Mobile app spending hits $28 billion in Q3 2020, boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic

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Fall 2020 has already started, and once again, we have to face restrictions that will make us spend more time at home and less time socializing. That means our smartphone reliance is bound to increase.

According to a report from App Annie, people heavily relied on their smartphones even during the summer months when there were fewer restrictions. App Annie’s data reveals that in Q3, 2020, people downloaded around 33 billion new apps and spent over $28 billion in the process. Yes, $28 billion. 

Furthermore, it turns out that we all have collectively spent 180 billion hours of our time. 

Let that sink for a moment – humanity spent 180 billion hours of its precious time on smartphones, doing all sorts of things like shopping, watching videos, listening to music and podcasts, making calls, navigating, online dating, and so on. 

Before this report, App Annie released another report suggesting that the coronavirus pandemic has heavily influenced consumer behavior. Their data in Q3 is in perfect alignment with the estimates in that earlier report. 

India holds the number one spot for most app usage, mainly due to its significant population and affordable data rates. Then there is Brazil and Russia trailing behind. On the other hand, surprisingly, Indonesia experienced an unprecedented 40% surge in smartphone app usage in Q3.  

The Google Play Store absolved approximately 25 billion of the total 33 billion downloads in Q3. On the other side, iOS had to go with 8 billion downloads.  

Games, entertainment, and tools dominated the list of apps downloaded from the Play Store. On iOS, as expected, games were in high demand, trailed by photo and video entertainment apps.  

The mobile gaming industry seems to be having its renaissance as the number of weekly downloads surpasses 1 billion for the second quarter in a row. 

When it comes to active monthly users, Facebook remains the undisputed king claiming the first four positions. So, Facebook is first, then WhatsApp comes second, Facebook Messenger is in the third position, and Instagram is fourth. The Amazon app is in the fifth position, followed by Twitter, Netflix, Spotify, TikTok, and Telegram. 

Considering that the second wave of new infections is already upon us, restrictions will follow soon. In fewer words, more time at home with our phones, and less time mingling with other people and socializing. Based on that, it is easy to predict that mobile app usage will be very high during Q4. 

Do these numbers make sense to you? Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Deep Ballu