Apple App Store hits 2 billion downloads, 85,000 apps

Apple announced Monday that over 2 billion apps have been downloaded from its App Store since the e-commerce shop's launch in July 2008. The company also said that there are now more than 85,000 apps available.

More numbers: There are currently 50 million iPhone and iPod Touch customers, as well as over 125,000 developers in Apple's iPhone Developer Program. All that has combined to make the company's App Store the world's largest applications store, Apple claims.

"The rate of App Store downloads continues to accelerate with users downloading a staggering two billion apps in just over a year, including more than half a billion apps this quarter alone," Apple CEO Steve Jobs said in a statement. "The App Store has reinvented what you can do with a mobile handheld device, and our users are clearly loving it."

At a rock-n-roll-themed event earlier this month, Apple reported that the store had over 75,000 applications and accommodated 1.8 billion downloads. In other words, in about three weeks' time, it has added over 10,000 apps and users have downloaded an additional 200 million applications.

Among those thousands of new apps recently added, one stands out for apparently pushing the borders of what Apple allows in its store: the first app featuring images and videos of bikini-clad adult film stars.

[sting7k]

Apple has got to rein in the App Store. At least 80,000 of those "apps" are literal pieces of trash wasting space and making it hard to find the good ones. There are 30 of the same readers, weather reporters for just one city, and sports news for every team that ever played a game. The place is a mess.

[Seaspray0]

And how do you pair it down? It has to be a fair system. First come/first serve isn't fair because you'll end up with a bunch of hastily written junk to be first. And since the store is the only way to get your app out, apple may not be able to say no. Rather than remove them, how about they provide you with a filter where you can filter from view any app that hasn't been downloaded xxx times (you get to pick xxx)?

[cary1]

@Seaspray0

Apple can solve the problem by unlocking the app store, by allowing people to go to say EA website and download an app directly from there. This is how it happens on all desktop OSes. I don't think you will find iFart and Flashlight apps there.

[ibeetle]

It certainly has not hurt the Nintendo DS (Lite and i) having 300 games with Petz in the title, and at least 100 shovel ware titles a month.

I used to scratch my head in amazement too. Unfortunately most really do seem to want 15 weather reporting apps, or 200 ways to read a 100 year old public domain novel.

[dennisheadley]

Not possible to pare it down anymore than they do now. If they were to cut out that number 30 reader or weather reporter, they would have a weeks worth of articles and ten thousand posts about how they complete jerks for disallowing some bodies worthless app while they allowed some other persons worthless app. The is absolutely no way Apple could ever win no matter what they do. Make it totally open and a lot of people will complain that too much trash is getting in, make it more closed and the same people will complain about not enough trash getting in.

[solitare_pax]

On the other hand, one man's crap is another man's treasure.

[WinNoMo]

The same could be said of the Windows platform. There are always those that go on and on about how many more apps there are available on the Windows platform. Take out the 10,000 different solitaire games and applications that are so poorly written they make an iFart app look sophisticated and suddenly the difference isn't that great.

[myles taylor]

80,000 are worthless pieces of trash? Please. Even if 3/4 of them are useless or stupid, as people claim, that would still leave over 20,000 apps that are great. I have a lot of great apps that I use every day on my phone and i love that no matter what I need an app for, there are usually multiple choices that I can choose from.

[eeee]

Agreed; people are publishing (with Apple's big OK) the most they can; OK it gives them a sense of creating and being published
-- metaphor: dollar stores are full of 1 or 2 aisles of junky ceramic and glass fugurines and dust catcher "things" that most people would never consider buying to give as a gift.
-- So many of the apps on the store are dollar store trinkets and not worth the time to download and check out. Pure junk. Quantity DOES NOT equal quality.
Get out and ride a bike with friends and family for real beneficial activity.
http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/healthy-eating/superfoods/chocolate-milk-after-workout/

[thelemurking]

Yet Apple won't allow some Google apps because they duplicate features.

I think people are being a tad bit too kind here. 85,000 apps? I would say 95% of them are easily crap. That's why 95% of the apps are free... cause no one would buy that crap to begin with, and the only way these people seem to make any money is by updating their crapware with adware. You flood the market with 85,000 apps, you are bound to get a few things that are actually worth downloading a few that are actually worth paying for. But all in all... the majority of the app store is crap. Proclaiming that you have 85,000 pieces of crap doesn't really mean that much. Let us know how many quality apps is in the app store. Having more poop than the other guy doesn't make your store better... just means you got more poop and poop is still poop no matter what you call it.

[docster87]

No one is forcing people to download apps. So if you feel one or two or 25,000 are crap - then just skip those and download only what you want or need.
There's a ton of apps for Windows OS, yet that always seems to be a positive; so why when the shoe is on the other foot is it a negative? I don't mind fans of MS hating Apple as much as I mind their twisted use of logic.
Example - why buy Apple OS since there are not many games for that system, buy Windows since there are games a plenty. Oh, iTouch sucks, buy Zunes - even though there are barely any games for Zunes and a ton of games for iTouch... A lot (not all) of MS ravers would fail a college course in Logic 101.

[joetesta70]

2 Billion downloads, 0 billion for charity.

$teve Job$ hoards it all. Greeds, mom jeans-wearing, scrooge.

[The_happy_switcher]

Want some cheese with your whine?

[nickh2]

You are still going on about this?

Again. Just because he doesn't make it public, does not mean that it doesn't happen.

How much have you donated to charity?
If you donated anything at all, I'll bet you didn't forget to write it off as a tax break.

[myles taylor]

May I ask how you know that Apple doesn't give money to charity? Millions of dollars in anonymous donations take place all over all the time. Please cite your sources on the "0 billion for charity".

So what percentage of your income do you give to charity? Just wondering since you're pointing fingers at everyone else.

[shellcodes_coder]

They don't have cash cows like Microsoft have. They make very few $ from all this and with the release of Windows 7, they know they will be doomed so why would they donate money? After all their time to die might COME AGAIN and let's hope Microsoft won't SAVE THEM AGAIN

[shellcodes_coder]

@nickh2: Well he is trying to compare the amount of money they have donated with that of Microsoft. Microsoft have donated billions of $ around the world which crapple can't afford to do so. I am sure they have donated more money than crapple will ever MAKE

[Random_Walk]

"Microsoft have donated billions of $ around the world"

Bill Gates the person has donated some of his money (though certainly not "billions"), but we're not seeing how much Microsoft the corporation has donated. Perhaps you can point to something?

[nickh2]

"Well he is trying to compare the amount of money they have donated with that of Microsoft. "

No he isn't. There's no information publicly available as to what Apple or Steve Jobs donate to charity. He is trolling, pure and simple. Not even a good troll because his whole argument is baseless.

"which crapple can't afford to do ..."

And you lose anyway with your immature "crapple" statement. You want people to respect what you say?
Show some respect to begin with.

[Vegaman_Dan]

I don't see what Steve Jobs' personal choices on supporting charities has anything to do with the article.

Try to keep on subject?

[shellcodes_coder]

@Random_Walk: Dude, he has. Last time he visited India, he donated 1 billion $ to help people suffering from HIV. He also donated money to distribute computers to the neighboring countries in villages

[CrashPad63]

Random, to date the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has distributed billions of dollars of their own wealth.
And this is really way off topic. It is a known issue how giving the Gate's are and on the other side how selfish Steve Jobs is.

[uptheironsrafi]

Wow, those are some amazing statistics. Even if we consider that 3/4 of the apps are useless, thats still more than 20000 useful apps. Quite a respectable number.

But the greater achievement for Apple is that they made apps popular. Prior to the App store, not many Joes were all too bothered about apps. But now everybody seems to love them.

[thelemurking]

There is no where near 20,000 useful apps in the app store. If there were, we'd all be asking for 1tb iPhones to handle all the incredibly cool and useful apps. But nope, we are very happy with 3 or 4 pages of apps that doesn't even come near to filling up our 8gb-32gb iPhones

[myles taylor]

@telemurking Are you kidding me? That's such a narrow view. Photoshop is only useful to people who...well use it. There is an app I recently got for my iPhone call Epocrates. It let's you input different medication and see how they interact with each other. Would you call that a useless app? Well to the millions of people who would have no use for it maybe, but to the thousands of medical personal and people who take a lot of medication, it's very useful. One person's useful app is worthless to someone else, but it doesn't make the app worthless. Then there are purely crazy apps like iFart which have no use but entertainment value.

[Mark_Anderson]

OK, name me 100 useful apps.

[The_happy_switcher]

@Anderson: this is a list of the 100 most educational: http://www.accreditedonlinecolleges.org/blog/2009/100-most-educational-iphone-apps/

[Yelonde]

wow, it didn't take less than 2 hours to get owned...

[Mark_Anderson]

Awesome. About a dozen variants on brain training games, dictionaries ans study widgets.

Was there anything else?

[nickh2]

It may well be that 90% of the iPhone apps are useless.
Yet having 385 (382 of which are poorly coded) word processor apps for Windows is a "choice" and makes Windows better?

[Seaspray0]

@nickh2. "It may well be that 90% of the iPhone apps are useless.
Yet having 385 (382 of which are poorly coded) word processor apps for Windows is a "choice" and makes Windows better? "

Answer: Yes, just as all those apps you may consider useless for the iphone could be useful to someone else (so eloquently pointed out by myles taylor). The phone os may be different, but we are all in the same boat here when it comes to sifting through apps to find the ones that are useful to us as individuals.

[ahawkinson]

As I said in a related post (http://bit.ly/B6f8G), I think this is happening because Apple has set the standard in terms of making the iPhone essentially a full computer with the easiest and most reliable application discovery and install process on Earth. These numbers will continue to accelerate.

[ibeetle]

Everybody is wondering when Apple is coming out with some sort of touch screen netbook thingy.
It is already here. It may have Phone in its name, and it may be classified as a smartphone but it really is (for better or for worse) a handheld touchscreen computer.

[The_happy_switcher]

Domination. Meanwhile, back at RIMM and MSFT headquarters..--cue sound of crickets.

[CDubber]

To the contrary, I distinctly hear the roar of a thousand copy machines furiously working around the clock in Redmond...

[bigbrotherdave]

Well I for one see far more BB users than iPhone users. Where are all these iPhone users? I rarely ever see anyone with one. Are they all in Washington or work at night?

[Mangolite]

bigbrotherdave, I think you're trying too hard not to see, but where ever I go whether in Miami or Minnesota, the iPhone is in the hands of just about everyone, both commercials and residential.

[BtmnHatesRbn]

@bigbrother where the heck do you live? iphones are everywhere

[The_happy_switcher]

Every BB user I see tells me they want to get an iPhone instead when Apple expands the provider list beyond AT&T.

[Vegaman_Dan]

@The_Happy_Switcher:

For *consumer* use, the iPhone is tops in sales. For professional or *business* use, then the BlackBerry or other Windows derivative is the leader. Different markets, different products.

Your comparison is flawed.

[The_happy_switcher]

"For professional or *business* use, then the BlackBerry or other Windows derivative is the leader" Those days are numbered and the hand writing is on the wall. This is why RIMM shares continue to tank.

[Vegaman_Dan]

@The_Happy_Switcher:

I don't think those days are numbered at all. Apple has made it clear they are not interested in enterprise level services or support. The iPhone connects to Exchange servers with one account only (The only smart phone out there with this limitation), and have no security ability in the device to prevent others from accessin the data or hacking into it. There is no protection in the OS and all apps are run as root. This sort of security liability makes a nightmare of an admin's job and you'll find that these phones simply are not used for business.

BlackBerry and other Winmobile phones are set up for business practice and do what professionals need them for. The iPhone is a consumer device only. This isn't going to change unless Apple changes their entire business model and I just don't see that happening.

[Gold_Storm_Mac]

the iphone is growing as a business leader, due to its ease of use in integrating into IT environments and developing custom business apps.

[zato_3]

"the first app featuring images and videos of bikini-clad adult film stars."

I was wondering where the anti-Apple propaganda was, and then in the last sentence, CNet/Microsoft gets paid.

[Ray180]

How is that a bad thing?

[myles taylor]

It's hilarious to me to see people accuse CNet or other news agencies of being paid by Microsoft/Apple/Google/AT&T, etc. Apparently people can't have an opinion without being paid. Also it's great to see people from both sided accusing them of being biased.

[AppleManifesto]

Innovative and progressive companies like Apple will always get criticized no matter what. The iPhone is clearly revolutionary and the golden standard in the industry. Now all of a sudden you have all these phones that try to imitate and copy the phone in terms of hardware, appearance, and in their versions of an App Store, people who complain in these posts are just haters. Apple has really done something amazing with the iPhone and its App Store, the numbers show that clearly, everything else is just opinion.

[BtmnHatesRbn]

people who complain in these posts have nothing better to do, but consider the whole 25 of them and how many other people that are out there that don't even visit CNET's site to read tech news.

[thelemurking]

Apple isn't the one making these crappy apps... they are just allowing them to be submitted to the app store. Apple's app approval process is incredibly flawed. They deny things like Google Latitude and GV Mobile, but allow stuff like iFart? *** dude?

[Seaspray0]

@thelemurking. There's absolutely nothing wrong with ifart. It happens to be one of the most downloaded apps, so get over it.

[bigbrotherdave]

I think it's a lie. Has anyone done the math? According to my reseach their app store has been open for 15 months. That then comes out to over 4 million downloads a day since it opened. Seems pretty unlikely to me. Also I'd like to know where all these iPhone users are because I rarely see anyone with one. I'm in the navy reserve and one person out of our 40 man unit has one, but there are several blackberry users. Amoungst friends and family I know 2 people that own one, both being in the same family. Maybe iphone users are all college students or night time IT workers, lol.

[myles taylor]

I just did the math. Did you?

Let's start with your question about where they all are? Don't forget the iPod Touches either. There are 50,000,000 devices out there that can download apps from the app store. Out of a worldwide population of around 7 billion that means only 1 in 140 people have an iPhone or iPod Touch. It's congested in some areas and no in others. At my workplace about 2/3s of the people have iPhones and I see them constantly in Philadelphia. You might just be in an area where there aren't very many.

According to my math, in order to have 4 million apps downloaded every day, each iPhone/iPod Touch user would have to download 0.008 apps per day. That means that only 1 out of 125 users has to download an app every day to hit the 4 million number. Another way to look at it would be that everyone would have to download an app every 125 days. Rather than being inflated, I'm surprised that numbers aren't higher.

Before you call someone a liar, actually finish the math.

[Ray180]

I don't know if the first guy is right, but your math is flawed too, myles. Your calculations would assume there were 50,000,000 devices that could download apps in users hands as of the first day the app store was launched. According to Don's article, 50,000,000 is the number of devices in use TODAY, not 14 months ago or whenever the app store opened.

Granted, the numbers are still impressive no matter how you slice them, but I have to wonder how much embellishment is going here. Does the total download number include people downloading the same app multiple times for some reason, such as upgrading to a new generation? How many of those apps are actually considered a success in terms of sales? I'm sure Apple will never tell.

[myles taylor]

@Ray180

Yea I thought of that, but that would mean that the numbers are dramatically higher now since they were probably lower when the device first came out both in terms of how many people had them and how many apps were downloaded per day. It took them almost 9 months to hit 1 billion and then they hit 2 billion in around 6 after that. My numbers were an average of the entire life of the app store to show how flawed the OP logic was.

As for the number of downloads, I had an iPod Touch for a year before I got my iPhone and when I got it, I didn't re-download any apps. They were already on my computer so I just moved them on. I don't know why anyone would download the same app multiple times and I'm sure it doesn't happen enough to make a difference. If you consider how many apps are downloaded per day and how many iPhones/iPod Touches are out there, they don't need to fudge the numbers at all to get that number of downloads.

[Mark_Anderson]

Is that 50,000,000 current users or does it - as with Apple's usual massaged figures - include all units sold such as the old models lining people's drawers?

Hmm?

[DrtyDogg]

Considering the fact that at there most recent earnings call they reported 30 Million iPhones sold, to date, I would guess that that is how many devices they have sold over the life of the two products, not really the amount "in use." As that number would be pretty impossible to come up with.

[frozenjello]

@Mark_Anderson
You ask does the 50M number include "old models lining people's drawers?". Your mindset is stuck in the crappy Motorola RAZR days! iPhones have so much other functionality! They are video iPods. Almost all the apps you bought would still work. The simple fact that every iPhone ever made has Wi-fi, a good web browser, and an email client makes it extremely valuable for giving to a family member to use. Many BlackBerries don't have Wi-fi, so I can see why they get abandoned at the bottom of drawers. I wouldn't want to browse the internet or watch videos on those half-sized screens anyways.

[Mark_Anderson]

@frozen

I'm sure people dig out those old first generation iPhones and 3G models to give their iPhone 3GS a rest now again. Especially the ones where the battery is dead.

No, really.

What colour is the sky on your planet? This is just Apple massaging the stats - you know, like the 125,000 developers of whom a fraction are active, the rest having signed up to get the 3.0 OS?

Try life outside the RDF for a change.

[frozenjello]

@Mark
Here's the reality: iPhones no longer on contract often get handed off to family members for use as an iPod Touch. If you don't realize that, then you are in your own fantasy land.

[Synthmeister]

Many people simple sold their first gen iPhone when the iPhone GS came out. It is still a very desirable item for jailbreakers and places like China, which already has an estimated 1 million iPhones in use. My bother-in-law sold his 1st gen iPhone and covered the cost of a brand new iPhone GS and it only took a couple of days on ebay.

[guappo24]

Who...really...cares?

Don Reisinger - I can see it; "crap, I have nothing today...I need to write something...Hmmmm..there is interesting stuff regarding android..a plethora of technical items that are news worthy, but lets feed the lowest common denominator and spoon feed the mass with more Apple apps crap.

The gaming side of the App market is the same as the pre-bubble mentality.

This is news worthy?

Don, yer fired...

[Ray180]

I'm sure Don appreciates your comments and page clicks, regardless if you like him or not.

[myles taylor]

I just wish we could get all the readers together who are tired of reading Don R's useless articles and petition CNet to stop publishing his stories.

[myles taylor]

It's pretty amazing how the App store has grown. It's revolutionary simply because it's popular and other companies are following with app stores of their own. Like it or hate it, the iPhone and the App store has changed the mobile industry.

[Ray180]

The App store is not revolutionary... it's evolutionary. I was able to download games, news feeds and weather programs on my Verizon phone way before Apple decided to take it to the next level and open up the platform to outside developers and give it a buzzworthy name like App Store. I do agree that Apple executed this plan perfectly and has changed the mobile industry forever.

[Vegaman_Dan]

The Apps Store needs a serious overhaul. It's very hard to find what you want in there because of all the debris and detritus of apps you don't want to see.

It woud be nice to see it redone in a better organized manner. Amazon, Frys, NewEgg, any of these sites would be a better format to help organize the layout. I know the greatest limitation is that of iTunes itself forcing the format, and while it was only a few hundred apps that wasn't a problem, but when you're talking about thousands, it becomes a horrible nightmare.

It could definitely be better presented.

[kelmon]

The numbers are certainly impressive but the most important thing is - this is how it is going to be in the future. You can't move today for platforms starting up their own App Stores and this is how it is going to be from this point on. It is such an amazingly simple concept that you wonder why no one else managed to do it before.

[shellcodes_coder]

Fake statement by Crapple--the world's most advanced bluffer!!

[cbscowards]

Posting the same "Crapple" statement over and over, day after day, is truly pathetic.

[ikramerica--2008]

What does Snapple have to do with this? Crapple=Snapple for me and always will.

[Yelonde]

Isn't funny how people believe themselves to be intelligent by making up names like "crapple"? Truly hilarious.

[Mangolite]

Apple has had some missteps but when it have a hit, it's a huge hit. Apple innovate and "re-invent" not just in the fields of computers, but the technological field as a whole even to the extent that non-technology companies are copying it's pattern of colorful ideas, such as the iMac flavors to the all white iPod and nanochromatic schemes. No wonder, Apple don't have fanbois, Apple have followers. Even its competitors are following suit. Where ever Apple leads, they follow. Now I call that leadership.

[stupidexpat]

Well, for all interested, here is an interesting link: http://www.cultofmac.com/developers-call-bs-on-2-4b-iphone-app-store-number/15250

So, the monetization of the "app store" is more about building the hype around it to drive the stock than it is to drive the actual revenue. Think for a minute, if "app store" were a goldmine would you brag about it or keep quietly digging?

As for the future of the "app store". Let's all ask ourselves some simple questions about the average global consumer:

1. Is that app really worth it? Or can I achieve the same productivity on ANY phone OR a PC via a web interface (can you say CLOUD computing)? As devices become more connected, the only "app" you need is a great open platform browser.

2. Why am I buying through the "app store", just because Malus Domestica demands a piece of the pie and full (last absolute right of refusal) control over all application functions and every aspect of the user interface? At some point consumers will wonder why they are signing on to such a draconian platform.

3. Fortunately, Malus Domestica has several things going for it. Microsoft taught the world to live with upgrades they don't need for a cost. This trend will probably not stop with mobile handsets..........well, that is until someone comes along and has great applications from the cloud on any device.

Well, ya never know, Apple may surprise us all and launch in the cloud applications. Can you imagine how tragic it would be for all the developers of applications in the "app store" that were successful if Apple were to just copy the concept, but in the "cloud", of all the successful apps? Wow, that would make the "app store" a great marketing research exercise, and a cheap one at that!

[AppleSuxLeo]

Millions of things you can do on a laptop with a browser for free...who cares.

[The_happy_switcher]

I hear the spyware, viruses, trojans and keyloggers come free too.

[Vegaman_Dan]

@The_Happy_Switcher:

As they can do so on an iPhone or Touch just as easily. Remember, there is *no* security protection in the device as all applications and services run as root. Would you even know your device got compromised? I don't know how to check on mine. It could be compromised right now and I woudln't know it. Isn't that a scary thought?

[Perry_Clease]

So go get one, if you can afford one or ask your mommy to get you one when you graduate from middle school. if your smart you will get a MacBook, but you will probably settle for some shoddy PC running Windows Crippled Edition.

[Yelonde]

I don't know vegaman_dan, last time I saw a virus for the iPhone OS was uh, oh yea, thats right, never.

[Tesseract257]

I love my Iphone, but hate AT&T's network.. I can't wait till I can use my iPhone on another network (without jail-breaking it).

[Daniel-Castaneda]

thats awesome!

[Vegaman_Dan]

Just out of curiousity, how does Apple break down the numbers on downloads?

I know I have downloaded a bunch of apps, however each time an update is available, a new version of the app is downloaded. Does that count as a separte download?

When I have to reset my iPhone or Touch because of an OS hiccup or glitch (hey, it happens with any hardware) and I have to download all those apps again, even though I'm not being charged for it, do those also count?

As a result, my $20 or so worth of paid downloads could count for a hundred or more 'downloads' right there alone, which may make the numbers quite incorrect indeed.

I think I'd rather see numbers that break down how many paid and free one time downloads per user ID were done. If a user ID downloads the same app multiple times, don't count it as such.

[jypeterson]

When you download an app initially, Apple tracks it with a separate code (the number 1). If there is an update, or the app is re-downloaded again for free, Apple associates a separate code (the number 7). So, Apple isn't mixing the numbers here. When they say it's 2 bln downloads, it really is 2 billion downloads, not including upgrades and multiple downloads.

BTW, my apps have had over 130k downloads in three months...all apart of that magical 2 billion applications downloaded number.

[Vegaman_Dan]

Is the report broken down by these number codes? I'd like to see that for myself as well. Your explanation makes more sense than anything I've seen so far, but I'd love to see the actual numbers.

Unfortunately that's not something Apple is likely to release. :/

[RompStar_420]

When Microsoft donates say 3 billion, they also at the same time write off 3 billion that don't get paid in taxes, then the citizens pick up that slack, because now there is less taxes that go directly into whatever crazy things the government does with it these days, but hey, they still need that worthless paper.

Barter is a system that is old/time-tested and worth more money than any currency ever put forward.

[thejoemisster]

And you wonder why all the issues that AT&T is having in larger cities. These things are super mobile bandwidth hogs. I can see why Verizon passed on it.