As of the time of writing, there are just over 3m different apps on Google’s Play Store and around half that number on iOS. Estimates place the total number of apps worldwide (inclusive of all smaller operating systems) at 8.93m. Considering that the App Store launched with just 500 apps in July 2008, it’s easy to see just how enduring these tiny pieces of code are.
Still, nearly 9m apps in just over a decade is perhaps not the monster figure some might expect. True, Apple and Google both have quality control departments that keep the worst examples of shovelware out of their respective stores but it’s far more likely that the limited lifespan of the app is the reason for the condensed number available on Android and iOS, in particular.
Source: Pexels
For developers, research actually tells a bit of a horror story. Somewhere between 80% and 99.5% of consumer apps fail to find an audience, with a good 68% getting less than 1,000 downloads. The obvious question to ask is why spend time and money on something that’s doomed to fail? Well, the app market isn’t impenetrable – and most commenters actually lay the blame for disaster at the creators’ door.
Commercial apps need a reason to exist. Services that originally subsisted on the web, such as banks, browser games, and social media sites, become apps to extend the amount of time that they can interact with their users. Put another way, they provide an opportunity to reach their customers wherever they happen to be, no matter what time of day it is. Who hasn’t used their phone in bed at night?
Apps should increase consumer choice. Not everybody likes playing on a laptop or desktop computer, meaning that access via a smartphone may be desirable. Playstar, a provider of casino apps in NJ, has both iOS and Android apps available, both of which have the same array of games as the full-sized web experience. This lack of compromise between big and small can help apps avoid an untimely demise.
Source: Pexels
The unfortunate reality of app development is that, without sufficient marketing or the backing of an existing service, this kind of software can be difficult to monetize. The number mentioned earlier – 8.93m – might be middling but a single app is still just a drop in Google or Apple’s digital ocean. Compounding the matter is the fact that apps have significant development costs north of $100,000 per year.
In summary, the app stores can seem like a desert of good ideas, simply because only those developers with some of the characteristics listed above can cut through the noise. Even popular and well-supported apps aren’t immune to falling through the cracks. Social media is a particularly dangerous niche for creators. Photo-sharing app BeReal lost 14m of its 20m users between October 2022 and March 2023.
App development is always a risk. It’s up to each individual business to decide if it’s worth it.