Top 20 Developer Tools SDKs Used in iOS Apps on the Apple App Store
We at 42matters have identified the 20 most popular Developer Tools SDKs leveraged by iOS apps available on the iOS app market.
Developer Tool SDKs help developers build sophisticated mobile apps. Technology vendors and platform providers develop these SDKs — which include programming libraries, APIs, sample code, documentation, and other tools — for third-party app developers that want to build mobile apps that leverage the features and functionalities of their technologies or platforms.
This list is based on our analysis of the millions of mobile applications – and the 2,300+ SDKs they use – that constitute the vast inventory of the Apple App Store. The accompanying data provides readers with a glimpse into the rich mobile application insights generated by the 42matters technology. This data is also available via our APIs, file dumps, Explorer, and SDK Explorer.
The intended purpose of this article is to assist app builders in their search for the perfect Developer Tools SDK to leverage in their app, as well as to give SDK developers insight into their biggest competitors and potential customers. This data collected by our technology may also serve as a useful tool for folks researching the wider mobile app market.
The 20 most widely-integrated developer tools SDKs:
- Apple Core Foundation
- Apple AVFoundation
- Apple WebKit
- Google Firebase
- Firebase Installations
- Apple Core Data
- Apple Swift Framework
- Promises by Google
- Firebase Remote Config
- Firebase App Check
- Apple Core Bluetooth
- Protobuf
- Expo
- react-native-device-info
- Firebase Dynamic Links
- Mantle
- RxSwift
- Apple Core ML
- ML Kit by Google
- CocoaLumberjack
Apple Core Foundation
Check “Apple Core Foundation” SDK InsightsAmong all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 99.95% have integrated Apple Core Foundation. This accounts for 99.99% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.
Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Apple Core Foundation.
Apple AVFoundation
Check “Apple AVFoundation” SDK InsightsAmong all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 76.86% have integrated Apple AVFoundation. This accounts for 92.23% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.
Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Apple AVFoundation.
Apple WebKit
Check “Apple WebKit” SDK InsightsAmong all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 70.83% have integrated Apple WebKit. This accounts for 91.68% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.
Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Apple WebKit.
Google Firebase
Check “Google Firebase” SDK InsightsAmong all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 51.44% have integrated Google Firebase. This accounts for 65.68% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.
Firebase is Google's mobile platform SDK that helps you quickly develop high-quality apps and grow your business.
Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Google Firebase.
Firebase Installations
Check “Firebase Installations” SDK InsightsAmong all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 40.69% have integrated Firebase Installations. This accounts for 61.28% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.
Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Firebase Installations.
Apple Core Data
Check “Apple Core Data” SDK InsightsAmong all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 32.87% have integrated Apple Core Data. This accounts for 51.99% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.
Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Apple Core Data.
Apple Swift Framework
Check “Apple Swift Framework” SDK InsightsAmong all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 29.93% have integrated Apple Swift Framework. This accounts for 16.80% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.
Apple Swift Framework is a powerful and intuitive programming language for macOS, iOS, watchOS, tvOS and beyond.
Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Apple Swift Framework.
Promises by Google
Check “Promises by Google” SDK InsightsAmong all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 28.68% have integrated Promises by Google. This accounts for 22.61% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.
Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Promises by Google.
Firebase Remote Config
Check “Firebase Remote Config” SDK InsightsAmong all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 12.47% have integrated Firebase Remote Config. This accounts for 37.82% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.
Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Firebase Remote Config.
Firebase App Check
Check “Firebase App Check” SDK InsightsAmong all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 9.96% have integrated Firebase App Check. This accounts for 11.40% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.
Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Firebase App Check.
Apple Core Bluetooth
Check “Apple Core Bluetooth” SDK InsightsAmong all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 9.65% have integrated Apple Core Bluetooth. This accounts for 16.85% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.
Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Apple Core Bluetooth.
Protobuf
Check “Protobuf” SDK InsightsAmong all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 8.71% have integrated Protobuf. This accounts for 16.28% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.
Protocol Buffers (a.k.a., protobuf) are Google's language-neutral, platform-neutral, extensible mechanism for serializing structured data.
Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Protobuf.
Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 6.98% have integrated Expo. This accounts for 1.17% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.
Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Expo.
react-native-device-info
Check “react-native-device-info” SDK InsightsAmong all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 6.95% have integrated react-native-device-info. This accounts for 3.29% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.
The react-native-device-info SDK offers device information for React Native for iOS and Android.
Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use react-native-device-info.
Firebase Dynamic Links
Check “Firebase Dynamic Links” SDK InsightsAmong all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 4.45% have integrated Firebase Dynamic Links. This accounts for 13.81% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.
Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Firebase Dynamic Links.
Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 2.53% have integrated Mantle. This accounts for 3.40% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.
Mantle is a Software Development Kit (SDK) that makes it easy to write simple model layers for your Cocoa or Cocoa Touch mobile applications or games.
Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Mantle.
RxSwift
Check “RxSwift” SDK InsightsAmong all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 2.51% have integrated RxSwift. This accounts for 5.44% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.
The RxSwift SDK offers a framework for interacting with the Swift programming language.
Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use RxSwift.
Apple Core ML
Check “Apple Core ML” SDK InsightsAmong all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 2.47% have integrated Apple Core ML. This accounts for 30.04% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.
Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Apple Core ML.
ML Kit by Google
Check “ML Kit by Google” SDK InsightsAmong all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 2.00% have integrated ML Kit by Google. This accounts for 2.19% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.
Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use ML Kit by Google.
CocoaLumberjack
Check “CocoaLumberjack” SDK InsightsAmong all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 1.90% have integrated CocoaLumberjack. This accounts for 4.62% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.
CocoaLumberjack is a fast and simple, yet powerful and flexible, logging framework SDK for Mac and iOS.
Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use CocoaLumberjack.
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New Installations and Removals HistoryAnalyze installation and removal trends for SDKs. Discover which apps have removed or integrated specific SDKs in a given timeframe.
Market Share per Google Play and Apple App Store CategorySee which app categories or genres are most likely to use specific SDKs. Detect SDK market share per category.
