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Apps Industry Updates: The app industry is booming, as it continues to grow. There were a record number of downloads in 2020, with $143 billion in global consumer spending. Consumers also spent an average of four hours per day on their mobile devices.

A new report from Sensor Tower, a service that tracks the app economy and user behavior, found that U.S. consumers spend more time in apps than they do watching live TV.

Right now, the average American watches about three hours and seven minutes of live TV per day. On mobile devices alone, people spend four hours per day on apps.

The app industry isn’t only a way to pass the idle time; it is also big business. In 2019, mobile-first companies had $544 billion in valuation, which is six-and-a-half times higher than companies without mobile.

Also, the report found that last year was a record for app store revenue worldwide with $141 billion in consumer spending on Apple’s App Store and Google Play. This year will see 218 billion downloads, compared to just 184 billion in 2018.

Top News Updates of this week – Apps Industry updates

Google Play lowers commissions- Google Play Store reduces commission rates to 15% of revenue from day one. In a significant move, it also announced that apps participating in its new Play Media Experience Program could see their commissions adjusted to as low as ten percent.
Apple drops anti-steering rule – Apple introduced a new set of App Store Guidelines which include three key changes, including those to anti-steering rules. One of the changes is the result of a previously announced settlement agreement with a class of U.S. app developers.
Pinterest clones TikTok – Pinterest made some noise at SXSW 2019, with the unveiling of one new product, and plans for another. Pinterest unveiled its augmented reality (AR) camera feature that has been in development since 2016- which allows users to create their own AR experiences like Lens on Instagram or Facebook Camera Effects Platform by uploading an image through the app’s main camera viewfinder.
Android 12 arrives – Google released a developer preview of its next version, Android Q. This update comes with features like display cutout support and a gesture navigation system that will likely be adopted by the majority of devices in 2020.
Trump announced a new social networking app – The former president of the United States, Donald J. Trump, announced his decision to develop a new social networking platform called “Truth Social.” The former president was banned from major social platforms following the January attack on the Capitol for using his account to incite violence and therefore had no choice but to build an alternative platform.
Android Apps arrive on Windows 11 – This week, Microsoft began testing Android apps on Windows. The company brought around 50 Android apps to the Windows 11 Insider Program. Google’s App Store is not available in China so these new operational marketplaces are likely important for app developers based there as well as those looking to expand their offerings into a growing number of international markets.