App Annie: Mobile App Index for May 2014: Meipai tops iOS download rankings

App Annie's App Index provides information on the most popular non-game mobile apps on the iOS and Google Play stores. To discover the top apps in other categories, check out our recently released Internet Retail Index, the May 2014 Games Index, and the General & Business News App Index.

Table of contents

1. Technology behind the index

2. App Superstar of the Month

• Meipai tops iOS download rankings
• Dating apps are starting to see revenue
• Messaging apps perform strongly on Google Play

3. More influential applications

1. Technology behind the index

The information contained in this report comes from App Annie Intelligence, the leading market data solution for the app store economy. To learn how our industry-leading app store download and revenue estimates can guide your critical business decisions, browse or request a demo today.

For a complete ranking of May’s leading apps and publishers, check out the App Annie Index product page (no login required).

2. App Superstar of the Month

Meipai tops iOS download rankings

The Market Index Report for the first quarter of 2014 pointed out that the iOS stores in China are increasingly performing well. In May, Meitu, a Chinese image service provider, entered the top ten publishers in terms of monthly iOS downloads, and its short video editing app Meipai became the number one app in terms of monthly iOS downloads.

Meitu's previous photo editing app, Meitu XiuXiu, had already been successful in the iOS App Store, becoming the number one app in China in early 2011. Meipai was launched in early May 2014, allowing users to add filters, special effects and music to video clips to achieve music video-like effects. The app was particularly popular in China and has been widely successful in Asia as Meitu expanded internationally.

Meitu's Meipai app allows users to add filters, music and other effects to video clips.

In addition to the app store, Meitu has also continued to expand its mobile space and launched the Android version of the Meitu phone. Meitu has taken female users as its main target group and implemented a broader strategy for them.

Dating apps are starting to see revenue

Several dating apps made the iOS revenue rankings in May. InterActiveCorp (IAC) performed exceptionally well, becoming a top-5 publisher in the non-game monthly revenue rankings, with revenue coming primarily from the new version of its Match.com app launched in late April, which was subsequently featured on the iOS App Store front page. The updated app borrowed a leaf from Tinder (also published by IAC) in that it uses swiping to browse potential dates. The update immediately boosted Match.com’s download rankings and also brought in revenue through in-app purchases. The move was effective, pushing Match.com to the top of the US social app revenue rankings in May. Match CEO Sam Yagan talks to App Annie about the reasons for the app’s success and future plans.

"We're thrilled to be ranked among App Annie's top publishers following our new app launch - but this is just the beginning as we continue to refine the Match mobile dating experience. We'll continue to refine design, improve usability, and add new features to create exciting new opportunities for singles to connect with other singles on their mobile phones." - Sam Yagan, CEO, Match

Match.com climbs US revenue charts after upgrade, in-app purchases

Badoo had a strong month on iOS in May, entering the top 5 iOS non-game apps by monthly revenue. France remains Badoo’s most important region, but the US and UK also had strong month-over-month performances.

Messaging apps perform strongly on Google Play

Messaging apps were a hotly contested area for publishers in 2014. Asian messaging apps LINE, WeChat, and KakaoTalk performed strongly in their home markets, while Europe and the Americas remained open battlegrounds. WhatsApp topped the Google Play download charts in May, with significant growth in Brazil and Mexico.

In addition, Viber and WhatsApp have made great strides in revenue on Google Play. WhatsApp's strongest growth in May was in Italy, and the UK also performed well. Viber has grown significantly in the UK and the US, making it onto the Google Play non-game app list for the first time. The publishers of these apps, such as Facebook and Rakuten, have also risen in the Google Play publisher revenue rankings.

3. Other influential applications

USB Drive appears in the iOS app download rankings

USB Drive was released by Chinese publisher Kun Lei in mid-March, and did not start to rise in the rankings on iOS until late April. Downloads were mostly from the premium version of the app, which started to increase after it became free in mid-April. USB Drive topped the charts in late April and remained high in May. However, the premium version was removed from the iOS store in late May, which led to an increase in downloads of the free version, which in turn pushed up the rankings of the free version, but it has not yet reached the download volume of the removed premium version.

Outfit 7 joins publisher rankings with Talking Ginger 2

Outfit 7 topped the iOS and Google Play publisher download rankings in May, driven primarily by Talking Ginger 2. The app started climbing the charts after it was renamed from Ginger's Birthday to Talking Ginger 2, following a new version update in late April. Outfit 7's non-game revenue follows the recent success of its games. Outfit 7 co-founder Rok Zorko spoke to App Annie about its app development strategy:

“Our vivid characters, expressive emotions, adorable images, and months of engagement are key to our success with 230 million monthly active users worldwide. Both Talking Tom and Talking Tom 2 went viral, and My Talking Tom is the next step in the Talking Tom series. At Outfit 7 , our journey with friends is just beginning.” - Rok Zorko , Co-founder and VP of Product at Outfit7

Deezer continues to shake up the iOS revenue charts

Music app Deezer only entered the App Index iOS revenue list in January, but it quickly became a regular on the list. In May, Deezer ranked seventh in iOS non-game revenue, with the main contribution coming from the UK, unlike the previous months when it mainly came from France, Brazil and Mexico. As Deezer expands its global market, it will be worth looking forward to whether it can continue to climb the rankings.

Clean Master sweeps the Google Play rankings

Clean Master's download ranking on Google Play has improved, returning to the top five non-game rankings in May. The United States is the main region leading the growth, with a significant increase in downloads at the end of May.

After the success of Clean Master and Clean Master Security, Cheetah Mobile went public on the New York Stock Exchange on May 8. The IPO raised $168 million for Cheetah Mobile, which is affiliated with Kingsoft. This is one of a series of high-profile Chinese technology companies that have gone public in the United States recently, including Weibo and JD.com, and the subsequent IPO of Alibaba.

Retica continues to climb the Google Play charts

The April App Index mentions Retrica, a photo editing app on Google Play. The app continued to climb the Google Play download rankings in May, ranking 7th in the non-game app download rankings. Brazil and Mexico are still the main regions driving downloads, ranking in the top five in the overall rankings in May. Interestingly, the download rankings in these two countries reached new highs at the end of May, which is not unrelated to the special recommendations on the Google Play homepage.

If you want to see the rankings for games, check out the Games Index report for May 2014. For the latest rankings for apps and publishers, check out App Annie's full index table.

Notes:

• The company and app ranking data in this App Annie report is based on download and revenue forecasts provided by App Annie Intelligence . The daily historical ranking table and homepage app data are available to all users through App Annie's app tracking solution Store Stats .
• Because the Game Index already covers games, the information provided by the App Index does not include game apps. Please note that the ranking of the top companies in the App Index is only for the company's game downloads and revenue, while the Index for Apps top companies ranking is for the company's downloads and revenue excluding game apps.
• Similar versions of the same app with different names (e.g., The New York Times and The New York Times iPad Edition) have been ranked separately in the rankings since September 2013. For the purposes of data validity in October, similar versions of the same app with different names will be unified (e.g., The New York Times and The New York Times iPad Edition are now ranked together as a single app).
• Company and combined app rankings in the App Annie Games Index and Apps Index are based on apps in the top 1,000 lists.
• In the first month after an app is merged, its change in ranking in the index will be compared to the merged app in that month and the highest-ranked individual app before the merge in the previous month. Therefore, the change in ranking for the new unified app may exaggerate the increase in ranking from March 2014 to April 2014.
• In the iOS App Store, an app can be categorized in a primary category, or in an optional secondary category. If an app has a primary category of Entertainment and a secondary category of Games, it is a candidate for inclusion in this index of apps. If the app's primary category is Games and its secondary category is Entertainment, it will not be included in this index of apps; it is a candidate for the Games index.
• It is important to note that the ranking methodology used by the App Annie Index is different from that used in the iOS App Store. In the latter, the ranking of apps for a specific category will include all apps in the primary or secondary categories that match that specific category. Therefore, an app can appear in multiple categories in the iOS App Store or in the App Annie Store Stats rankings.
• In Google Play, an app can only be in one category, so there is no double classification.
• Sometimes, publishers decide to move an existing app from one category to another. In these cases, the App Annie index will be based on how it is categorized in the following month. Given that there is a Games report and an Apps report in the App Annie index, the above situation means that when an app is moved from the Games category to the Non-Games category, the app will be recategorized in the other index report, and vice versa.
• In the App Annie index, all apps and publishers are reported under their parent company when possible. For example, Instagram is listed under its parent company Facebook, rather than being listed separately as the direct publisher Instagram. Note that if you view the Facebook parent company page in Store Stats, you will see publishers under Facebook's parent company, including Instagram. Instagram will be listed under Instagram's publisher page.
• The App Annie Index revenue rankings are based on paid download revenue and in-app purchases from the iOS App Store and Google Play. In-app advertising revenue is not included.