This Week's Sponsor:

Kolide

Ensure that if a device isn’t secure it can’t access your apps.  It’s Device Trust for Okta.


iPad Users Have Downloaded 3 Billion Apps in One Year

Thanks to a rich marketplace, consistently good apps that are featured in the App Store, and the constant attention blogs like ours bring to developers and consumers, the iPad has had its fair share of owners downloading tons of applications. Not only did iPad users download more than 3 billion apps from the App Store since the iPad’s launch in 2010, developers published 120,000 apps specifically for the iPad in the third quarter of 2011. ABI Research notes that iPad downloads are only 19% of all the cumulative downloads by Apple users. With lots of choice and a device that just works, users are eager to try out the latest innovations in touch-based software.

In comparison, Android users have only downloaded 440 million applications. It could be that there simply aren’t as many Android tablets in consumers’ hands as there are iPads, or it could because that developers simply aren’t making apps formatted for the tablet experience like they are on the iPad.

According to Lim Shiyang:

Discounting all those apps that were originally developed for Android smartphones, Android still trails greatly behind the iPad in terms of its tablet app offerings. Many Android tablets in the market are still using older versions of Android, which disadvantages users from enjoying the better effects of apps produced from more advanced software development kits.

As for Android’s phone ecosystem, ABI Research expects Android users to rack up 58 billion app downloads by 2016, compared to only 27 billion by iPhone users.

I wonder how many of these downloads will be because of Angry Birds?

[ABI Research via GigaOM]

Unlock More with Club MacStories

Founded in 2015, Club MacStories has delivered exclusive content every week for over six years.

In that time, members have enjoyed nearly 400 weekly and monthly newsletters packed with more of your favorite MacStories writing as well as Club-only podcasts, eBooks, discounts on apps, icons, and services. Join today, and you’ll get everything new that we publish every week, plus access to our entire archive of back issues and downloadable perks.

The Club expanded in 2021 with Club MacStories+ and Club Premier. Club MacStories+ members enjoy even more exclusive stories, a vibrant Discord community, a rotating roster of app discounts, and more. And, with Club Premier, you get everything we offer at every Club level plus an extended, ad-free version of our podcast AppStories that is delivered early each week in high-bitrate audio.

Choose the Club plan that’s right for you:

  • Club MacStories: Weekly and monthly newsletters via email and the web that are brimming with app collections, tips, automation workflows, longform writing, a Club-only podcast, periodic giveaways, and more;
  • Club MacStories+: Everything that Club MacStories offers, plus exclusive content like Federico’s Automation Academy and John’s Macintosh Desktop Experience, a powerful web app for searching and exploring over 6 years of content and creating custom RSS feeds of Club content, an active Discord community, and a rotating collection of discounts, and more;
  • Club Premier: Everything in from our other plans and AppStories+, an extended version of our flagship podcast that’s delivered early, ad-free, and in high-bitrate audio.