Apple iOS, Android App Size Skyrockets

Apple devices , but iOS app file sizes are growing.

According to new data from ABI Research, the global average iOS app size across all categories was 23 megabytes in September, 16 percent larger than in March. Gaming is the most popular app category and most of these apps now come in at 60MB, a 42 percent increase over the last six months.

ABI attributed the increase to the Retina display of the , as well as Apple's more liberal submission policy. In March, Apple increased the size limits on downloadable apps from 20MB to 50MB.

"Their games can now be more complex and graphically polished, while still being able to benefit from the instant gratification of cellular downloads," ABI senior analyst Aapo Markkanen said in a statement.

The average Android app, meanwhile, came in at about 6MB in September, a 10 percent jump from March. But the size of Android games nearly quadrupled to 40MB after Google in March on its Android apps from 50MB to 4GB.

"Android's old way of doing things was cumbersome for game developers and their customers alike," Markkanen said. "But there is evidence that this change, along with certain other improvements, is indeed making it a more credible gaming platform."

But while app sizes are increasing, storage capacity on smartphones and tablets are not keeping pace.

"Especially the consumers with 16GB devices are likely to become more conscious about what apps to keep and what to uninstall, so the developers' bar to impress will be getting even higher than it is now," Markkanen said. "This could also speed up the adoption of the mobile cloud as a storage remedy quite significantly."