App Annie: Global Mobile App Index for June 2016

This month's top apps

Tinder climbs revenue rankings and expands into new business areas

Tinder has made a significant jump in the revenue rankings this month and is now ranked in the top 5 of the global Google Play and iOS App Store combined revenue rankings, becoming the world's best-selling dating app.

Tinder has high user engagement, especially among younger users. In June, Tinder became the most used lifestyle app on iPhone among 13-24 year olds in the US, and Bumble was another dating app that made the top 5. This is a rare achievement for an app that is specifically aimed at the 18+ crowd—it competes directly with apps that serve the entire demographic.

Tinder is the most used Lifestyle app on iPhone among 13–24 year olds in the US.

Tinder recently announced a series of new initiatives, features, and policies designed to further consolidate its dominance. Tinder revived the Swipe the Vote feature used in the presidential pre-election ahead of the Brexit referendum, demonstrating its commitment to expanding user engagement beyond its core dating functionality. The service tested voters’ political knowledge and reminded them to register to vote. In conjunction with the integration of non-dating services, Tinder Social recently launched after an initial test in Australia. With this new feature, a group of friends can arrange a night out and meet up with another group of friends with similar interests. Finally, the brand recently announced plans to make the app more transgender friendly and block users under 18 from using the service.

iQIYI continues to narrow the gap with Netflix and HBO NOW

Chinese online video app iQiyi returned to the top 10 iOS revenue rankings this month, helping publisher Baidu climb the global company revenue rankings. The achievement was almost entirely due to the domestic Chinese market, where iQiyi has been steadily climbing the Chinese iPhone revenue rankings since the end of April.

iQiyi continues to climb the iPhone revenue charts in China.

iQIYI is the most popular subscription online video service in China. In June, iQIYI announced that it had 20 million subscribers, just six months after reaching 10 million, and that paying users increased by 765% compared to last year. It remains the undisputed leader in the entertainment category in terms of iPhone monthly active users in China.

iQiyi is the most used entertainment app on iPhone in China.

iQIYI and the entire online video industry continue to enjoy great success in China. Online video users currently enjoy fewer content restrictions, and iQIYI often hosts popular international programs, such as those signed with Universal Pictures and Fox. Most recently, the popular Korean TV series "Descendants of the Sun" , which was co-invested by Chinese investors, was viewed nearly 500 million times on iQIYI as of the end of March.

iQiyi ’s new plans will help maintain its rapid growth. Earlier this year, iQiyi launched a Taiwanese version of iQiyi to better serve its second-largest market with localized content and subscription plans. The company also announced plans to enter the VR space for games and movies, including developing dedicated VR apps and original VR content. With iQiyi’s ambition to acquire 10 million Chinese users in the next 12 months, the company may soon become the VR king of China. We expect this to be a trend in the future as more and more companies enter the AR/VR market.

However, iQiyi is not the only online video app to rise in the rankings this month. Hulu and HBO NOW also rose in the combined revenue rankings of Google Play and iOS App Store. As we predicted last month, the new season of Game of Thrones continued to bring in money for HBO NOW , and its success once again verified the importance of exclusive original content to online video users.

YouTube's ranking rises, increasing support for original content

YouTube's ranking in the global combined download rankings of Google Play and iOS App Store has risen significantly this month, with the US market being the main driving force.

The company recently announced new features to support users in creating and managing video content through the service, including the consolidation of original content resources into a single original content hub, the launch of Director Onsite (a service that helps small businesses create ads for the platform), and the introduction of a mobile live broadcast service for content originalization.

As competition between video services continues to heat up, supporting the creation of high-quality content remains key to attracting and retaining users. It will be interesting to see how YouTube’s new initiatives will affect user engagement in the coming months.