Figures released by App Annie for June 2014 show top performing, non-gaming, apps around the world.
The top ten worldwide apps include some familiar names (Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Skype) and new, 'superstar' apps including MYOTee, an app that lets users develop and share their own avatar. MYOTee originally launched in China at the end of 2013 and has become a viral success. Its top ten position reflects its popularity in China - it has not make an impact on the rest of the world - as yet.
The FIFA official app also made it to the top ten, reflecting the popularity of the football World Cup. The app was downloaded 18 million times in the first three weeks of June and it was the number one app in 135 countries and territories in June. Other top performers in June were China's search engine Baidu and battery-saving app DU Battery Saver, which in particular experienced growth in Brazil, Mexico, Thailand and the US. Music company Pandora was the second most popular app by revenue and experienced rapid growth in Australia and New Zealand. It now has two million registered users.
How the UK market differs
In the UK, the popularity of FIFA indirectly led to growth for ITV Player which offered live streaming and on-demand coverage of World Cup matches. Other video content providers were performing well in the UK in June.The charts seem to suggest that UK users take security more seriously. While the UK has a security app in the top ten, this is not the case in the worldwide or US figures.Three apps in the UK top ten are newspapers. 40% of The Guardian's digital traffic now comes from mobile devices and a new update in May means the newspaper has attracted 300,000 new downloads worldwide. The Guardian joins The Times/Sunday Times and The Telegraph in the UK's top ten apps. The figures also show that when the weather turns warmer, users turn their thoughts to romance (strong performances reported from dating apps including Match and Grindr) and fitness (the 30 Day ab challenge has been performing well in the rankings throughout June.
More on the app performance charts from App Annie.