Mobile apps have become an inseparable part of our daily lives. Be it booking tickets for theaters or travel purposes, ordering medicines and food, groceries, or booking spa treatment, everything can be done using mobile apps. For once, a person can live alone without communicating with the outside world, but cannot survive without a mobile app these days.
As the dependency on mobile apps keeps increasing, the mobile app development market is reaching new heights. According to Berkshire Hathaway, the global market size of mobile app development platforms will reach $44.3 trillion by 2027, with an expected CAGR of 25.4%.
The growing necessity of mobile apps has given rise to a massive increase in mobile app development services and hence the competition to create meaningful, effective, and genuinely helpful apps. In this post, we will look at some of the top app categories that will dominate this year. It is advisable for developers to invest in app development for the mentioned categories for profitable growth and outcomes.
Top app categories for 2022
According to Statista, gaming, utilities, entertainment, social networking, education are some of the app categories set to dominate 2022. Let’s look at all of these app categories briefly.
#1 Gaming
Gaming apps have been one of the most downloaded app categories for many years, and it is expected that this trend will continue for the years to come. This category had been recorded as the most popular Apple App store category in the fourth quarter of 2021 based on the number of available apps.
Mobile gaming accounts for more than half of the global video gaming market. And, it is anticipated that the global mobile gaming content market will reach 169.7 billion USD by 2025, up from 121.1 billion USD reported in 2020. These statistics show the rising popularity and market size of mobile gaming and more reasons for developers to focus on these app categories.
Asia is emerging as one of the key players and largest shareholders of the worldwide video gaming market. It is high time for Asian app developers to invest in gaming apps to reap the benefits of the flourishing gaming market.
#2 Entertainment
Entertainment apps in recent years have become one of the most common and highly used app categories that can be found in almost every smartphone. Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, Hotstar, and Amazon Video are some of the most popular entertainment apps with over billions of downloads.
The most striking feature of the entertainment app category that fascinates users is the availability of many contents from different regions, languages, and genres in one place. Entertainment apps have consistently emerged as the 4th most downloaded app category from 2017 and are anticipated to stay at the exact position in the coming years as well.
#3 Social networking apps
Social networking is another app category popular amongst every age group. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Whatsapp, and Snapchat are popular social networking apps with billions of downloads and users. This app category is also anticipated to dominate 2022 as one of the most important means of communication and way of engaging with the global population.
Social networking apps play a significant role in uniting people globally and spreading cultural and social awareness. As the world is still fighting the invisible enemy, the covid-19 pandemic, these apps are anticipated to play a big role in spreading awareness that can help eradicate this virus faster.
#4 Educational apps
Educational apps have seen a sharp increase in popularity and dependency in the last two years as educational institutions were forced to close in the wake of the ongoing pandemic. Educational apps stood in the list of the Apple app store’s top three most popular app categories.
With the implementation of breakthrough technologies like artificial intelligence augmented and virtual reality, these apps have become more fascinating and effective for students. Hence owing to the popularity and growing necessity of these apps, it’s anticipated that they’ll keep dominating the chart this year as well. Moreover, it is expected for them to stay in the top ten most downloaded app categories in 2022 and the coming years.
#5 Utilities
Calculator, note-keeping apps such as Google Keep, navigational apps such as Google Maps, ticket booking apps are all part of the utility category. These apps are generally pre-installed on many smartphones or downloadable from app stores.
Utility apps are used almost by every age group to fulfill basic duties and tasks. It is anticipated that the total revenue for the utility category will reach 5.177 billion USD by 2022, with an annual CAGR of 6.8%. Due to the projected market size and growth opportunities, investing in utility app development is the best bet developers can make.
#6 Fintech apps
With rapid digitalization everything is being done online and owing to the strong influence of this wave the banking sector has also shifted its course. Today, it has become easier to carry out online transactions from our comfort zone. You can pay your loans and bills online and perform other such transactions securely using fintech apps with just one click.
People are heavily adopting online banking throughout different parts of the world. Based on studies carried out in the US, it was found that approximately 65.3% of Americans will be using digital banking by 2022. Moreover, it’s anticipated that the global fintech revenue will reach 188 billion euros by 2024. Hence it’s high time to consider investing in fintech app development to reap the benefits of this profitable market. If you aren’t familiar with application development, then this guide on how to build a fintech app will cover all your questions about it.
To conclude
Today, mobile apps have emerged as a necessary ingredient of smartphones and a crucial part of the human lifestyle for all smartphone users. The mobile app development market is booming due to this necessity and dependency. Focusing a little on the market’s mood and figuring out the right app to develop can lead to successful outcomes for businesses.
In this post, we listed some of the key app categories that are occupying the charts of the most popular and highest downloaded apps. It would be conducive and noteworthy for the developers and investing firms to focus on these app categories when thinking of developing a successful app.
Author Bio- Hi There, I am Shaun Williams, a content writer with Goodfirms, a research platform for Cloud Computing, Ecommerce companies, Translation services companies, among many others. I enjoy communicating ideas and knowledge creatively and also ensure that the readers never suffer from boredom while reading my posts.
