Android apps 2014 – A year in review
2014 was an exciting year. We saw the release of Lollipop and with it, a whole new design standard we now call Material Design. It saw the release of Android Wear and the second themer revolution with the Android Wear watch faces. Games are slowly becoming higher quality with better graphics, controls, and premises than any prior year. It was the most successful year in Android apps and games of all time. Let’s take a look at just how it good it was on paper.
1. Worldwide iOS vs Google Play Downloads
The stats:
- Google Play patrons downloaded almost 60% more apps in 2014 than iOS owners.
- Both platforms saw growth but Android saw much more growth than iOS.
The takeaway:
People are downloading a metric ton of apps on both platforms but people are downloading a metric ton more on Android than iOS.
2. Worldwide iOS vs Google Play Revenue
The stats:
- Both Google Play and iOS saw a dramatic increase in revenue in 2014.
- Unfortunately, iOS outpaced Android in overall revenue by 70% in 2014 and the revenue gap remains as wide as ever.
- The United States, South Korea, and Japan generated more revenue for both platforms than the rest of the world combined.
- Brazil, Russia, India, and China are the big up and coming countries, with Brazil leading the pack in download growth and China leading the pack in revenue growth.
- App Annie predicts strong growth in Indonesia, Mexico, Turkey, and Vietnam as their telecommunication infrastructure matures.
The takeaway:
As per the norm, the average iOS owners simply dole out more cash than the average Android user. It’s particularly interesting considering Android users outnumber iOS users by a wide margin. The reasoning for this is complicated. Some attribute it to piracy. Others attribute it to iOS getting the app while it’s hot in the headlines while Android gets it as an afterthought later. Others still believe it’s because many Android users (primarily in China) don’t have access to Google Play, paid apps, or both. The thing is that everyone is at least a little bit right.
3. Market Group Performance Based on iOS and Google Play Data
The stats:
- The USA, South Korea, and Japan group saw a 1.1x download growth and a 1.7x revenue growth.
- The emerging markets group (Brazil, China, India, and Russia) saw 1.4x download growth and 2.3x revenue growth.
- The Western Europe group (France, Germany, Italy, and United Kingdom) saw a 1.1x download growth and 1.5x revenue growth.
- The Markets to Watch group (Indonesia, Mexico, Turkey, and Vietnam) saw a 1.7x download growth and 1.6x revenue growth.
- Messaging apps continue to be an extremely relevant market in emerging markets and the markets to watch groups.
The takeaway:
The most important thing here is that every group saw at least some growth in both revenue and downloads. The largest revenue growth went to the emerging markets group while the largest download growth went to the markets to watch group. OEMs such as Motorola (Moto G), Meizu, Xiaomi, and others have been releasing cheap phones targeted at emerging markets to both bolster and take advantage of stats like these. There is no doubt that their devices also played a roll in the revenue and download growth as better phones were made more affordable in more places. Despite that, the USA, South Korea, and Japan remain the global leaders in both overall download and revenue numbers.
4. Worldwide iOS and Google Play Downloads of Top 10 Messaging Apps
The stats:
- Google Play and iOS combined for a 53% growth in messaging apps downloaded in 2014.
- Google Play outpaced iOS in growth but not by a very wide margin.
- The top 10 travel and transportation apps had 30% more downloads in 2014 than 2013.
- Uber and Lyft, despite the controversies, both had large growth in 2014.
The takeaway:
Messaging, travel, and transportation are huge industries worldwide. Servies like Lyft and Uber are revolutionizing the transportation industry while apps like Airbnb, Homeaway, and Couchsurfing tackle travel. We all knew messaging was growing fast as apps like Whatsapp bragged about 700 million users and Line hit the 400 million mark recently. Unsurprisingly, all of these apps and more saw growth showing that people are embracing the new ways of doing things.
5. Mobile Video Streaming Apps Moved Up in Popularity
The stats:
- Netflix gained popularity in Europe after localizing the app for the region.
- More services like MLB.com, NFL Game Pass, NHL Gamecenter, BoxNation, and others have begun delivering content without third party restrictions.
- App Annie predicts that more services will unbundle themselves from third parties to stream independent content.
- Google Play outpaces iOS in growth in this area, but not by very much.
The takeaway:
This is something that practically anyone could have predicted. More countries are getting faster Internet and that makes streaming video not only more attractive but more accessible. Existing companies like Hulu, Amazon Prime, and Netflix have done great work expanding their library and sports apps have found better success than years past as their own streaming apps improve. Much like Uber and Lyft in the transportation industry, we’re seeing a paradigm shift in how people engage with video content and we expect that to continue into 2015.
6. Top 10 IP Crossover Games by Worldwide iOS and Google Play Downloads, 2014
The stats:
- Games made from movies saw much more success in Google Play than in prior years.
- TV shows almost made notable impacts with The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Looney Tunes (not listed) make big splashes.
- All games in the top 10 were endless runners, puzzles, city builders, or shooters with Fast and the Furious 6 being the only racing game.
- The success of the games have also generated new interested for the original IPs, according to App Annie.
The takeaway:
Larger companies are finally taking the mobile platform more seriously. While the names of the apps are certainly promising, the bigger picture here is the publisher name. Gameloft, Disney, Electronic Arts, Rovio, Glu, and DeNA are heavy hitters in the mobile industry and a couple of those are heavy hitters in the gaming industry as a whole. Large studios making name brand games for mobile is something that mobile gamers have been yearning for. It’s true they could explore some other genres but it’s a start.
7. Relative Composition of Downlaods by Women Across iOS App Store categories in the US
The stats:
- Based on the numbers, men tend to download more video games than women.
- Based on those same numbers, women tend to download more social networking apps and photo and video apps.
The takeaway:
These statistics are a total surprise, said nobody, ever. It is worth noting that it’s not all photo, video, and social networking apps that are beloved by women. App Annie does state that visual discovery apps like Pinterest skew these statistics some and they also note that such apps are great for companies looking to build a mobile presence.
8. Top 10 Games by Worldwide iOS and Google Play Downloads, 2014 by Month
The stats:
- Super casual games took top ten spots in each month except September and October. Super casual games are games like Flappy Bird.
- Not once did super casual games exceed more than four spots in the top ten games. Only two months saw more than one super casual game adorn the top 10.
- No super casual game was able to match the viral success of Flappy Bird.
The takeaway:
There are two perspectives to look at this. From one perspective, it’s safe to say that super casual games like Flappy Bird won’t be taking over. Despite the monumental success and nearly overwhelming wave of emulations and copycats, super casual games didn’t make the huge cultural impact that many thought. From the other perspective, super casual games aren’t going anywhere. They are routinely in the top ten games on both Android and iOS so it’s safe to assume that the genre will continue to exist and be popular for years to come and it’s just a matter of waiting for the next viral hit.
9. Top 3 Music Apps by iOS and Google Play Downloads for Select Markets
The stats:
- Local music apps did far better than worldwide music apps in most regions.
- Apps like QQ Music did well in China thanks to its library of both Western and Eastern hits. Meanwhile, Palco MP3 focused entirely on Brazilian content and used that to gain the number one spot in Brazil’s music app charts.
- Worldwide presences like Spotify and Shazam still did well in some markets such as Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
- App Annie predicts that localized music streaming services will continue to dominate many markets in 2015.
The takeaway
There are other factors at play here aside from just a love for local music. Many streaming apps don’t have licenses to operate in certain countries and, thus, don’t have a presence there at all. Those apps also don’t always have the licenses to distribute local music which makes the localized music apps the only way to get some artists. Licensing does play a huge roll in this list. The music streaming industry is a huge competition right now and it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that it’ll continue to be that way in 2015.
10. Top 10 Countries for Google Play
The stats:
- Brazil, Mexico, Turkey, and Indonesia all rose multiple places on the top downloads chart.
- We would like to welcome Turkey and Indonesia to the top 10 downloads chart as they make their first appearances there in 2014.
- Brazil is now only behind the United States in terms of downloads.
- The United States and South Korea, United Kingdom and Taiwan, and Australia and Hong Kong all switched places last year on the revenue leaderboard.
- We would also like to welcome Russia to the top 10 chart in Google Play revenue as it is their first year there.
- India, Mexico, Turkey, Indonesia, and Thailand were all in the top downloaded lists but failed to make the top revenue list.
The takeaway:
The biggest takeaway here is that monetization continues to be a huge problem in India. The inclusion of Turkey and Indonesia to the top 10 downloads chart is proof that emerging markets are having an effect on the Google Play Store in terms of downloads but emerging markets have contributed very little to Google Play revenue. This shows that Google needs to work more on monetization in those emerging markets. The revenue chart is more or less the same as it was in 2013 and that’s not good news.
11. Top 10 Categories for Google Play
The stats:
- Games and communication continue to dominate both lists.
- Photography saw a modest bump in the standings from 2013, but otherwise the categories are exactly the same from 2013.
- The revenue side saw more action. Entertainment, Education, and Music & Audio saw bumps in the standings.
- Sports was on the top revenue list for the first time.
- Photography, Media and Video, and Personalization were the only three app categories on the top downloaded list to not make the top revenue list.
- Sports, Media and Audio, and Education were the only three app categories on the top revenue list not to make the top downloaded list.
The takeaway:
There are no surprises here folks. Games and Communication (messaging apps) continue to rock the standings. Sports and Education saw good boosts in ranking but otherwise these lists are more or less the same as they were in 2013. Aside from some placement shuffling, this should also pretty much be the list in 2015 as well.
Google paying hackers to help secure your Android experience
It is no secret that Google has been offering huge bounties to researchers and hackers for finding bugs in the Chrome browser and other Google software. Indeed, Google has recently announced that over $4 million has been awarded in the last five years, and they are now opening things up to include the Google Play Store and more, in an effort to bring better security to the ecosystem surrounding Android.
This sort of bug hunting usually makes the news around Black Hat conventions and other ‘hacker’ get-togethers, where teams of security minded users compete for awards as much as $1 million a piece to prove significant security vulnerabilities in software. We most often hear of these competitions focusing on the web browser, with Google Chrome usually coming out unscathed.
Due to the success of these sorts of events, it is getting harder and harder for researchers to hit pay dirt for hacking, so Google is taking a new approach.
Google will contact researchers that have discovered bugs in the past, instead of enticing them with awards, they will just be giving them cash. Each research case will be valued at up to $3133.70, paid in advance, with no need for a proven bug. Google’s security team just wants a second opinion on aspects of the Google Play Store and more.
Best of all, all Google built apps for Android and iOS are now included in the scope of the Vulnerability Reward Program.
In the end, all of us Android users should be very happy with this move. As a small, yet significant, example, the Google Play Store has its own built-in antivirus tools, checking apps in the store and blocking them if needed. Outside researchers will now help make sure that the antivirus tools themselves are free of flaws.
Google’s head of product security group, Matt Moore, will be announcing more information on this new program soon. We’re sure you’ll hear all about any flaws that may be revealed with this initiative. Hopefully, this will keep Google off of the 2015 version of our list of biggest hacks for a year.
Do you think using ‘hackers’ is the right way to go here, or should security remain an in-house thing?
HTC to miss Android Lollipop 90-day deadline update for flagship devices
When Google announced Android 5.0 Lollipop everyone instantly began to wonder when their device would receive the next version of Android and more importantly how long the carrier or manufacturer would delay it while they applied their layer on the software. HTC were quick off the mark to promise that the update would be delivered to HTC devices within 90-days of Lollipop being released to the public.
However, Mo Versi of HTC has issued a statement via the HTC web site to let owners of carrier versions of the One M7 and One M8 know the update is not going to happen and indicates that HTC decided to opt for ensuring the “rollout is right” even if it means missing the target date.
For those with unlocked devices, you’ll still be getting Android Lollipop pretty soon, if you haven’t already gotten it, but unfortunately with HTC not having given a timeframe for carrier-locked devices to receive Lollipop, the future looks a bit bleak at the moment.
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Google’s Project Tango is shifting away from ATAP to a new home in the company
Some of the most technologically advanced and futuristic projects that have come from Google usually get their start with the Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) team. Google ATAP is known for housing ventures like Project Ara, the company’s modular smartphone, and Project Tango, an Android-powered device that can map its movement through space using 3D technology. Earlier today, Google ATAP announced that Project Tango will be moving to a new home within the company.
The ATAP team explains:
So, after two fast-paced years in ATAP, and many technical successes, the Tango team is transitioning from ATAP to a new home within Google. We’re excited about the continued commitment to developing the technology for our users — we wish our fellow pirates fair winds and following seas.
The announcement was quite short, and there is currently no information telling us where exactly Tango is headed. However, we do know that Tango will be staying within the company, and that Google is still actively working on the project. This follows on the heels of the recent announcement that Google Glass has graduated from Google X, and is now under supervision of Nest’s Tony Fadell.
If you’re looking for more information on ATAP and Project Tango, head here to watch ATAP’s keynote at Google I/O 2014.
Nest is losing its tech VP and the CEO of Dropcam
Google’s plan for a connected home including Nest and Dropcam lost a few family members today. Nest’s Vice President of Technology Yoky Matsuoka and Dropcam cofounder Greg Duffy have left for other ventures, according to The Verge‘s sources. Matsuoka’s joining Twitter while Duffy’s next move isn’t known at this point. Nest and Twitter, for their part, offered us an official “no comment” when we asked for confirmation of the departures. Matsuoka’s Twitter profile looks relatively new, with her sole two follows being Alex Roettler and Dock Costolo — Twitter’s VP of engineering and its CEO, respectively.
These departures will likely affect Mountain View’s long-in-development household automation platform Android @ Home as well, but how isn’t exactly clear just yet. From the looks of it, this adds to the story of a reorganization within that area — like Nest cofounder Tony Faddel recently moving to lead the Google Glass team, for instance. The seemingly disparate services will likely continue to come together, just without Dropcam’s leader.
Filed under: Household, Google
Source: The Verge
Google releases Project Tango from ATAP
Google recently moved their Google Glass project from the Google[x] lab to a new home with the Nest team. Now they are graduating another project from its development home. Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects group, or ATAP, has announced that they are “transitioning” Project Tango out of their group, although it is unclear where Project Tango is going to end up within the Google organization.
Project Tango launched a couple years and ATAP indicated that was long enough for a project to exist within ATAP. Project Tango is an attempt to bring technology that can build a virtual 3D map based on sensors detecting a device’s position in space. As an example, the team used their technology to build some self-propelled SPHERES for NASA to use in space.
Google indicates they are “committed to moving the technology forward” but no other details were available about how that is going to pan out.
source: +Google ATAP
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Google makes Earth Pro available to virtual travelers for free
While we’re sure Google Earth works just fine for your daily virtual ’round-the-world travels, the Pro version comes with some really useful features — even better, it’s now completely free. Google Earth Pro, which used to cost an eye-watering $399 per year, gives you the tools to measure 3D buildings and other locations, print high-resolution screenshots, view demographic and traffic layers, and even record your virtual trips. To use it for free, you’ll first need to sign up for a license and make sure your PC or Mac meets the minimum system requirements needed to run the program.
Windows computers should be running XP or higher, and have at least 500MB of free storage and 512MB of RAM. Macs, on the other hand, have to run OS 10.6 or higher, along with the same storage and memory requirements. After that, you can download Google Earth Pro to plan for that hike you’ve always wanted to do or, you know, to take your armchair adventures to the next level — we ain’t judging.
Source: Google Maps Blog
Google Earth Pro features are now free for everyone
The annual subscription fee of $399 for Google Earth Pro is gone. This morning, Google announced the the subscription to access Google Earth Pro features would be folded and activated for all users. The uses for Google Earth Pro vary from planning an office building to taking a trip into the mountains. So, yes, Google Earth Pro is pretty capable. It can also record high definition video around the globe and take precise radius and area measurements.
The following must be done to use Google Earth Pro for free:
- Complete this form.
- Wait for Google to email the free license key to you.
- Download Google Earth Pro.
- Enter the license key.
Source: Google Lat Long
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Google Now open to third parties
The time has come: Google Now has been opened up to third party app developers. Beginning today, January 30th, the Mountain View search giant will be allowing Google Now integration from 30+ companies. If have any of these non-google apps installed on your device, you will start seeing cards based on your activity. Google plans on delivering this experience to end users today with an update to the stock Google app. Since the Mothership is prone to staged rollouts, look for an update to the Google app on your devices in the coming weeks. In order to get all this to function correctly, new app permissions will need be accepted per app integrated with Google Now.
The most interesting part of this integration, it seems, is the prompt to spend money through Google now. For example, companies like TripAdvisor can now alert you, via a Google Now card, if prices have dropped for searches you have made on their site. EBay can now remind you if a product you have searched for in the past is now up for bid. Google Now is no longer predictive search. Google Now can also be used to predict commerce. Like many of Google’s offerings, the main thing it costs their customer base is privacy. This could be the barrier of entry for companies to begin integrating with Google Now. What do you think? Will you be allowing your third party apps to integrate with Google Now?
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Google Now to start showing updates and notifications from 40 apps
Google Now is quite limited as far as notifications are concerned. While it can manage sports scores, weather, stocks, flight timings etc, it had no third party app support. That changes today with Google officially bringing support for 40 new applications such as Pandora, Trip Advisor, Zillow, eBay, Shazam, Ford, Instacart, Airbnb and a whole lot more.
These apps will be supported with a new update to the Google app, which should be rolling out any minute now. Bear in mind that you will only be notified for apps that you choose, which will save you the trouble of clearing out unnecessary cards on Google Now.
It does take us a little by surprise that Google waited this long to introduce this feature, but it’s here nonetheless. You can find the complete list of apps now supported by Google Now in this page here.
Do you like the new changes made by Google? Make sure you let us know.
Source: Google Search
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