Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy.

The app industry continues to grow, with a record number of downloads and consumer spending across both the iOS and Google Play stores combined in 2021, according to the latest year-end reports. Global spending across iOS, Google Play and third-party Android app stores in China grew 19% in 2021 to reach $170 billion. Downloads of apps also grew by 5%, reaching 230 billion in 2021, and mobile ad spend grew 23% year over year to reach $295 billion.

Today’s consumers now spend more time in apps than ever before — even topping the time they spend watching TV, in some cases. The average American watches 3.1 hours of TV per day, for example, but in 2021, they spent 4.1 hours on their mobile device. And they’re not even the world’s heaviest mobile users. In markets like Brazil, Indonesia and South Korea, users surpassed five hours per day in mobile apps in 2021.

Apps aren’t just a way to pass idle hours, either. They can grow to become huge businesses. In 2021, 233 apps and games generated over $100 million in consumer spend, and 13 topped $1 billion in revenue. This was up 20% from 2020, when 193 apps and games topped $100 million in annual consumer spend, and just eight apps topped $1 billion.

This Week in Apps offers a way to keep up with this fast-moving industry in one place, with the latest from the world of apps, including news, updates, startup fundings, mergers and acquisitions, and suggestions about new apps to try, too.

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Top Stories

Google I/O Wrap-Up

Image Credits: Google

We came, we saw, we I/O'd. But did we have fun?

It's a shame Google's big developer event was still largely hybrid -- save for select invitees (Google's partners), the event was only streamed. The keynotes are held at an outdoor amphitheater so the COVID-era rule is starting to not make sense. Concerts are open and tech employees are being shuffled back to the office, but outdoor tech events are still closed, I guess? Unfortunately, this decision impacts those not fortunate enough to make the guest list at these real-world happenings that offer networking opportunities and chances to engage directly with Google employees. At least Apple turned WWDC into a random lottery, or so it says. After all, the keynotes are not the main reason developers go to these things.