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Top 20 Networking SDKs Used in Android Apps on Google Play
Last update: 15 Jul 2025 CET
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Top 20 Networking SDKs Used in Android Apps on Google Play

We at 42matters have identified the 20 most popular Networking SDKs leveraged by Android apps available on the Android app market.

Networking SDKs are developer tools that provide networking functionalities for mobile apps. They enable developers to build apps capable of communicating with servers or other devices over a network, without having to build these capabilities from scratch. Network SDKs typically facilitate network requests, response handling, authentication, and more.

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 Networking 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 networking SDKs, 85.84% have integrated OkHttp. This accounts for 80.38% of app downloads within the networking SDK category.

The OkHttp SDK is Square’s meticulous HTTP client for Java and Kotlin.

Total Apps
1.06m
Google Play
App Share
85.84%
Google Play
Apps
983.22k
Games
79.61k
Total Downloads
1.01t
Google Play
Download Share
80.38%
Google Play
App Downloads
684.65b
Game Downloads
326.78b

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

Among all apps utilizing networking SDKs, 66.11% have integrated gson. This accounts for 72.96% of app downloads within the networking SDK category.

gson is a Java library SDK that can be used to convert Java Objects into their JSON representation. It can also be used to convert a JSON string to an equivalent Java object.

Total Apps
818.54k
Google Play
App Share
66.11%
Google Play
Apps
756.66k
Games
61.88k
Total Downloads
918.07b
Google Play
Download Share
72.96%
Google Play
App Downloads
659.39b
Game Downloads
258.67b

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

Among all apps utilizing networking SDKs, 28.31% have integrated Retrofit. This accounts for 20.92% of app downloads within the networking SDK category.

Retrofit is an SDK that offers a type-safe HTTP client for Android and the JVM.

Total Apps
350.54k
Google Play
App Share
28.31%
Google Play
Apps
339.78k
Games
10.76k
Total Downloads
263.25b
Google Play
Download Share
20.92%
Google Play
App Downloads
216.96b
Game Downloads
46.30b

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

Among all apps utilizing networking SDKs, 12.26% have integrated Volley. This accounts for 16.30% of app downloads within the networking SDK category.

Volley is an HTTP library SDK that makes networking for Android apps easier and, most importantly, faster.

Total Apps
151.81k
Google Play
App Share
12.26%
Google Play
Apps
144.11k
Games
7.70k
Total Downloads
205.15b
Google Play
Download Share
16.30%
Google Play
App Downloads
161.95b
Game Downloads
43.19b

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

Among all apps utilizing networking SDKs, 12.18% have integrated gRPC. This accounts for 15.01% of app downloads within the networking SDK category.

gRPC is a modern open source, high-performance RPC framework SDK that can run in any environment. It can efficiently connect services in and across data centers with pluggable support for load balancing, tracing, health checking, and authentication.

Total Apps
150.85k
Google Play
App Share
12.18%
Google Play
Apps
142.77k
Games
8.08k
Total Downloads
188.83b
Google Play
Download Share
15.01%
Google Play
App Downloads
167.14b
Game Downloads
21.69b

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

Among all apps utilizing networking SDKs, 5.38% have integrated Apache HttpComponents. This accounts for 7.20% of app downloads within the networking SDK category.

The Apache HttpComponents project SDK is responsible for creating and maintaining a toolset of low level Java components focused on HTTP and associated protocols.

Total Apps
66.66k
Google Play
App Share
5.38%
Google Play
Apps
63.65k
Games
3.01k
Total Downloads
90.56b
Google Play
Download Share
7.20%
Google Play
App Downloads
75.68b
Game Downloads
14.88b

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

Among all apps utilizing networking SDKs, 4.88% have integrated WebRTC. This accounts for 9.56% of app downloads within the networking SDK category.

With WebRTC, you can add real-time communication capabilities to your mobile apps. It supports sending videos, voice, and generic data between peers, allowing developers to build powerful voice- and video-communication solutions.

Total Apps
60.41k
Google Play
App Share
4.88%
Google Play
Apps
60.16k
Games
249
Total Downloads
120.28b
Google Play
Download Share
9.56%
Google Play
App Downloads
118.12b
Game Downloads
2.15b

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

Among all apps utilizing networking SDKs, 4.50% have integrated Socket.io. This accounts for <1% of app downloads within the networking SDK category.

Socket.IO is an SDK that enables real-time, bidirectional and event-based communication. It works on every platform, browser or device, focusing equally on reliability and speed.

Total Apps
55.76k
Google Play
App Share
4.50%
Google Play
Apps
55.50k
Games
253
Total Downloads
11.43b
Google Play
Download Share
<1%
Google Play
App Downloads
10.57b
Game Downloads
865.78m

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

Among all apps utilizing networking SDKs, 4.50% have integrated Engine.IO. This accounts for <1% of app downloads within the networking SDK category.

The Engine.IO SDK is the implementation of a transport-based, cross-browser/cross-device, bi-directional communication layer for Socket.IO.

Total Apps
55.74k
Google Play
App Share
4.50%
Google Play
Apps
55.48k
Games
257
Total Downloads
11.38b
Google Play
Download Share
<1%
Google Play
App Downloads
10.48b
Game Downloads
899.87m

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

Among all apps utilizing networking SDKs, 3.67% have integrated Ktor. This accounts for 10.82% of app downloads within the networking SDK category.

Total Apps
45.43k
Google Play
App Share
3.67%
Google Play
Apps
37.31k
Games
8.12k
Total Downloads
136.12b
Google Play
Download Share
10.82%
Google Play
App Downloads
51.96b
Game Downloads
84.16b

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

Among all apps utilizing networking SDKs, 1.99% have integrated HttpClient by Msebera. This accounts for 2.83% of app downloads within the networking SDK category.

HttpClient by Msebera is an SDK that helps you build repackaged, upstream versions of HttpClient and its depdendencies (HttpMime, HttpCore, HttpClient-Cache) for versions 3 to 23 of the Android API.

Total Apps
24.60k
Google Play
App Share
1.99%
Google Play
Apps
20.84k
Games
3.76k
Total Downloads
35.57b
Google Play
Download Share
2.83%
Google Play
App Downloads
17.70b
Game Downloads
17.87b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use HttpClient by Msebera.

Among all apps utilizing networking SDKs, 1.71% have integrated Simple Framework. This accounts for 1.50% of app downloads within the networking SDK category.

Simple Framework is an SDK that brings simplicity, scalability, and performance to server side Java. The primary focus of the project is to provide a truly embeddable Java based HTTP and WebSocket engine capable of handling enormous loads.

Total Apps
21.22k
Google Play
App Share
1.71%
Google Play
Apps
20.87k
Games
349
Total Downloads
18.91b
Google Play
Download Share
1.50%
Google Play
App Downloads
16.98b
Game Downloads
1.93b

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

Among all apps utilizing networking SDKs, 1.67% have integrated Android Asynchronous Http Client. This accounts for 2.59% of app downloads within the networking SDK category.

Android Asynchronous Http Client is an asynchronous, callback-based Http client SDK for Android apps. It was built on top of Apache’s HttpClient libraries.

Total Apps
20.70k
Google Play
App Share
1.67%
Google Play
Apps
16.61k
Games
4.09k
Total Downloads
32.64b
Google Play
Download Share
2.59%
Google Play
App Downloads
14.72b
Game Downloads
17.92b

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Android Asynchronous Http Client.

Among all apps utilizing networking SDKs, <1% have integrated Alibaba Fastjson. This accounts for 3.18% of app downloads within the networking SDK category.

Fastjson is a Java library SDK that can be used to convert Java objects into their JSON representation. It can also be used to convert a JSON string to an equivalent Java object.

Total Apps
11.46k
Google Play
App Share
<1%
Google Play
Apps
10.36k
Games
1.11k
Total Downloads
40.06b
Google Play
Download Share
3.18%
Google Play
App Downloads
36.60b
Game Downloads
3.46b

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

Among all apps utilizing networking SDKs, <1% have integrated AndroidAsync. This accounts for <1% of app downloads within the networking SDK category.

AndroidAsync is a low level network protocol library SDK. It has an asynchronous socket, http(s) (client+server) and websocket library for Android.

Total Apps
10.13k
Google Play
App Share
<1%
Google Play
Apps
10.07k
Games
57
Total Downloads
5.89b
Google Play
Download Share
<1%
Google Play
App Downloads
5.50b
Game Downloads
385.69m

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

16th

Among all apps utilizing networking SDKs, <1% have integrated Android Asynchronous Networking and Image Loading. This accounts for <1% of app downloads within the networking SDK category.

Ion is an android library SDK for asynchronous networking and image loading.

Total Apps
7.03k
Google Play
App Share
<1%
Google Play
Apps
7.00k
Games
31
Total Downloads
2.03b
Google Play
Download Share
<1%
Google Play
App Downloads
1.78b
Game Downloads
242.54m

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Android Asynchronous Networking and Image Loading.

Among all apps utilizing networking SDKs, <1% have integrated Store by NYTimes. This accounts for <1% of app downloads within the networking SDK category.

Total Apps
3.79k
Google Play
App Share
<1%
Google Play
Apps
3.76k
Games
32
Total Downloads
3.60b
Google Play
Download Share
<1%
Google Play
App Downloads
3.52b
Game Downloads
78.28m

Use the 42matters SDK Explorer to find all apps that use Store by NYTimes.

Among all apps utilizing networking SDKs, <1% have integrated Smack. This accounts for <1% of app downloads within the networking SDK category.

Smack is an Open Source XMPP client library for instant messaging and presence. This SDK is a pure Java library and can be embedded into your applications to create anything from a full XMPP client to simple XMPP integrations, such as sending notification messages and presence-enabling devices.

Total Apps
2.87k
Google Play
App Share
<1%
Google Play
Apps
2.85k
Games
28
Total Downloads
4.37b
Google Play
Download Share
<1%
Google Play
App Downloads
4.28b
Game Downloads
95.59m

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

Among all apps utilizing networking SDKs, <1% have integrated JXMPP. This accounts for <1% of app downloads within the networking SDK category.

JXMPP is an open source Java base library SDK for XMPP. It provides often-used functionalities needed to build an XMPP stack.

Total Apps
2.35k
Google Play
App Share
<1%
Google Play
Apps
2.34k
Games
11
Total Downloads
2.52b
Google Play
Download Share
<1%
Google Play
App Downloads
2.51b
Game Downloads
4.32m

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

Among all apps utilizing networking SDKs, <1% have integrated Tinder Scarlet. This accounts for <1% of app downloads within the networking SDK category.

Total Apps
2.10k
Google Play
App Share
<1%
Google Play
Apps
2.08k
Games
18
Total Downloads
1.69b
Google Play
Download Share
<1%
Google Play
App Downloads
1.60b
Game Downloads
94.01m

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

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    Analyze installation and removal trends for SDKs. Discover which apps have removed or integrated specific SDKs in a given timeframe.

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    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.