Global Mobile Apps in June | Pan Entertainment Apps' Revenue is Back on Rise

With the aid of its App Intelligence and other modules, SocialPeta sorted out the top 20 global mobile apps, excluding games, by revenue, downloads, and advertising in June 2022. The analysis was intended to help mobile app industry professionals better understand the changing trends of the global mobile market.

The overall performance of global apps in June highlighted several notable developments:

• Popular films and TV series helped drive revenue, with HBO Max recording strong daily revenue performance.
• Acquaintance-focused social app BeReal reported surging downloads and became the No. 1 social app in the United States by the metric discussed in the original analysis.
• Increasing ad creative volume helped network optimization app Keynote increase downloads by 141% month-over-month and enter the Top 10.
• Non-game apps increased their advertising efforts, while apps associated with Fuzhou SkyUnion Digital became particularly visible on the Android advertising chart.

In terms of revenue, there was relatively little change among the leading apps on the App Store chart, while TikTok moved rapidly up the Google Play ranking. Overall, pan-entertainment apps recorded a significant increase in revenue as they refreshed their content offerings.

Long-form video streaming platform HBO Max was a notable example. The service released Westworld Season 4 on June 26 and recorded approximately $1.5 million in App Store revenue on the same day. HBO Max generated a 16.6% month-over-month increase in App Store revenue during June and moved up one place on the ranking.

The performance reflected the importance of content quality and release schedules to streaming platforms, whose monetization can be strongly influenced by popular films and series.

With the summer holiday period approaching, the original analysis expected another wave of film and TV releases. Japanese digital comics were also continuing their international expansion. LINE Corporation's comic app LINE Manga was new to the Google Play revenue ranking, while Kakao's comic app Piccoma ranked among the Top 5. Google Play revenue for the category discussed in the original article increased by more than 3% month-over-month in June.

Meanwhile, several social apps recorded revenue declines. JOYY's BIGO LIVE reported a 6.8% month-over-month decline in App Store revenue and a decline of more than 25% on Google Play.

Looking at global app downloads in June, BeReal, a social app focused on interactions between acquaintances and a less polished approach to social sharing, recorded substantial download growth.

BeReal's App Store downloads increased by approximately 40% month-over-month. The original analysis described it as the leading social app in the United States at the time and reported monthly active users of 11.6 million.

Hersh Jacob's network optimization app Keynote was new among the Top 10 apps by downloads in June, with downloads increasing by 141% month-over-month. The app had been released in January 2022 and primarily promoted network experience optimization and privacy-related functionality.

According to SocialPeta's Advertiser Analysis data cited in the original article, Keynote's surge in downloads was closely connected with changes in its advertising strategy. The app started advertising as early as April 27, 2022, and its number of deduplicated Android creatives increased by approximately 90% month-over-month in June.

Shopping apps showed a clear difference between the App Store and Google Play download charts. SHEIN was the only shopping app on the App Store Top 20 ranking and recorded a 6.7% month-over-month decline in downloads.

By comparison, four shopping apps appeared among Google Play's Top 20 most-downloaded apps. Amazon India recorded the largest increase among them, with downloads rising 55% month-over-month. At the time, the original article expected Amazon Prime Day to create another potential wave of download growth in July.

Non-game app advertisers led by APPS INNOVA helped drive mobile app advertising activity during June. Phone-cleaning app KeepClean had approximately 135,000 deduplicated creatives active on Android during the month, representing an increase of about 26.9% month-over-month.

Shopping festivals around the middle of the year also encouraged shopping apps to increase their advertising activity. Flamingo Shop and Falabella were new to the advertising ranking.

HAVAN climbed rapidly on the iOS chart, releasing nearly 18,000 deduplicated creatives on iOS during June. Lazada moved up eight places on the Android ranking, with its deduplicated Android creatives increasing by 82.9% month-over-month.

The original June 2022 analysis also connected the gradual normalization of COVID-19 policies in many markets with recovering demand for travel, food, and drink apps. Advertisers in those categories responded by increasing their promotional activity.

Pizza Fan Greece recorded more than 8,000 deduplicated creatives across iOS and Android in June. Travel app SWOODOO had approximately 5,300 deduplicated creatives on iOS, an increase of about 82.8% month-over-month.

Together, the June 2022 rankings provide a snapshot of non-gaming mobile app revenue and downloads across the App Store and Google Play, alongside the advertising activity that shaped competition during the period.