We all know the mobile world and the apps that dominate it - all too familiar with the apps that consistently top the charts week in and week out, as well as those surprise viral hits that seem to come out of nowhere. Well, they don’t.
The app economy, just like any other economy, is complexly constructed and deeply-rooted in data insights and user trends. While at times, these trends appear to have come without a hint of a warning sign, the signs are there. Trends are visible and, if you use them the right way, you can be ahead of the curve - one of the early-adopter apps that is set for success.
ironSource is introducing our new Fastest Growing Apps page - a new discovery tool for apps that are growing rapidly in the store. This unique page includes all apps, from the well-known and trendy to the ones that may not be on your radar or appear in Google’s top 10 charts, but should still be recognized when looking at overall industry trends as they have some of the highest percentages of growth. With this page, you can acquaint yourself with the latest insights on the app economy, while keeping tabs on the fastest growing apps and categories by their rate of growth in downloads.
In order to help you see how the industry is changing, which apps are climbing the charts, and where there are opportunities for growth, our Fastest Growing Apps page has already provided us with insights which can be helpful to app developers during the app-building process. For example, data we compiled from last month (September 2015) shows that the current gaming categories with the fastest growth rates (as measured by downloads) are Simulation, Action, and Role Playing games, with Simulation leading the pack.
Simulation games are trending - with the Music and Simulation category showing the highest growth in the 500K-1M download range, the Simulation and Action gaming category showing the most growth in the 1-5M download range, and the Card and Simulation gaming category excelling in the 5-10M download range.
These kinds of insights can help you decide what kind of app to make next or how to structure your ASO campaign by categorizing your app according to the categories that see a substantial growth in popularity. Sure, a spike in downloads for the first week after launch doesn’t say much, which is why the insights measure the overall growth of all apps above 500K downloads in categories, as opposed to a single app that saw a sudden burst.
This page gives you access to the kind of data you need by measuring the success of all apps above 500K downloads. It does this by measuring the growth rate of their monthly downloads. The page is easy to navigate, and allows you to discover the fastest growing apps in five Google Play download ranges. Now you can catch industry trends early while also comparing the growth of competing apps. You can discover insights as far back as five months prior, and check in monthly to see changes to the growth rate of different apps and app categories.
Creating an app for today’s users is no easy feat. Consumers change their preferences with dazzling frequency, making it difficult for mobile app developers to know exactly where to place their bets. The key to success (and to solidifying your seat at the table), is to be ahead of the game by understanding who your competition is and where your app stands relative to today’s trends.