Best 
Google Play App Categories by 2024-2025 Download Trends
Did you know Google Play offers over 2 million mobile apps and games? Or that an average of over 1,239 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 05/2024 to 04/2025
- The 5 Most Downward-trending Google Play App Categories by Downloads from 05/2024 to 04/2025
- The Best 5 ‘Large’ Google Play App Categories by Global Downloads in 04/2025
- The Best 5 ‘Small’ Google Play App Categories by Global Downloads in 04/2025
The Best 5 
Upward-trending Google Play App Categories by Downloads from 05/2024 - 04/2025
Let’s begin by taking a look at those categories that are on an up-swing. The data below is for 05/2024 - 04/2025
At the time of this analysis, Beauty leads the pack after increasing monthly downloads by 18.28%, followed by Art and design (8.56%), Parenting (7.78%), Auto and vehicles (5.36%), and Finance (3.23%).
5 Upward-trendingGoogle Play App Categories
How Beauty fared in the period between 05/2024 and 04/2025.
Over the past 12 months, Beauty has trended upwards, with downloads improving by 69.97%.
More recently, since 06/2024, Beauty has been trending down, with a -8.44% change in downloads.
The 5 Most 
Downward-trending Google Play App Categories by Downloads from 05/2024 – 04/2025
Now let’s take a look at some app categories that aren’t doing so well. This data is for 05/2024 – 04/2025
Libraries and demo took the biggest hit, with downloads declining by -36.89%; followed by Medical (-9.22%), House and home (-8.08%), News and magazines (-7.04%), and Shopping (-5.85%).
Downward-trendingGoogle Play App CategoriesIn the graph below you will find how Shopping fared in the period between 05/2024 and 04/2025.
Over the past 12 months, Shopping has trended downwards, with downloads falling by -7.68%.
More recently, since 06/2024, Shopping has been trending down, with a -7.52% change in downloads.
The Best 5 ‘Large’ Google Play App Categories by Global Downloads in 05/2024
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 55.16% of global downloads.
Google Play App CategoriesAs you can see, Tools ranks highest with 137,406 apps representing 20.29% of global downloads. Then comes Communication (43,085; 12.35%), Productivity (102,572; 10.84%), Entertainment (78,293; 6.07%), and Video players (7,125; 5.61%).
The Best 5 ‘Small’ Google Play App Categories by Global Downloads in 04/2025
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 0.57% of global downloads.
Google Play App CategoriesHere you'll find that Parenting ranks highest with 3,898 apps representing 0.2% of global downloads. Then comes Beauty (14,885; 0.15%), Comics (1,083; 0.09%), Events (15,003; 0.07%), and Libraries and demo (2,628; 0.06%).
Going Beyond App Categories...
So, those are the best Google Play app categories by 2024-2025 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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