APPS
Data & Research March 24, 2026 • Updated: 9 November 2026

App marketing & ASO
statistics 2026

55+ verified data points on app marketing and App Store Optimization. From global downloads and revenue to user acquisition costs, retention benchmarks, and regional breakdowns. Compiled from Sensor Tower, Apple, Google, Adjust, AppsFlyer, RevenueCat and more, every figure linked to its source.

150B

app downloads worldwide in 2025 (iOS + Google Play, nearly)

Source: Sensor Tower, 2026

$167B

consumer spending on in-app purchases in 2025

Source: Sensor Tower, 2026

65%

of App Store downloads happen directly after a search (almost)

Source: Apple, 2022 data

Statistics overview

The app economy keeps growing: in 2025 consumers spent $167 billion on in-app purchases, while downloads barely grew (+0.8%). The competition for user attention is fierce. But how much does it actually cost to acquire an app user? What are realistic retention benchmarks? And how does the market look across different regions? Most serious operators combine ASO with paid media through a Google Ads agency and Facebook Ads specialists.

This page compiles 55+ verified statistics on app marketing and App Store Optimization (ASO), sourced from Sensor Tower (which acquired data.ai, formerly App Annie), Apple, Google, Adjust, AppsFlyer, Singular, RevenueCat and other sources. Whether you're developing an app, optimizing your marketing strategy, or benchmarking against the market: this data hub gives you the numbers you need, and a strong conversion rate optimization foundation to turn installs into paying users. For Dutch companies, how to compare channels side by side on cost per lead: read more about performance marketing (in Dutch).

DOWNLOADS
Section 1

App downloads & revenue

150B

downloads in 2025 (nearly), +0.8%

Sensor Tower, 2026

$167B

in-app purchase revenue 2025, +10.6%

Sensor Tower, 2026

2.17M

apps on the App Store (2025)

Apple, 2025

3.6h

per day in apps per mobile user (roughly)

Sensor Tower, 2026

Consumer spending in apps vs. games, 2025 (worldwide)

Non-game apps $82.6B (+33.9%)
Mobile games $72.2B (+10%)

Source: Appfigures via TechCrunch, 2026 (estimate, total $155.8B; Appfigures measures differently than Sensor Tower)

  • Non-game apps overtook games in in-app purchase revenue for the first time in 2025: non-game IAP grew 21%, games reached nearly $82 billion (+1.3%) (Sensor Tower, 2026)
  • Generative AI apps doubled downloads to 3.8 billion, earned more than $5 billion in IAP revenue and were used for 48 billion hours in 2025 (Sensor Tower, 2026)
  • Fewer downloads by another count: Appfigures estimates 106.9 billion downloads in 2025 (-2.7%), down from a peak of 135 billion in 2020 (Appfigures via TechCrunch, 2026)
  • The App Store ecosystem facilitated over $1.4 trillion in developer billings and sales in 2025; developers paid Apple no commission on more than 90% of it (Apple, 2026)
  • 892.7 million average weekly visitors used the App Store in 2025, across 175 countries and regions (Apple, 2025)
  • Apple rejected 2.09 million of 9.1 million app submissions in 2025 and removed 166,899 apps (Apple, 2025)
  • Google blocked more than 1.75 million policy-violating apps from Google Play in 2025 and banned more than 80,000 developer accounts (Google, 2026)
ASO
Section 2

App store optimization (ASO) benchmarks

70%

of App Store visitors use search to discover apps

Apple, 2022 data

1.6%

average conversion rate of a default App Store product page

Apple, 2026

+156%

conversion with a custom product page (+2.5 percentage points)

Apple, 2026

Character limits in the store listing

Google Play: full description 4,000
4,000
App Store: promotional text 170
170
App Store: keyword field 100
100
Google Play: short description 80
80
App name / title (Apple and Google) 30
30

Sources: Apple, 2026, Google Play Console Help, 2026

70

custom product pages per app on the App Store

Apple, 2026

50

custom store listings per app on Google Play

Google Play, 2026

  • Almost 65% of App Store downloads happen directly after a search (Apple, 2022 data)
  • Product page optimization lets you test up to three alternate product pages against the original; a test runs for up to 90 days (Apple, 2026)
  • Up to 10 screenshots and 3 app previews of up to 30 seconds fit on an App Store product page; the subtitle is limited to 30 characters (Apple, 2026)
  • Ratings prompts: an app can ask for a rating up to three times in a 365-day period (Apple, 2026)
  • 160 million spam ratings and reviews were blocked on Google Play in 2025 (Google, 2026)
  • Apple Ads at the top of search results convert at over 60% on average (tap-through install rate, Nov 2024 to Oct 2025) (Apple, 2025)
CPI
Section 3

User acquisition costs

$3.03

average CPI on iOS (Q1 2026)

Singular, 2026

$0.76

average CPI on Android (Q1 2026, +15.1%)

Singular, 2026

$1.24

average CPI across platforms (Q1 2026, +12%)

Singular, 2026

$25B

spent on mobile game user acquisition in 2025 (+3.8%)

AppsFlyer, 2026

Cost per install by vertical and region, 2025

Vertical Region CPI 2025 vs. 2024
Gaming (all) Global $0.56 +30%
E-commerce Global $0.98 was $1.00
E-commerce Europe $2.25 was $1.83
E-commerce North America $2.49 was $2.61
Finance Global $1.13 was $1.51
Finance Europe $4.75 was $7.37
Finance North America $4.13 was $7.03
Banking Global $2.09 -18%

Source: Adjust Mobile App Trends 2026 via PPC Land (secondary source)

Section 4

App engagement & retention

27%

day 1 retention, gaming apps (2025)

Adjust via PPC Land, 2026

13%

day 7 retention, gaming apps

Adjust via PPC Land, 2026

5%

day 30 retention, gaming apps

Adjust via PPC Land, 2026

2%

day 30 retention, finance apps (was 3%)

Adjust via PPC Land, 2026

Average session length by vertical, 2025 (minutes)

Gaming: strategy 37.51
Gaming (all) about 30
Gaming: casual 25.92
E-commerce (Europe) 10.53
E-commerce (global) 9.6
Finance (global) 7.18

Source: Adjust Mobile App Trends 2026 via PPC Land (secondary source)

  • Finance apps lose most users fast: day 1 retention 12%, day 7 6%, day 30 2% in 2025 (Adjust via PPC Land, 2026)
  • Hard paywall vs. freemium: median download-to-paid conversion by day 35 is 10.7% with a hard paywall and 2.1% with freemium (RevenueCat, 2026)
  • Longer trials convert better: median trial-to-paid is 42.5% for 17 to 32 day trials, 37.4% for 5 to 9 days and 25.5% for 4 days or less (RevenueCat, 2026)
  • 55.4% of 3-day trials are cancelled on day 0; for 30-day trials it is 31.1% (RevenueCat, 2026)
  • Only 17.3% of subscription apps reach $1,000 in monthly recurring revenue within two years of launch, 4.6% reach $10,000 (RevenueCat, 2026)
  • Generative AI apps passed one trillion sessions in 2025; time spent was about 3.6 times that of 2024 (Sensor Tower, 2026)
ADS
Section 5

In-app advertising

$151B

in-app advertising revenue in the App Store ecosystem (2025)

Apple, 2026

60%+

average conversion of Apple Ads at the top of search results

Apple, 2025

95%

of downloads after an Apple Ads tap happen within a minute

Apple, 2024 data

App Store ecosystem 2025: billings and sales by type

Physical goods and services $1.1T
$1.1T
In-app advertising $151B
$151B
Digital goods and services $149B
$149B

Source: Apple / Analysis Group, 2026

  • In-app advertising is now worth more than digital purchases in the App Store ecosystem: $151 billion vs. $149 billion in 2025 (Apple, 2026)
  • Remarketing dominates e-commerce app budgets: 92% of iOS and 85% of Android ad spend (AppsFlyer via Advanced Television, 2026)
  • CPM on iOS fell 10.5% in Q1 2026 versus Q4 2025, while global CPM rose 0.3% (Singular, 2026)
  • Apps with consumer-facing AI made up more than 40 of the top 100 App Store apps in 2025 and grew billings faster than the rest (Apple, 2026)
PUSH
Section 6

Push notifications & re-engagement

53.3%

median push opt-in on Android (2025)

Airship, 2026

48.85%

median push opt-in on iOS (2025)

Airship, 2026

61%

average opt-in across iOS and Android

Batch, 2025

681B

push notifications sent via Airship in 2025

Airship, 2026

Push notification opt-in by platform

Android (Batch) 67%
iOS (Batch) 56%
Android (Airship, median) 53.3%
iOS (Airship, median) 48.85%

Sources: Batch, 2025, Airship, 2026 (different app samples)

  • Android opt-in dropped from 85% to 67% in one year after Android 13 made apps ask for permission; on iOS it went from 58% to 56% (Batch, 2025)
  • Promo code messages get the highest click-through rates: 16.1% on Android and 17.9% on iOS (Batch, 2025)
  • In-app pop-ups reach a click-through rate of 12.8% on Android and 11.2% on iOS; push re-opt-in prompts 11% and 9% (Batch, 2025)
  • The best apps get far more opt-ins: the top 10% reaches 86.63% (Android, utility and productivity) and 88.7% (iOS, education) (Airship, 2026)
  • Median direct open rates on iOS dropped 13.71% in 2025 (Airship, 2026)
GLOBAL
Section 7

Regional app market data

~$60B

consumer spending in apps in the US, the largest market (2025)

Sensor Tower, 2026

51.96%

iOS share of mobile web traffic in the US (Oct 2026)

Statcounter, 2026

27.61%

iOS share of mobile web traffic worldwide (Oct 2026)

Statcounter, 2026

Largest apps worldwide (users)

WhatsApp 3B+
3B+ monthly
Instagram 3B
3B monthly
Telegram 1B+
1B+ active
ChatGPT 900M
900M weekly
Spotify 788M
788M monthly

Sources: WhatsApp, 2026, Meta, 2025, TechCrunch, 2025, ITdaily, 2026, Spotify, 2026 (company figures; definitions differ)

  • iOS share of mobile web traffic varies widely: 51.96% in the US, 36.32% in Europe, 31.55% in the Netherlands and 27.61% worldwide in October 2026 (Statcounter, 2026)
  • US consumers spent $55.5 billion in apps in 2025 (+18.1%) on 10 billion downloads, by Appfigures' estimate (Appfigures via TechCrunch, 2026)
  • App Store billings more than tripled in the US and Europe between 2019 and 2025 (Apple, 2026)
  • 98.3% of Dutch people aged 16-74 used the internet on a smartphone in 2025, against 89.9% in the EU (Eurostat, 2025)
  • In Europe, e-commerce app installs fell 22% in 2025 while sessions rose 6%; finance app installs grew 15% (Adjust via PPC Land, 2026)
2030
Section 8

Future predictions

2026

Android developer verification starts

From 30 September 2026, apps installed on certified Android devices in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand must come from verified developers.

Source: Android Developers, 2026

2027

Verification goes global

Google will expand developer verification to all apps on certified Android devices worldwide in 2027, including apps distributed outside Google Play.

Source: Android Developers, 2026

2031

6.4 billion 5G subscriptions

Ericsson forecasts 6.4 billion 5G subscriptions in 2031, two-thirds of all mobile subscriptions, with around 3.9 billion on 5G standalone.

Source: Ericsson Mobility Report, June 2026

2031

95% 5G penetration in Western Europe

Western Europe reached 54% 5G penetration at the end of 2025; Ericsson expects 95% by 2031.

Source: Ericsson Mobility Report, June 2026

2025

AI apps set the pace

Generative AI app downloads doubled to 3.8 billion in 2025 and in-app revenue nearly tripled to more than $5 billion.

Source: Sensor Tower, 2026

  • Mobile network data traffic grew 23% between Q2 2025 and Q2 2026 (Ericsson, 2026)
  • 5G subscriptions reached close to 3.3 billion in Q2 2026 (Ericsson, 2026)
  • ChatGPT has 900 million weekly users (March 2026) (ITdaily, 2026)
Summary

Key takeaways

1

ASO is essential

70% of App Store visitors search, and almost 65% of downloads follow directly after a search. A custom product page lifts conversion by 2.5 percentage points on average.

2

Retention is the real challenge

Only 5% of game installs are still active on day 30, and 2% for finance apps. Onboarding and the first days decide.

3

iOS is pricier but more valuable

An iOS install cost $3.03 in Q1 2026 against $0.76 on Android. In the US, iOS accounts for 51.96% of mobile web traffic.

4

Push needs permission first

Median opt-in is 53.3% on Android and 48.85% on iOS. Without opt-in, there is nobody to re-engage.

5

The US dominates revenue

US consumers spent nearly $60 billion in apps in 2025, the largest market by revenue.

6

AI is changing the app market

AI app downloads doubled to 3.8 billion in 2025, and more than 40 of the top 100 App Store apps have AI features.

Methodology & sources

The statistics on this page are compiled from publicly available research reports by leading organizations in the app and mobile industry. All figures were re-checked against the opened sources on 9 November 2026. Key sources include:

Disclaimer: Every figure links to the source it was taken from. Benchmarks from measurement and push platforms are based on their own customer data and are not a census of the market; downloads and spending differ by research firm. Figures labeled worldwide or by region are not Dutch data. This page is compiled for informational purposes and does not constitute financial or strategic advice.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost to acquire an app user in 2026?

In Q1 2026 an install cost on average $3.03 on iOS and $0.76 on Android, according to Singular. Costs differ strongly by sector: in 2025 a game install cost $0.56 on average, an e-commerce install $0.98 worldwide and $2.25 in Europe, and a finance install $4.75 in Europe (Adjust). Since almost 65% of App Store downloads follow directly after a search (Apple), ASO optimization is the cheapest way to get installs.

What is a good app retention rate in 2026?

Retention differs by sector, and there is no reliable public average across all apps. Adjust measured for gaming apps in 2025: 27% on day 1, 13% on day 7 and 5% on day 30. Finance apps scored 12% on day 1, 6% on day 7 and 2% on day 30. Focus on onboarding optimization and getting push permission (median opt-in 53.3% on Android, 48.85% on iOS) to outperform these figures.

How many apps are downloaded globally per day in 2026?

Sensor Tower counted nearly 150 billion downloads on iOS and Google Play in 2025 (+0.8%), and $167 billion in in-app purchase revenue (+10.6%). Appfigures measures differently and estimates 106.9 billion downloads and $155.8 billion in consumer spending. Users spend roughly 3.6 hours per day in apps (Sensor Tower).

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Ruud ten Have

Compiled by

Ruud ten Have

Ruud is a digital marketer with 10+ years of experience in online advertising and AI implementation. At Searchlab, he combines strategic thinking with hands-on AI tooling to deliver measurable results for businesses.

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