Top 500 apps surpass 90 million average monthly active users

The average monthly active users (MAUs) of the top 500 apps globally surpassed 90 million in the second quarter of 2021, according to Sensor Tower’s new report. 

In Q2 2020, when mobile app usage spiked during lockdowns, the apps had 84.6 million monthly active users on average, which was up 18% from Q2 2019. 

Although most of the countries now lifted lockdowns and eased restrictions, the upward trend continued in Q2 2021 and the world’s top 500 apps now have an average of 91.7 million monthly active users, up 8.4% Y/Y. 

Business apps saw the highest annual growth for monthly active users

Business was one of the top winning app categories in 2020, as billions of people around the world started working from home during lockdowns. The growth continued in the first half of 2021, making the category the fastest growing one by monthly active users. 

Also Read: Business app installs are still up 50% in the US, 100% in Europe

Compared to the first quarter of 2018, business apps have had a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 42% in their average monthly active users, according to Sensor Tower.

Users spent nearly 30 minutes in Entertainment apps

The study also found that mobile users spent an average of nearly 29 minutes in the top 100 Entertainment apps on iOS every day in H1 2021. 

The category was followed by Social Networking apps in which users spent an average of approximately 24 minutes per day. 

Shooter games saw the most daily active users

While Hypercasual drew the most monthly and weekly active users on average, Shooter games saw the most daily active users among all gaming genres. The top 50 Shooter games had an average of 7.6 million DAUs in the second quarter of 2021.

The genre was boosted by popular battle royale games including PUBG Mobile, its Chinese version Game For Peace, and Garena Free Fire. 

Sensor Tower notes that PUBG Mobile could see a downward trend in its daily active users in China as the country recently ruled gaming companies to limit play time for minors.