Best 
Google Play App Categories by 2023-2024 Download Trends
Did you know Google Play offers over 2 million mobile apps and games? Or that an average of over 1,240 new apps are added every day? True story — check out our app store stats pages to see for yourself! And, with numbers like that, it should come as no surprise that app developers are constantly struggling to get their products in front of their target consumers. One of the most important tools that businesses can leverage to overcome such a competitive landscape are app categories.
App categories enable businesses to sort their products into different boxes — ‘Education’, ‘Music & Audio’, ‘Books & Reference’, etc. This, in turn, makes it easier for consumers to find new apps that match their interests and seek out specific apps for their particular needs. In this piece, we’ll cover the the best app categories on Google Play by downloads over the last year. The data provided will be updated automatically on a weekly basis.
Before we dive into the data, keep in mind there are 49 categories on Google Play. And, because the categories often overlap and vary in specificity — for example ‘Music & Audio’ vs simply ‘Entertainment’ — it requires some extra brainpower on the part of app publishers to pick the best categories for their products.
Making matters more complex, one cannot assume that by selecting the most precise or best-sounding categories they will achieve the best possible results. So, that ‘extra brainpower’ will require some real-world insights into the mobile app market.
This is where app category download estimate trends come into play; these estimates provide valuable insight into the popularity of each category. This information can then be used by app developers to avoid downward trending categories and identify those on the rise. It can also be used to identify less competitive categories (i.e. those with fewer apps) that appear to be on an upswing in terms of downloads.
If your head is already spinning, don’t worry! In what follows, we will provide a starting point for navigating the deceptively tricky world of app categories. We’ll cover:
- The Best 5 Upward-trending Google Play App Categories by Downloads from 12/2023 to 11/2024
- The 5 Most Downward-trending Google Play App Categories by Downloads from 12/2023 to 11/2024
- The Best 5 ‘Large’ Google Play App Categories by Global Downloads in 11/2024
- The Best 5 ‘Small’ Google Play App Categories by Global Downloads in 11/2024
The Best 5 
Upward-trending Google Play App Categories by Downloads from 12/2023 - 11/2024
Let’s begin by taking a look at those categories that are on an up-swing. The data below is for 12/2023 - 11/2024
At the time of this analysis, Parenting leads the pack after increasing monthly downloads by 17.62%, followed by Events (13.52%), Health and fitness (11.49%), Auto and vehicles (11.16%), and Finance (8.99%).
5 Upward-trendingGoogle Play App Categories
How Parenting fared in the period between 12/2023 and 11/2024.
Over the past 12 months, Parenting has trended upwards, with downloads improving by 27.6%.
More recently, since 01/2024, Parenting has been trending down, with a -2.52% change in downloads.
The 5 Most 
Downward-trending Google Play App Categories by Downloads from 12/2023 – 11/2024
Now let’s take a look at some app categories that aren’t doing so well. This data is for 12/2023 – 11/2024
News and magazines took the biggest hit, with downloads declining by -10.53%; followed by Personalization (-3.7%), Maps and navigation (-3.19%), Shopping (-2.48%), and Beauty (-1.91%).
Downward-trendingGoogle Play App CategoriesIn the graph below you will find how Beauty fared in the period between 12/2023 and 11/2024.
Over the past 12 months, Beauty has trended downwards, with downloads falling by 12.49%.
More recently, since 01/2024, Beauty has been trending down, with a -1.23% change in downloads.
The Best 5 ‘Large’ Google Play App Categories by Global Downloads in 12/2023
Now, it’s important to remember that not all app categories are alike — some are naturally larger than others. For instance, there will be more apps filed under ‘Games’ than under ‘Casino’, since ‘Casino’ is more or less a subset of ‘Games’.
However, it should not be assumed that because one category has more competition than another that it will therefore represent a larger share of global downloads. Indeed, it’s possible that less competitive categories can be overrepresented in global downloads owing to the extreme popularity of one or some of its apps.
In any case, these natural differences in app categories present app publishers with a dilemma:
- Should they place their app in a more competitive environment that receives more traffic, but where they run the risk of blending in with the crowd?
- Or should they place their app in a less competitive environment, where they will have a better chance of standing out, but receive less traffic?
This is a challenging question; and, of course, the answer varies from business to business. Still, with this in mind, we’ve taken a look at the top 5 ‘large’ (i.e. more competitive) and ‘small’ (i.e. less competitive) categories to offer app publishers a starting point to address it.
We begin with the best 5 ‘large’ categories. The following chart depicts the number of apps in each category, as well as the number of downloads they receive as a percentage of total downloads. In sum, these categories represent 55.32% of global downloads.
Google Play App CategoriesAs you can see, Tools ranks highest with 141,173 apps representing 20.5% of global downloads. Then comes Communication (43,074; 12.4%), Productivity (102,779; 10.65%), Entertainment (88,808; 6.1%), and Video players (7,658; 5.67%).
The Best 5 ‘Small’ Google Play App Categories by Global Downloads in 11/2024
Now the welterweights. Just as before, the following chart depicts the number of apps in each category, as well as the number of downloads they receive as a percentage of total downloads. These categories represent 0.56% of global downloads.
Google Play App CategoriesHere you'll find that Parenting ranks highest with 3,941 apps representing 0.19% of global downloads. Then comes Beauty (15,107; 0.13%), Comics (1,198; 0.1%), Events (14,603; 0.07%), and Libraries and demo (2,838; 0.07%).
Going Beyond App Categories...
So, those are the best Google Play app categories by 2023-2024 download trends. By now we’ve hopefully done enough to show you that selecting the best categories for your app is not merely a descriptive exercise. It is, in fact, a critical piece to driving downloads.
Still, it is not the only factor. You’ll need to consider:
- App name
- App description
- Rating and reviews
- Updates and changelog
- Download trends
- And more...
By understanding how these things work and how successful apps are leveraging them, you’ll be better positioned to build a profitable mobile business.
Don’t let this overwhelm you. Schedule a free demo and we’ll walk you through everything.
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