Mobile App Data Consumption Increased by 52% During Covid-19

Many people have predicted that a global-scale lockdown will definitely lead to an increase in online activity and mobile app data consumption. It just seems logical considering the unprecedented rise in popularity of online entertainment and shopping, accessible through all kinds of devices.

Now we know exactly how significant this increase really is, thanks to a recent report published by Sensor Tower.

According to the data intelligence provider’s research, the amount of data used for first-time installs of the top 250 mobile apps worldwide in Q1 2020 grew 34 percent from the year-ago quarter to 596 petabytes, or 596 million gigabytes, and was up 52 percent from the three-year average of 391 petabytes for the first quarter.

Image Source: Sensor Tower

The data analysis comes from first-time installs of the top 250 mobile apps worldwide and excludes apps downloaded from APK mirrors or secondary app stores. Only popular apps were taken for the analysis, and their file size was not added to the download measurements.

It is important to note that only the primary app markets were examined in the study. Re-installations, updates, and installations of apps to more than one device associated with the same Apple ID or Google account were excluded from the metrics entirely.

To put this data into perspective, Sensor Tower used the following comparison:

“…last quarter’s total of 596 petabytes used by first-time installations of the top 250 apps was equivalent nearly 53 million hours of 4K quality Netflix streaming or enough to completely fill the storage on approximately 9.3 million top-of-the-line iPhones.”

This rapid increase in mobile app data consumption isn’t likely to slow down anytime soon. Users have widely recognized the benefits of online services, especially in the new, post-Covid world of social distancing and working from home.

Apart from the eCommerce and entertainment industries, businesses centered around enterprise software and healthcare applications seem to be thriving as well, despite the global-scale economic downturn.

It is as good a time as ever to launch new applications on mobile platforms. If you are also considering to develop a cutting-edge mobile app, our team can help you do just that. Reach out today for a free project consultation!