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Top 20 Developer Tools SDKs Used in iOS Apps on the Apple App Store
Last update: 17 Aug 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
1.64m
App Store
App Share
99.95%
App Store
Apps
1.46m
Games
179.15k
Total Downloads
501.69b
App Store
Download Share
99.99%
App Store
App Downloads
377.68b
Game Downloads
124.01b

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 76.71% have integrated Apple AVFoundation. This accounts for 88.70% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
1.26m
App Store
App Share
76.71%
App Store
Apps
1.10m
Games
157.67k
Total Downloads
445.01b
App Store
Download Share
88.70%
App Store
App Downloads
352.36b
Game Downloads
92.66b

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 70.61% have integrated Apple WebKit. This accounts for 88.52% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
1.16m
App Store
App Share
70.61%
App Store
Apps
1.05m
Games
112.93k
Total Downloads
444.13b
App Store
Download Share
88.52%
App Store
App Downloads
352.97b
Game Downloads
91.16b

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 51.23% have integrated Google Firebase. This accounts for 65.66% 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
841.31k
App Store
App Share
51.23%
App Store
Apps
758.03k
Games
83.28k
Total Downloads
329.43b
App Store
Download Share
65.66%
App Store
App Downloads
232.97b
Game Downloads
96.46b

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 40.18% have integrated Firebase Installations. This accounts for 61.22% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
659.85k
App Store
App Share
40.18%
App Store
Apps
611.24k
Games
48.62k
Total Downloads
307.16b
App Store
Download Share
61.22%
App Store
App Downloads
219.43b
Game Downloads
87.73b

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 32.92% have integrated Apple Core Data. This accounts for 50.95% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
540.71k
App Store
App Share
32.92%
App Store
Apps
513.46k
Games
27.25k
Total Downloads
255.61b
App Store
Download Share
50.95%
App Store
App Downloads
223.56b
Game Downloads
32.05b

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 31.14% have integrated Apple Swift Framework. This accounts for 16.75% 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
511.36k
App Store
App Share
31.14%
App Store
Apps
458.48k
Games
52.88k
Total Downloads
84.06b
App Store
Download Share
16.75%
App Store
App Downloads
54.15b
Game Downloads
29.91b

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 28.55% have integrated Promises by Google. This accounts for 21.35% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
468.96k
App Store
App Share
28.55%
App Store
Apps
442.33k
Games
26.63k
Total Downloads
107.14b
App Store
Download Share
21.35%
App Store
App Downloads
83.01b
Game Downloads
24.13b

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 11.93% have integrated Firebase Remote Config. This accounts for 36.81% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
195.93k
App Store
App Share
11.93%
App Store
Apps
173.18k
Games
22.74k
Total Downloads
184.68b
App Store
Download Share
36.81%
App Store
App Downloads
140.40b
Game Downloads
44.28b

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 9.68% have integrated Apple Core Bluetooth. This accounts for 16.90% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
159.02k
App Store
App Share
9.68%
App Store
Apps
151.00k
Games
8.02k
Total Downloads
84.81b
App Store
Download Share
16.90%
App Store
App Downloads
80.57b
Game Downloads
4.24b

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 9.44% have integrated Firebase App Check. This accounts for 11.29% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
154.96k
App Store
App Share
9.44%
App Store
Apps
145.78k
Games
9.17k
Total Downloads
56.65b
App Store
Download Share
11.29%
App Store
App Downloads
44.21b
Game Downloads
12.44b

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 9.12% have integrated Protobuf. This accounts for 15.94% 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
149.70k
App Store
App Share
9.12%
App Store
Apps
142.90k
Games
6.80k
Total Downloads
79.96b
App Store
Download Share
15.94%
App Store
App Downloads
75.22b
Game Downloads
4.74b

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 6.59% have integrated Expo. This accounts for 1.14% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
108.22k
App Store
App Share
6.59%
App Store
Apps
106.42k
Games
1.80k
Total Downloads
5.70b
App Store
Download Share
1.14%
App Store
App Downloads
5.58b
Game Downloads
118.15m

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 6.59% have integrated react-native-device-info. This accounts for 3.22% 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
108.21k
App Store
App Share
6.59%
App Store
Apps
107.63k
Games
580
Total Downloads
16.16b
App Store
Download Share
3.22%
App Store
App Downloads
15.92b
Game Downloads
239.94m

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 2.56% 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.

Total Apps
42.10k
App Store
App Share
2.56%
App Store
Apps
41.80k
Games
309
Total Downloads
27.29b
App Store
Download Share
5.44%
App Store
App Downloads
26.99b
Game Downloads
301.54m

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 2.46% have integrated Mantle. This accounts for 3.35% 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
40.47k
App Store
App Share
2.46%
App Store
Apps
39.81k
Games
659
Total Downloads
16.79b
App Store
Download Share
3.35%
App Store
App Downloads
16.46b
Game Downloads
337.83m

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 2.30% have integrated Apple Core ML. This accounts for 26.32% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
37.72k
App Store
App Share
2.30%
App Store
Apps
23.75k
Games
13.97k
Total Downloads
132.06b
App Store
Download Share
26.32%
App Store
App Downloads
97.90b
Game Downloads
34.16b

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 1.90% have integrated CocoaLumberjack. This accounts for 4.60% 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
31.15k
App Store
App Share
1.90%
App Store
Apps
30.82k
Games
321
Total Downloads
23.07b
App Store
Download Share
4.60%
App Store
App Downloads
21.82b
Game Downloads
1.25b

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 1.86% have integrated ML Kit by Google. This accounts for 2.24% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
30.59k
App Store
App Share
1.86%
App Store
Apps
30.46k
Games
130
Total Downloads
11.23b
App Store
Download Share
2.24%
App Store
App Downloads
11.21b
Game Downloads
14.01m

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

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.