Apple’s iOS App Store currently has 800,000 apps available, according to a new independent report.
App Hero apparently uses official Apple data to produce this figure, which would appear to keep Apple’s nose ahead of its nearest challenger, Android. The last figure provided for the Google Play Store earlier in the year was 700,000 apps, so it’s clearly closing fast.
Of course, with the iOS App Store it’s not just about the numbers – it’s also the richest and most diverse app store around. This was backed up by some further facts and figures from the report.
iOS App Store Breakdown
For instance, a mighty 20.8 per cent of all App Store apps are games, which reflects what a major gaming platform iOS has become.
Interestingly, 56.2 per cent of all apps are free – a figure we can only see increasing as the freemium pricing model continues to spread.
Another figure we were interested to see – and would like to see improved – is the number of iPhone to iPad apps. There are 689,800 iPhone-specific apps and 332,800 iPad apps, and only 28.8 per cent of apps has been optimised for both.
There’s also a noteworthy combination of figures that casts new light on the user rating process. Of the 1,639 apps to have scored more than 50 ratings at an average of five stars, only a measly one per cent are on the Top 100 lists. It seems people are using other means to decide which apps they download – or at least other social recommendation services.
Both Apple and Google are closing in on the magic one million apps mark, and we’d bet that there’ll be some serious celebrations – including probable app deals and give-aways – whenever this happens.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.