Apple Crosses 500,000 iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch Apps Milestone
Over 500,000 iPhone, iPad and iPod touch apps have now been approved for Apple mobile devices including smartphones, digital music players and tablet PCs.
Less than three years after opening on July 10, 2008 with 500 apps, more than half a million pieces of software for the iOS operating system have been released in the U.S. But due to removals, withdrawals and replacements as programs are pulled or rendered obsolete, the actual number of apps currently available for download hovers closer to 400,000. Despite a recent upswing in Android devices’ popularity, Google’s Android Market, launched months later, boasts 294,000 apps and 3 billion application downloads by comparison.
Per a recent infographic that commemorates the occasion by three iOS app service providers including video game publisher Chillingo, search engine Chomp and online magazine 148apps, there are 85,569 unique app developers. Over 37% of iOS apps are free, totaling 147,966 individual programs in number, and another 29% of the 244,720 paid apps available cost just $0.99. The average price for paid apps hovers at $3.64, with Angry Birds the clear number-one bestseller.
Games, books and entertainment apps rank among the most popular choices, with 4.6 apps produced on average per iOS developer. Good luck collecting them all, though: Stats reveal that it would cost a whopping $891,982.24 to download every last one.