July 10th, 2023 marks the 15th anniversary of Apple’s App Store. Launched in 2008, Apple revolutionized the app market and set itself a course that’d unfold over more than a decade.
In 2008, the App Store launched for iPhone 3G. At the time, the app marketplace was home to a mere 500 applications to download. In less than a week, 10 million third-party apps were downloaded. By its first year on the market, the App Store grew to 50,000 apps and one billion downloads.
Today, the App Store now has over 1.75 million apps from developers around the world. As of 2022, it’s reported at 8.1 billion app downloads have been seen on the App Store. Around 460,000 listings on the App Store are games made for iOS. This means that gaming makes up roughly 21.06 percent of the App Store. Business and education are said to be the second and third most popular categories of the App Store.
The app store is said to have generated around $86 billion USD (around $114 billion CAD) in revenue. While the App Store is home to paid apps, 94.1 percent is made up of free apps. These often have paid subscriptions or paid add-ons to purchase.
As of the time of writing, the App Store lists Threads as the number one Top Free Apps in Canada. Temu: Shop Like a Billionaire, ChatGPT, CapCut, and Google are all within the Top 5. Shadowrocket, Goblin Tools, The Wonder Weeks, Niagara Bridges, and Procreate Pocket are listed as the Top Paid Apps.
