Apple’s highly anticipated IDFA changes are just around the corner (though not as soon as we initially expected) and the shifts are sure to impact not just the mobile marketing industry, but iOS usage as a whole. In 2021, iOS14 will limit the use of the IDFA in favor of consumer privacy. It will also include revisions to imessage, Siri and Apple Maps. Here, we deep-dive into worldwide app engagement on iOS to show how iOS14 could impact app usage on a global scale.

iOS by Global Device Reach & Downloads

In 2019, iOS held a 13% share of the global device market. Smartphones running the Android operating system held an 87% share and this is expected to increase over the coming  years. 

In the first half of 2020, there were 71.5 billion first-time app installs, which is a greater than 26% increase from the same time last year. Apple’s App Store also accounted for 18.3 billion of these downloads, representing  22.8% year-over-year growth from 14.9 billion downloads in the App Store in the first half of 2019.

 

Source: Sensor Tower

iOS by In-App Revenue

On a global scale, Android may have an overwhelming share of device reach and app downloads, but in terms of IAP, iOS reigns supreme.

In the first half of 2020, the App Store generated an estimated $32.8 billion globally from in-app purchases. This represents a  24.7% increase year-over-year from the $26.3 billion spent during the same period in 2019. Furthermore, spending on Apple’s marketplace was nearly twice the estimated gross revenue on Google Play, which generated $17.3 billion.

Source: Sensor Tower

iOS by In-App Impressions

Another area where iOS out-performs Android is in share of in-app impressions. However, this varies drastically depending on region. In 2019, iOS in-app impressions overall exceeded 50% globally. This was a one third increase from 2018.

Source: Business of Apps

iOS by Retargeting

In terms of retargeting, it seems Android consistently outperforms iOS according to YouAppi data. Across impressions, clicks and conversions, Android drives more engagement. Our year to date data shows that iOS conversions made up close to 43% of total conversions (vs. Android’s 57%). Furthermore, iOS drove a little over 23% of clicks and about 40% of impressions. Lastly, iOS averaged a 1.37% CTR versus Android’s 2.77%. This represented a greater than  100% increase in click-through rate from iOS to Android. This data indicates that while iOS users might generate more in-app revenue, they are more difficult  to retarget.

Takeaways

In 2021, iOS14 will limit the use of the IDFA in favor of consumer privacy. In our deep-dive, we cover worldwide app engagement on iOS to show how iOS14 could impact app usage on a global scale.

  • Global Device Reach and Downloads: iOS represents 13% of the global device market and 25.6% of global downloads in the first half of 2020.
  • In-App Revenue: iOS drove 65.6% of global in-app revenue in the first half of 2020.
  • Impressions: in 2019, iOS drove over 50% of global in-app impressions.
  • Retargeting: According to YouAppi data, iOS drove less impressions, clicks and conversions than Android. This indicates that while iOS users are more valuable, they’ ae more difficult  to retarget.