figures
Gmail
represent aggregate installs of all app versions, ex:
Snake VS Block Facebook and Facebook Lite.

2M 4M 6M 8M 10M 12M 14M 16M 18M 20M

© 2018 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved www.sensortower.com

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App Store | Apps by U.S. Downloads
iPhone iPad

Messenger

Facebook
Snapchat returned to the U.S. iOS
Dune!
top 20 last quarter, after having not
Netflix made this list in 3Q17. It ranked No.
YouTube 12, but started the year ranked No. 3
Google Maps on the 1Q17 top 20.
Bitmoji

Gmail

Spotify NetEase’s battle royale shooter

Animal Crossing Rules of Survival was a hit with
Amazon Shopping
nearly five million downloads in the
quarter. Ranked No. 14, it was one of
Snapchat
only three games in the top 20.
Uber

Rules of Survival

Pandora
Note Regarding Download Estimates
Pinterest Our estimates include worldwide daily download totals
for iPhone and iPad for Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2017.
Wish
Apple apps are excluded. We report unique installs only
Instagram (one download per user).

Google Chrome

WhatsApp

2M 4M 6M 8M 10M 12M

© 2018 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved www.sensortower.com

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 Google Play | Apps by U.S. Downloads
Messenger

Wish
Wish climbed to No. 2 last quarter,
Snapchat
up from No. 4 in 3Q17. It replaced
Instagram Snapchat, which dropped to No. 3,
Animal Crossing but was still 11 spots higher than on
Netflix the U.S. iOS top 20.
Bitmoji

Facebook

Pandora Amazon Prime Video saw its

CM Launcher 3D popularity surge on Google Play last
Spotify
quarter. It ranked No. 13, just after the
core Amazon Shopping app. Prime
Amazon Shopping
Video did not rank in the iOS top 20.
Amazon Prime Video

Dune!

WhatsApp
Note Regarding Download Estimates
BuzzVideo Our estimates include worldwide daily download totals
for Google Play for Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2017. We
Pinterest
report unique installs only (one download per user).
ROBLOX Google pre-installed apps are excluded. Android
download estimates do not include third-party stores.
Uber
Figures represent aggregate installs of all app versions,
Toon Blast ex: Facebook and Facebook Lite.

1M 2M 3M 4M 5M 6M 7M 8M

© 2018 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved www.sensortower.com

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Store Intelligence | Top Publishers

Top Publishers

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12
Overall | Publishers by Worldwide Downloads
App Store Google Play

Facebook

Google
Facebook led worldwide app
Tencent
installs for another quarter. Ranked
Alibaba Group No. 6 in 3Q17, Alibaba Group climbed
Kingsoft to No. 4 in Q4. Three of the top five
Outfit7 Limited publishers were based in China.
Ubisoft

Voodoo

Electronic Arts France’s Voodoo continued to

Gameloft climb, taking the No. 8 spot after
Microsoft
having ranked at No. 20 in 3Q17. Its
simple games, including Snake VS
TabTale
Block and Dune, were viral hits.
Amazon

Snap

King
Note Regarding Download Estimates
NetEase Our estimates include worldwide downloads for iPhone,
iPad, and Google Play for Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2017.
Supercell
Apple apps and Google pre-installed apps are
Uber excluded. We report unique installs only. Android
estimates do not include third-party stores.
SHAREit

Reliance Jio

100M 200M 300M 400M 500M 600M 700M

© 2018 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved www.sensortower.com

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 App Store | Publishers by Worldwide Downloads
iPhone iPad

Tencent

Google
Snap’s slide down the worldwide
Facebook
iOS chart continued, with the
Alibaba Group publisher dropping from No. 8 in 2Q17
Voodoo to No. 12 last quarter. The top five
Ubisoft publishers remained unchanged.
NetEase

Baidu

Amazon Nintendo returned to the iOS top 20

Microsoft thanks to the launch of Animal
Electronic Arts
Crossing: Pocket Camp. It ranked at
No. 17 ahead of fellow game makers
Kingsoft
Outfit7 and Zynga.
Gameloft

Snap

IAC Mobile
Note Regarding Download Estimates
Xiamen Meitu Our estimates include worldwide daily download totals
for iPhone and iPad for Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2017.
Fun Games For Free
Apple apps are excluded. We report unique installs only
Nintendo (one download per user).

Outfit7 Limited

Zynga

50M 100M 150M 200M 250M

© 2018 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved www.sensortower.com

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Google Play | Publishers by Worldwide Downloads
Facebook

Google
Downloads of UC Browser outside of
Kingsoft
China contributed significantly to
Outfit7 Limited Alibaba Group increasing its standing
Electronic Arts on this ranking from No. 17 in 3Q17 to
Gameloft No. 7 last quarter.
Alibaba Group

Tencent

Ubisoft Denmark’s Kiloo rode the continued

TabTale popularity of Subway Surfers to a
King
No. 19 ranking among all Google Play
publishers last quarter. It was the
Microsoft
platform’s most installed game in Q4.
Reliance Jio

SHAREit

Snap
Note Regarding Download Estimates
Voodoo Our estimates include worldwide daily download totals
for Google Play for Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2017. We
Amazon
report unique installs only (one download per user).
Supercell Google pre-installed apps are excluded. Android
download estimates do not include third-party stores.
Kiloo

Uber

50M 100M 150M 200M 250M 300M 350M 400M 450M 500M 550M

© 2018 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved www.sensortower.com

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Overall | Publishers by U.S. Downloads
App Store Google Play

Google

Facebook
Snap continued to tumble in the U.S.
Voodoo
and fell to No. 7 overall, from
Ubisoft No. 5 in 3Q17. Meanwhile, Google
Amazon and Facebook remained at No. 1 and
Kingsoft No. 2, respectively.
Snap

Electronic Arts

Microsoft Game makers Voodoo and Ubisoft

Zynga occupied two of the top five positions,
Tencent
while Nintendo returned to the top 20
at No. 13 on the launch of its fourth
TabTale
mobile game, Animal Crossing.
Nintendo

Uber

IAC Mobile
Note Regarding Download Estimates
Gameloft Our estimates include worldwide downloads for iPhone,
iPad, and Google Play for Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2017.
Yahoo
Apple apps and Google pre-installed apps are
Netflix excluded. We report unique installs only. Android
estimates do not include third-party stores.
Wish

Disney

10M 20M 30M 40M 50M 60M 70M 80M 90M 100M

© 2018 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved www.sensortower.com

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 App Store | Publishers by U.S. Downloads
iPhone iPad

Google

Facebook
NetEase made the U.S. iOS top 20
Voodoo
thanks to the popularity of its two
Ubisoft survival shooters during Q4. Ranked
Amazon No. 17, it placed ahead of mobile
Snap gaming giant Gameloft.
Electronic Arts

Zynga

Microsoft Zynga installs increased over 3Q17,

TabTale elevating the games publisher to into
Uber
the top 10 at No. 8 for 4Q17, just
behind Electronic Arts. It had ranked
Tencent
at No. 12 for the previous quarter.
Kingsoft

Nintendo

IAC Mobile
Note Regarding Download Estimates
Netflix Our estimates include worldwide daily download totals
for iPhone and iPad for Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2017.
Fun Games For Free
Apple apps are excluded. We report unique installs only
NetEase (one download per user).

Gameloft

Spotify

10M 20M 30M 40M 50M 60M 70M

© 2018 Sensor Tower Inc. - All Rights Reserved www.sensortower.com

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Google Play | Publishers by U.S. Downloads
Google

Facebook
Snap dropped out of the top five
Kingsoft
for U.S. Google Play installs last
Amazon quarter. It had ranked No. 4 in 3Q17
Voodoo but fell to No. 10 in 4Q17. Amazon
Ubisoft took its place after China’s Kingsoft.
Microsoft

Electronic Arts

Tencent Voodoo didn’t appear in the top 20

Snap for 3Q17, but the immense viral
Zynga
success of its games propelled it to
No. 5 overall last quarter, ahead of
TabTale
fellow French publisher Ubisoft.
Wish

Nintendo

Yahoo
Note Regarding Download Estimates
Gameloft Our estimates include worldwide daily download totals
for Google Play for Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2017. We
Samsung
report unique installs only (one download per user).
Outfit7 Limited Google pre-installed apps are excluded. Android
download estimates do not include third-party stores.
IAC Mobile

Disney

6M 11M 17M 23M 29M 34M 40M

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Store Intelligence | Top Categories

Top Categories

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19
App Store | Categories by Worldwide Downloads
Q4 2016 Q4 2017
2.5B

Game installs grew 10% over 4Q16,

the same amount of YoY growth seen
2.0B
in 3Q17. Entertainment, the second
largest category, grew about 2.7%
YoY, down from 3.1% for Q3.

1.5B
Social Networking’s YoY growth
slowed to about 5% last quarter from
18% between 3Q16 and 3Q17.
Utilities replaced it as the fourth
2.09B
1.0B largest category in terms of installs.
1.90B

Note Regarding Download Estimates

Our estimates include worldwide daily download totals
500M for iPhone and iPad for Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2017.
Apple apps are excluded. We report unique installs only
(one download per user).
520M 534M 493M 533M
414M 454M 423M 444M

Games Entertainment Photo & Video Utilities Social Networking

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Google Play | Categories by Worldwide Downloads
Q4 2016 Q4 2017
7.0B

Game category downloads grew

6.0B about 12% year-over-year to 7 billion.
Communication installs, however,
declined by about 5% over the same
period in 2016.
5.0B

4.0B Entertainment installs continued

to see significant growth on Google’s
7.00B platform, up 15% YoY to more than 1
6.25B billion. Photography also grew, albeit
3.0B
less at about 6.4% YoY.

2.0B
Note Regarding Download Estimates
Our estimates include worldwide daily download totals
for Google Play for Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, 2017. We
report unique installs only (one download per user).
1.0B
Google pre-installed apps are excluded. Android
1.30B 1.30B download estimates do not include third-party stores.
874M 1.01B 883M 931M 851M
830M

Game Tools Entertainment Photography Communication

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