Conditions for getting into the top 25 best App Store apps

Distimo has shared data on exactly how many downloads are needed to get into the top 25 of the best paid and free apps for the American version of the Apple App Store. 

Distimo analysts did not choose the number 25 by chance. It is this number of applications that is shown to the user without additional downloads when the user logs into the App Store from his smartphone. The data presented is based on the daily iPhone downloads of the American Apple App Store in the iPhone version for April 2012. 

As Distimo notes in his blog, the nature of application success depends on demand: in order to achieve high positions in a popular category, more downloads are needed than in a less popular category. For example, to enter the top 25 free apps in the Entertainment category, 6,700 users must download it daily, while at the same time, only 300 downloads per day are needed to achieve a similar position in the Weather category. 

In addition, free applications are downloaded in much larger volumes than paid ones, since the latter have a higher entry threshold. On average, across all categories, the number of downloads required to get into the top 25 most popular free apps is 13 times more than the number of downloads required to get into the top 25 most popular paid apps. 

As it is understood from the tables: games are the most popular category. Therefore, Distimo analysts have analyzed the game subcategories in detail. 

By the way, pay attention to how the number needed to get into the American top 25 free apps has decreased. Back in December, according to the same Distimo, it was necessary to gain at least 45 thousand downloads per day, and not 38 thousand as now. The reason? Apple’s struggle with bot farms.