2021 was a record-breaking year for app with total consumer spending across the App Store and Google Play hitting 25% in growth compared to 2020. Spending hit $135 billion with downloads growing 8% to 140 billion.
Video editing and sharing apps saw the highest growth in 2021, and consumer spending was also driven by live and content streaming apps such as YouTube, Disney+, TikTok and Twitch. In the UK, Twitch led the video streaming breakout charts, but business apps like Zoom and Teams performed strongly for hybrid business models.
“One of the big take-aways is that the global population adapted to the pandemic by embracing a mobile lifestyle. The sectors that did well were the ones that brought people closer together both virtually and in person,” said Lexi Sydow, Head of Insights at App Annie.
The increased spending report following the announcement from Bumble last week that the popular female led dating platform has passed $1 billion in global consumer spending.
Bumble is the second most popular dating app by lifetime spend and the highest ranking dating app that prioritises women making the first move. The company went public in February 2021 and has continued to see success via its in-app subscription and in-app purchase model, where users can subscribe to Bumble Premium or Boost including travel features, spotlight, super-swipes, among others in addition to one-off credits.
Read the full Bumble story here.