Report · January 1, 2022

Mobile App Trends 2022: A Global Benchmark of App Performance

Summary

The global mobile ecosystem experienced significant expansion throughout 2021 and into 2022, characterized by record-breaking consumer spending of $170 billion and a projected ad spend of $336 billion. Despite initial concerns regarding privacy changes following the release of iOS 14.5, the industry demonstrated remarkable resilience as App Tracking Transparency opt-in rates reached 25% globally, far exceeding early market expectations. This growth was distributed across key verticals including fintech, e-commerce, and gaming, with mobile e-commerce sales alone reaching $3.56 trillion. The fintech sector emerged as a primary driver of engagement, with installs and sessions rising by 34% and 53% respectively. While traditional banking and payment apps maintain the highest market share, cryptocurrency and stock trading platforms saw the most intense user activity, with session lengths nearly doubling. However, this heightened interest triggered a sharp increase in acquisition costs, with fintech eCPIs rising from $1.05 to $3.40 over the course of a year. Similarly, e-commerce apps saw a 46% surge in in-app revenue despite rising costs and declining retention, signaling a shift where users are spending more money and time per session even as new user acquisition becomes more expensive. Mobile gaming remains the dominant force in the app economy, accounting for 52% of total consumer spend. Global game installs grew by 32%, led by the hyper-casual subvertical, though action and adventure titles commanded the highest levels of engagement and session frequency. While Day 30 retention rates for games nearly doubled to 9%, the industry faces a growing divide between high-volume downloads and long-term stickiness. As user acquisition costs continue to climb across all regions—particularly in LATAM and EMEA—the focus for developers has shifted from pure volume to maximizing lifetime value and implementing sophisticated re-engagement strategies to sustain growth in an increasingly competitive landscape.

From the report

2 Mobile app trends 2022 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 3 iOS 14.5+ and the opt-in ...........................................................................................................................5 Proving ROI on Connected TV campaigns.......................................................................................7 The verticals....................................................................................................................................... 8 Fintech .............................................................................................................................................................9 E-commerce ............................................................................................................................................... 10 Gaming ............................................................................................................................................................11 Top takeaways .................................................................................................................................12 The methodology .........................................................................................................................13 Part 1: Fintech..................................................................................................................................14 Installs and finding users ........................................................................................................................14 Sessions and user behavior ....................................................................................................................21 Top fintech takeaways ............................................................................................................................28 Part 2: E-commerce .................................................................................................................. 30 Installs and finding users ...................................................................................................................... 30 Sessions and user behavior ...................................................................................................................

.... 30 Installs and finding users ...................................................................................................................... 30 Sessions and user behavior ................................................................................................................... 37 Top e-commerce takeaways ................................................................................................................43 Part 3: Gaming ...............................................................................................................................45 Installs and finding users .......................................................................................................................45 Sessions and user behavior ...................................................................................................................55 Top gaming takeaways............................................................................................................................63 Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................64 Contents

Pages: 68
Words: 7,178
Format: PDF
Type: Report

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5 Mobile app trends 2022 It’s been almost one year since iOS 14.5 was rolled out and Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency (ATT) framework requiring user consent to share the Identifier for Advertisers (IDFA) became a reality for mobile marketers and developers. Since the first announcement of the change at the Worldwide Developers Conference in June of 2020, the mobile advertising ecosystem was sent into overdrive and pushed to reassess the way it approaches user privacy, targeted advertising, and user acquisition in general. While the industry has largely adapted and come to understand the benefits of working with a mix of ATT opted-in, device-level data, and aggregated SKAdNetwork data, getting the opt-in has become a pivotal strategic starting point. Early predictions hypothesized industry-wide opt-in rates as low as 5%, but recent Adjust data shows that this figure is actually sitting at approximately 25% (having grown from 16% in May 2021), and that for gaming, it’s hit 30%. Data from AppLovin owned studios shows even more promising results, with multiple popular games yielding opt-in rates of as high as 75%. Consent rates do, however, vary widely, but we expect to see a continued upward trend as more users understand the value of opting in and receiving personalized advertisements — something the gaming industry has been most successful in presenting until now. ATT opt-in rate by vertical iOS 14.5+ and the opt-in Early predictions Industry-wide Gaming E-commerce Fintech Health & fitness Entertainment Lifestyle Social Travel Publications Percentage of users opting in following prompt-served 5% 11% 22% 25% 11% 17% 30% 14% 10% 21% 15%

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