According to the Google Play top-grossing app rankings, 41 of the top 50 mobile applications fall under the gaming category, illustrating the widespread appeal of these types of apps among smartphone users.
In fact, with over 2.2 billion active players and a market value of over $76 billion, mobile gaming has become the world’s largest gaming sector, which is an especially impressive feat considering the relative infancy of this medium of entertainment compared to its competitors.
With that said, there’s a lot more to the world of apps than just gaming.
Over the past several years, the functionalities and use cases of mobile applications have increased dramatically, offering various benefits to users through their convenience and ease of use. What’s more, today’s apps integrate and utilize other features of the mobile device, such as the camera, contact list, GPS, phone calls, accelerometer, and so on.
On that note, let’s look at some of the top-grossing app categories on the Google Play store that don’t fall within the gaming niche.
Entertainment Streaming
Video streaming has truly exploded in recent years, especially after the initial outbreak of Covid-19, where billions of people were forced indoors with little else left to do other than binge-watch their favorite movies and TV shows. During this time, platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney+ all experienced record highs in membership for their subscription services, and viewing numbers went through the roof, much to the delight of their shareholders.
As of the end of 2020, US video streaming app revenue was estimated to be over $24 billion. By the end of 2025, this number is expected to rise to a staggering $42 billion.
This goes to show just how lucrative this market can be for these companies and their app developers. At the time of writing, the top-grossing streaming service on Android is HBO Max, which finds itself situated in third place, closely followed by Disney Plus at sixth.
Interestingly, Twitch is the only entry on the top-grossing list that falls within both the streaming and gaming niche, simultaneously appealing to both sets of users. For those unfamiliar, Twitch is an uber-successful live-streaming service, which is owned by Amazon and focuses on the video game industry. Their services include broadcasts of esports competitions, social features (such as live chat), and support community building between spectators and streamers.
Currently, Twitch app is ranked at number 11 on the leaderboard of top-grossing Android apps, which is extremely impressive considering it only launched in 2017.
Social Media
Amazingly (and yet, somewhat unsurprisingly), more than half of the world’s population now uses social media. And, while games are the most widely downloaded and highest-grossing app genre, social media usage still dominates the world’s online activities.
According to Datareportal, social networking platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter outrank every other type of website or application in terms of user visits, demonstrating how intertwined these services have become in our culture and day-to-day lives.
However, probably because they’re ad-supported, none of the aforementioned websites make an appearance on the list of top-grossing Android apps. Instead, the only social media application to be found is TikTok, currently sitting pretty in position 23. Launched in 2016, TikTok has gone on to become one of the most successful apps in history.
The Chinese viral media sensation was the most downloaded app in 2020, when it was downloaded over 2 billion times. On this platform, users can upload and view short-form video content with durations from 15 seconds to three minutes.
So, what was the catalyst that caused TikTok to surpass Facebook and Twitter in terms of mobile app downloads?
Well, it's difficult to say at this point, but TikTok appears to have done an excellent job of appealing to the younger generations – particularly Generation Z, who were born in the second part of the 1990s.
A big part of their success can be chalked up to the recent popularity of short-form video content, and also TikTok's ability to persuade a slew of celebrities and influencers with large social media followings to get active on the platform. If one thing is for sure, it doesn’t look like TikTok will be leaving the charts anytime soon.
Dating Apps
Despite the fact that matchmaking is one of the oldest industries in the world, online matchmaking is currently having a moment of its own. Since Tinder debuted in 2012, the world of online dating has been turned upside down. Now, every single day, millions of people are searching for love behind the screens of their cellphones, all in the hope of meeting somebody and sparking a connection in real life.
These days, all it takes is a single swipe to the right, and you could be matched with the love of your life. Imagine traveling 50 years back in time and explaining that to someone! Interestingly, even though Tinder (28th on the Android top-grossing chart) was one of the first mega-hits to enter the dating app space, it is the only dating app that appears on the leaderboard, which is a testament to how successful and popular the app remains after all this time.
To date, 30 billion matches have been made through the Tinder platform, and the app is expected to be home to over 57 million users by the end of 2021.
While Tinder is currently experiencing more competition from apps such as Bumble and Hinge, those newer products clearly still have a long way to go if they want to dethrone the king of the dating app realm.
The Final Word
At some point over the past decade, it appears as if most smartphone users have become avid gamers, considering the incredible popularity of these apps on the top-grossing charts.
With that said, billions of users still turn to their mobile devices for a wide range of services, such as streaming, social media, and even dating, which clearly shows the diverse use cases that our cellphones possess.
Out of the Google play top grossing apps, the 9 apps that are not gaming are:
Looking to the future, it will be fascinating to see what role apps will play in both our personal and professional lives, especially as we see further advancements in wearable technology and fields such as virtual and augmented reality.