Sensor Tower: iOS Users Spent $10.3 billion on Top 100 Subscription Apps in 2020, Up 32% Year-on-Year

[jlc1978]

this is why Apple takes 30%.

or at least used to. can't wait until greedy, self-entitled developers think 15% is too much in 5 years.

I'd like to see how many cut their prices to be more fair to consumers...

I'm also waiting to see a pig fly...

There is Piracy on iOS and it's actually more frequent than you probably are aware.

For example, one out of many articles on the subject:

This illicit iPhone app store has been hiding in plain sight

I kept waiting for it to ask me for my credit card number.

www.theverge.com

True, but in terms of percentages it's probably not that much relative to sales, and varies by country. Apple should, if they don't, have a way to identify rouge enterprise certificates and revoke them so apps can't be pirated ads easily; and allow developers a way to restrict or limit the use of an enterprise certificate. Games for example, probably have very little enterprise value.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

The non existence of piracy on iOS is a consequence of only having one way to download apps.

That's an interesting point and the first one I've ever heard that makes a case that maybe forcing developers to distribute via the app store is beneficial for developers.

As a counter-point, though... I had a top selling app in the Mac App Store, and piracy wasn't much of an issue for me, even though apps can be installed on Mac OS without going through the app store. I got 10s of thousands of legal, paid downloads via the Mac App Store, and fewer than 500 pirated copies. I included some code to help me track pirates without actually doing anything to them, just so I'd know what was going on... it was interesting, but never enough to do anything about it.

===

Two things I notice...

1 - Google easily makes the most money off of apps. They have the #1 spot on both iOS and Android, and the #8 spot on iOS. It's interesting that it's via different apps on each platform.

2 - Why does Tinder rank so much higher on iOS than on Android? Bumble is ranking well on both platforms, but Tinder is at the top at iOS and not in the top 10 on Android.

 

[Razorpit]

While I don't have an issue with subscription apps/services such as Netflix, Disney +, and general entertainment apps. (I guess you can toss Tinder in that group. 😜) Subscription apps for productive things like note taking, email, calendar are a bad idea. I hope those do not "catch on".

 

[ksec]

It wasn't about fair. It was about control.

There are currently no way to dispute an Apple objection apart from running to the press. And Apple is currently controlling the majority of Smartphone Platform, where Smartphone / Digital increasingly and will become the dominant way of life in our society.

A monopoly, which Apple could arguably be one in US. Today, the iPhone has 66% market share in the United States, 75% of U.S. App Store revenues, and over 80% of time spent on the mobile internet. A monopoly in itself is not against the law, but monopolistic behaviour is. And there are already too many incidents they are doing it. That argument is running against the App Store. Not just the price they charge.

You are also justify prices when you have no idea cost to other business.

It is funny the people think Qualcomm is charging too much for their patents and R&D on 5G, thinking Qualcomm has double dipped ( in Apple's terminology ) their profits. All while at the same time Apple App Store pricing are justify.

I will post this again. You can believe all the following:

1: The sandboxed app store model is a huge step forward and ending it would be very bad for users and almost all developers
2: Some of Apple’s rules are bad and it too often enforces them badly.
3: Apple’s app payment model is unsustainable

I think most people dont gasp the the above idea well.

 

[MacBH928]

My only guess is that Android users are running pirated software. If people can get it for free, they will.

I also feel sorry for people subscribing via App Store, subscribing direct is much cheaper.

Look at that, Youtube is the most subscribed to app. I guess people really hate those in video ads.

 

[ilikewhey]

Survey after survey, study after study, investigation after investigation have all come to the same conclusion. Apple users are generally more affluent than Android users and have more disposable income. To the point, Apple users spend money on apps and Android users don’t.

So in this case market share has nothing to do with anything.

are you calling android users poor? no thats not the reasons here, there are a number of reasons, I used to have a samsung and remember there are so many ways to get an app on android that often bypass the pay wall. affluent has nothing to do with anything, that is such a bad argument, by your logic premium car brands like aston martin and ferrari should have much higher market cap cause these buyers have more disposable income. which we clearly know thats not the case 😂

 

[nwcs]

Why would they not be reflected? This is Sense Tower reporting, not Apple.

I wouldn’t think so because it doesn’t appear that Apple uses the same in-app purchasing routines. In any case, it’s a question for the source as to whether they are able to gather those numbers or not.

 

[LeeW]

The data doesn’t lie, iPhone users are a bunch of horny buggers. 😂
View attachment 1729043

Or your average App Store user just can't get a date. So whilst using Tinder they rely on a Google service to watch videos on how to get a date.

 

[DeepIn2U]

thats astonishing consider android dominates the market by a wide margin.

I'm not putting too much faith into this statistic since more and more apps are ONLY offering subscription as well as removing paid apps from being able to be downloaded again on next iOS update.

This needs to stop as a practice.
If someone pays for an app, and said developer/app has not had violations in the AppStore or represent some sort of hate group/crime(s) it should be kept available for those that purchased it until iOS renders incompatibility.

^ I'm looking at you TweetBot.

EDIT: Let me refine this as not ALL apps are a service or provide a service, or a service itself wholly, but a UI or a connection to a service.

 

[mi7chy]

Who pays for YouTube? That's like paying to use public restrooms. Normal people don't do that but I guess they're subsidizing for the rest.

 

[I7guy]

It wasn't about fair. It was about control.

On the flip side because it's very easy to take an opposing side for an opinion....

There are currently no way to dispute an Apple objection apart from running to the press. And Apple is currently controlling the majority of Smartphone Platform, where Smartphone / Digital increasingly and will become the dominant way of life in our society.

True as a company, false as a platform. Are we discussing market share or manufacturer?

A monopoly, which Apple could arguably be one in US. Today, the iPhone has 66% market share in the United States, 75% of U.S. App Store revenues, and over 80% of time spent on the mobile internet. A monopoly in itself is not against the law, but monopolistic behaviour is. And there are already too many incidents they are doing it. That argument is running against the App Store. Not just the price they charge.

Apple is not arguably or legally a monopoly in any sense. The upcoming suit might try to make that argument, but there is a long way to go before the "monopoly argument" becomes cast in concrete.

You are also justify prices when you have no idea cost to other business.

It is funny the people think Qualcomm is charging too much for their patents and R&D on 5G, thinking Qualcomm has double dipped ( in Apple's terminology ) their profits. All while at the same time Apple App Store pricing are justify.

I will post this again. You can believe all the following:

1: The sandboxed app store model is a huge step forward and ending it would be very bad for users and almost all developers
2: Some of Apple’s rules are bad and it too often enforces them badly.
3: Apple’s app payment model is unsustainable

I think most people dont gasp the the above idea well.

Maybe most people disagree, I don't know. Qualcomm has nothing to with this and are free to charge whatever price they want. Apple is free to charge whatever price they want.

Most consumer, imo, do not care about this type of argument where MR posters are attached to... they only want to use their phone in a safe and secure way..

 

[iHorseHead]

Who pays for YouTube? That's like paying to use public restrooms. Normal people don't do that but I guess they're subsidizing for the rest.

YouTube has movies and subscription based services as well, that includes music etc.