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Top 20 Developer Tools SDKs Used in Android Apps on Google Play
Last update: 18 Sep 2023 CET
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Top 20 Developer Tools SDKs Used in Android Apps on Google Play

We at 42matters have identified the 20 most popular Developer Tools SDKs leveraged by Android apps available on the Android 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 Google Play 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, 98.03% have integrated Android Support Library V4. This accounts for 88% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

The Android Support Library V4 SDK includes the largest set of APIs compared to the other libraries, including support for application components, user interface features, accessibility, data handling, network connectivity, and programming utilities.

Total Apps
3.28m
Google Play
App Share
98.03%
Google Play
Apps
2.86m
Games
412.40k
Total Downloads
1.19t
Google Play
Download Share
99.58%
Google Play
App Downloads
836.13b
Game Downloads
348.90b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Android Support Library V4.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 68.82% have integrated Google Firebase. This accounts for 88% 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
2.51m
Google Play
App Share
68.82%
Google Play
Apps
2.18m
Games
331.80k
Total Downloads
1.03t
Google Play
Download Share
86.72%
Google Play
App Downloads
707.54b
Game Downloads
324.39b

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 34.92% have integrated Android Support Library V7. This accounts for 88% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

The Android Support Library V7 SDK provides a variety of feature sets that can be included in your app. This includes the v7 appcompat library, v7 cardview library, v7 gridlayout library, and more.

Total Apps
531.05k
Google Play
App Share
34.92%
Google Play
Apps
492.42k
Games
38.62k
Total Downloads
345.15b
Google Play
Download Share
29.00%
Google Play
App Downloads
317.68b
Game Downloads
27.47b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Android Support Library V7.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 8.42% have integrated RxAndroid/RxJava. This accounts for 88% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

The RxAndroid/RxJava SDK is a Java VM implementation of Reactive Extensions — a library for composing asynchronous and event-based programs by using observable sequences.

Total Apps
373.21k
Google Play
App Share
8.42%
Google Play
Apps
362.92k
Games
10.29k
Total Downloads
218.58b
Google Play
Download Share
18.37%
Google Play
App Downloads
193.77b
Game Downloads
24.82b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use RxAndroid/RxJava.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 8.32% have integrated Protobuf. This accounts for 88% 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
336.76k
Google Play
App Share
8.32%
Google Play
Apps
314.55k
Games
22.21k
Total Downloads
335.43b
Google Play
Download Share
28.19%
Google Play
App Downloads
297.36b
Game Downloads
38.08b

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 12.92% have integrated Android Support Library V13. This accounts for 88% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

The Android Support Library V13 SDK adds support for the Fragment user interface pattern with the (FragmentCompat) class and additional fragment support classes.

Total Apps
289.99k
Google Play
App Share
12.92%
Google Play
Apps
274.83k
Games
15.16k
Total Downloads
48.32b
Google Play
Download Share
4.06%
Google Play
App Downloads
40.00b
Game Downloads
8.32b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Android Support Library V13.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 18.88% have integrated Android Design Support Library. This accounts for 88% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

The Design Support library SDK adds support for various material design components and patterns for app developers to build upon, such as navigation drawers, floating action buttons (FAB), snackbars, and tabs.

Total Apps
278.00k
Google Play
App Share
18.88%
Google Play
Apps
271.06k
Games
6.93k
Total Downloads
62.67b
Google Play
Download Share
5.27%
Google Play
App Downloads
59.44b
Game Downloads
3.23b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Android Design Support Library.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 3.20% have integrated React Native Reanimated. This accounts for 88% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
228.79k
Google Play
App Share
3.20%
Google Play
Apps
225.95k
Games
2.84k
Total Downloads
20.10b
Google Play
Download Share
1.69%
Google Play
App Downloads
19.69b
Game Downloads
403.94m

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use React Native Reanimated.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 5.19% have integrated EventBus. This accounts for 88% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

EventBus is an open-source library SDK for Android and Java using the publisher/subscriber pattern for loose coupling.

Total Apps
200.54k
Google Play
App Share
5.19%
Google Play
Apps
190.44k
Games
10.10k
Total Downloads
177.46b
Google Play
Download Share
14.91%
Google Play
App Downloads
149.01b
Game Downloads
28.44b

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 3.16% have integrated Checker Framework. This accounts for 88% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
187.44k
Google Play
App Share
3.16%
Google Play
Apps
178.64k
Games
8.79k
Total Downloads
80.20b
Google Play
Download Share
6.74%
Google Play
App Downloads
60.75b
Game Downloads
19.45b

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 4.81% have integrated Apache Commons IO. This accounts for 88% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

The Apache Commons SDK is an Apache project focused on all aspects of reusable Java components.

Total Apps
178.42k
Google Play
App Share
4.81%
Google Play
Apps
174.13k
Games
4.28k
Total Downloads
65.74b
Google Play
Download Share
5.52%
Google Play
App Downloads
59.35b
Game Downloads
6.38b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Apache Commons IO.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 3.89% have integrated Apache Commons Codec. This accounts for 88% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
172.03k
Google Play
App Share
3.89%
Google Play
Apps
165.81k
Games
6.23k
Total Downloads
80.71b
Google Play
Download Share
6.78%
Google Play
App Downloads
66.68b
Game Downloads
14.03b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Apache Commons Codec.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 3.33% have integrated Apache Commons Lang. This accounts for 88% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Total Apps
159.82k
Google Play
App Share
3.33%
Google Play
Apps
157.49k
Games
2.33k
Total Downloads
62.83b
Google Play
Download Share
5.28%
Google Play
App Downloads
56.12b
Game Downloads
6.71b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Apache Commons Lang.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 4.03% have integrated Jackson FasterXML. This accounts for 88% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

The Jackson FasterXML SDK is a suite of data-processing tools for Java, including the flagship streaming JSON parser / generator library, matching data-binding library, and additional data format modules to process data encoded in Avro, BSON, CBOR, CSV, Smile, (Java) Properties, Protobuf, XML or YAML. It can even be used for the large set of data format modules to support widely used data types such as Guava, Joda, PCollections, and many, many more.

Total Apps
159.27k
Google Play
App Share
4.03%
Google Play
Apps
156.24k
Games
3.03k
Total Downloads
128.67b
Google Play
Download Share
10.81%
Google Play
App Downloads
119.36b
Game Downloads
9.31b

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 5.36% have integrated Butter Knife. This accounts for 88% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Annotate fields with BindView and a view ID for Butter Knife to find and automatically cast the corresponding view in your layout.

Total Apps
149.56k
Google Play
App Share
5.36%
Google Play
Apps
138.62k
Games
10.94k
Total Downloads
36.98b
Google Play
Download Share
3.11%
Google Play
App Downloads
35.92b
Game Downloads
1.07b

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 2.65% have integrated Animal Sniffer. This accounts for 88% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Animal Sniffer is an SDK that helps you verify that classes compiled with a newer JDK/API are compatible with an older JDK/API.

Total Apps
146.30k
Google Play
App Share
2.65%
Google Play
Apps
138.75k
Games
7.55k
Total Downloads
46.96b
Google Play
Download Share
3.95%
Google Play
App Downloads
32.21b
Game Downloads
14.74b

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 2.15% have integrated react-native-device-info. This accounts for 88% 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
143.94k
Google Play
App Share
2.15%
Google Play
Apps
142.41k
Games
1.53k
Total Downloads
11.73b
Google Play
Download Share
<1%
Google Play
App Downloads
11.37b
Game Downloads
364.59m

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 3.48% have integrated Ionic Keyboard. This accounts for 88% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Ionic Keyboard is a keyboard plugin for Cordova. This SDK has been designed to work seamlessly with cordova-plugin-ionic-webview, so make sure you have it installed first.

Total Apps
138.59k
Google Play
App Share
3.48%
Google Play
Apps
137.22k
Games
1.36k
Total Downloads
3.16b
Google Play
Download Share
<1%
Google Play
App Downloads
3.00b
Game Downloads
153.66m

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

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 3.86% have integrated SLF4J. This accounts for 88% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

The Simple Logging Facade for Java (SLF4J) serves as a simple facade or abstraction for various logging frameworks (e.g. java.util.logging, logback, log4j) allowing the end user to plug in the desired logging framework at deployment time.

Total Apps
131.77k
Google Play
App Share
3.86%
Google Play
Apps
127.90k
Games
3.87k
Total Downloads
93.65b
Google Play
Download Share
7.87%
Google Play
App Downloads
77.12b
Game Downloads
16.53b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use SLF4J.

Among all apps utilizing developer tools SDKs, 5.58% have integrated Nine Old Androids. This accounts for 88% of app downloads within the developer tools SDK category.

Nine Old Androids is an Android library SDK for using the Honeycomb (Android 3.0) animation API on all versions of the platform back to 1.0!

Total Apps
128.00k
Google Play
App Share
5.58%
Google Play
Apps
111.73k
Games
16.27k
Total Downloads
38.55b
Google Play
Download Share
3.24%
Google Play
App Downloads
33.02b
Game Downloads
5.53b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Nine Old Androids.

Browse iOS and Android SDKs With the SDK Explorer

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  • 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 platforms (the Explorer and App Watchlist) 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 MyApp, 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 App Watchlist and 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.