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Top 20 Developer Tools SDKs Used in iOS Apps on the Apple App Store
Last update: 7 Sep 2025 CET
App Store

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.

Among 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.

Total Apps
1.65m
App Store
App Share
99.95%
App Store
Apps
1.47m
Games
178.91k
Total Downloads
501.71b
App Store
Download Share
99.99%
App Store
App Downloads
377.71b
Game Downloads
124.00b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Apple Core Foundation.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 76.85% have integrated Apple AVFoundation. This accounts for 91.54% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
1.27m
App Store
App Share
76.85%
App Store
Apps
1.11m
Games
159.61k
Total Downloads
459.30b
App Store
Download Share
91.54%
App Store
App Downloads
353.47b
Game Downloads
105.83b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Apple AVFoundation.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 70.76% have integrated Apple WebKit. This accounts for 91.12% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
1.17m
App Store
App Share
70.76%
App Store
Apps
1.05m
Games
115.21k
Total Downloads
457.18b
App Store
Download Share
91.12%
App Store
App Downloads
353.73b
Game Downloads
103.46b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Apple WebKit.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 51.34% 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.

Total Apps
847.43k
App Store
App Share
51.34%
App Store
Apps
764.31k
Games
83.12k
Total Downloads
329.55b
App Store
Download Share
65.68%
App Store
App Downloads
233.44b
Game Downloads
96.10b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Google Firebase.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 40.44% have integrated Firebase Installations. This accounts for 61.20% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
667.47k
App Store
App Share
40.44%
App Store
Apps
618.51k
Games
48.96k
Total Downloads
307.06b
App Store
Download Share
61.20%
App Store
App Downloads
219.70b
Game Downloads
87.36b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Firebase Installations.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 32.90% have integrated Apple Core Data. This accounts for 51.91% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
543.05k
App Store
App Share
32.90%
App Store
Apps
515.41k
Games
27.64k
Total Downloads
260.47b
App Store
Download Share
51.91%
App Store
App Downloads
223.86b
Game Downloads
36.61b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Apple Core Data.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 30.53% have integrated Apple Swift Framework. This accounts for 16.77% 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.

Total Apps
503.88k
App Store
App Share
30.53%
App Store
Apps
451.29k
Games
52.59k
Total Downloads
84.16b
App Store
Download Share
16.77%
App Store
App Downloads
53.43b
Game Downloads
30.74b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Apple Swift Framework.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 28.64% have integrated Promises by Google. This accounts for 22.30% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
472.69k
App Store
App Share
28.64%
App Store
Apps
445.56k
Games
27.14k
Total Downloads
111.91b
App Store
Download Share
22.30%
App Store
App Downloads
82.64b
Game Downloads
29.27b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Promises by Google.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 12.25% have integrated Firebase Remote Config. This accounts for 37.66% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
202.15k
App Store
App Share
12.25%
App Store
Apps
178.69k
Games
23.47k
Total Downloads
188.95b
App Store
Download Share
37.66%
App Store
App Downloads
141.52b
Game Downloads
47.43b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Firebase Remote Config.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 9.72% have integrated Firebase App Check. This accounts for 11.30% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
160.40k
App Store
App Share
9.72%
App Store
Apps
151.05k
Games
9.35k
Total Downloads
56.72b
App Store
Download Share
11.30%
App Store
App Downloads
44.51b
Game Downloads
12.21b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Firebase App Check.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 9.67% have integrated Apple Core Bluetooth. This accounts for 16.94% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
159.55k
App Store
App Share
9.67%
App Store
Apps
151.58k
Games
7.97k
Total Downloads
84.98b
App Store
Download Share
16.94%
App Store
App Downloads
80.70b
Game Downloads
4.29b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Apple Core Bluetooth.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 8.91% have integrated Protobuf. This accounts for 16.21% 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.

Total Apps
147.05k
App Store
App Share
8.91%
App Store
Apps
140.19k
Games
6.86k
Total Downloads
81.34b
App Store
Download Share
16.21%
App Store
App Downloads
75.07b
Game Downloads
6.27b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Protobuf.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 6.81% have integrated Expo. This accounts for 1.15% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
112.35k
App Store
App Share
6.81%
App Store
Apps
110.47k
Games
1.89k
Total Downloads
5.75b
App Store
Download Share
1.15%
App Store
App Downloads
5.63b
Game Downloads
118.24m

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Expo.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 6.79% have integrated react-native-device-info. This accounts for 3.26% 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.

Total Apps
112.10k
App Store
App Share
6.79%
App Store
Apps
111.51k
Games
596
Total Downloads
16.35b
App Store
Download Share
3.26%
App Store
App Downloads
16.11b
Game Downloads
245.14m

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use react-native-device-info.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 2.54% have integrated RxSwift. This accounts for 5.48% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

The RxSwift SDK offers a framework for interacting with the Swift programming language.

Total Apps
41.87k
App Store
App Share
2.54%
App Store
Apps
41.56k
Games
308
Total Downloads
27.48b
App Store
Download Share
5.48%
App Store
App Downloads
27.18b
Game Downloads
298.70m

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use RxSwift.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 2.50% have integrated Mantle. This accounts for 3.37% 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.

Total Apps
41.29k
App Store
App Share
2.50%
App Store
Apps
40.64k
Games
654
Total Downloads
16.91b
App Store
Download Share
3.37%
App Store
App Downloads
16.56b
Game Downloads
351.46m

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Mantle.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 2.42% have integrated Apple Core ML. This accounts for 28.91% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
39.98k
App Store
App Share
2.42%
App Store
Apps
24.29k
Games
15.69k
Total Downloads
145.03b
App Store
Download Share
28.91%
App Store
App Downloads
98.30b
Game Downloads
46.73b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Apple Core ML.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 1.93% have integrated ML Kit by Google. This accounts for 2.23% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
31.87k
App Store
App Share
1.93%
App Store
Apps
31.74k
Games
130
Total Downloads
11.17b
App Store
Download Share
2.23%
App Store
App Downloads
11.15b
Game Downloads
14.01m

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use ML Kit by Google.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 1.90% have integrated CocoaLumberjack. This accounts for 4.64% 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.

Total Apps
31.41k
App Store
App Share
1.90%
App Store
Apps
31.07k
Games
332
Total Downloads
23.26b
App Store
Download Share
4.64%
App Store
App Downloads
21.93b
Game Downloads
1.33b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use CocoaLumberjack.

Browse iOS and Android SDKs With the SDK Explorer

Browse background top image
  • SDK IntelligenceSDK Intelligence

    See how many apps integrate specific SDKs, how many times these SDKs have been downloaded, developer details, similar SDKs, and more.

  • New Installations and Removals HistoryNew Installations and Removals History

    Analyze 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 CategoryMarket Share per Google Play and Apple App Store Category

    See which app categories or genres are most likely to use specific SDKs. Detect SDK market share per category.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How does 42matters collect this data?'

We’ve developed a number of machine learning algorithms that scan millions of mobile and connected TV (CTV) applications on a regular basis. In addition, we collect ground truth app performance intelligence and use this data to build statistical models that estimate the performance of apps for which we do not have ground truth data.

What SDK data does 42matters collect?'

We track over 2,300 of the most popular SDKs integrated in iOS and Android apps. We collect a variety of SDK insights (title, platform, ID, category, and developer website); performance metrics (the number of apps that have installed each SDK, installation and removal trends, and app downloads); market share statistics (including market share per app category); and more!

How can I access 42matters’ SDK data?'

The most direct way is to use our SDK Explorer, which is a visual, web-based research platform that enables you to peruse all 2,300+ SDKs that we track. It’s great for market research, lead generation, competitor analysis, etc. However, more technically-inclined folks might prefer our APIs and File Dumps, which enable you to query info for specific apps or SDKs. You can also use our other research platform (the Explorer) to view integrated SDKs by app.

Can I use 42matters’ solutions to generate app publisher leads?'

Absolutely! We actually wrote about this on our blog. We focused on ad network SDKs, but the examples are applicable to most SDK types. To summarize, you can use the Explorer’s advanced filtering capabilities to home in on best-fit app publishers, leverage the SDK Explorer to see which apps use your competitors’ SDKs, and use our APIs and file dumps to build custom lead generation processes.

What data does 42matters provide on mobile apps?'

A ton! We track 17+ million apps across Google Play, the Apple App Store, Amazon Appstore, Tencent Appstore, and Huawei AppGallery. Our solutions provide access to app details (developer insights, metadata, ASO keywords, contact information, etc.); performance metrics (downloads, MAUs, ratings, reviews, top chart rankings, etc.); technical insights (integrated SDKs, permissions, required capabilities, etc.); content details (categories, genres, IAB categories, content ratings, etc.); compliance information (app-ads.txt, privacy policies, store status, etc.) and much, much more!

Can I use 42matters’ solutions to find SDKs for my app?'

Definitely. The SDK Explorer enables you to sort SDKs by category, identify similar SDKs, analyze SDK reliability, and more. In addition, you can use the Explorer to monitor your competitors, including which SDKs they add and remove, their current tech stacks, and SDK changelogs. This means you use our solutions not only to find the right SDK for a particular purpose, but also which SDKs you might need to keep up with your rivals.