Want to Make Money, Developers? Focus on the App Store

Google Play retained its No. 1 position as the top app store of 2015 in terms of sheer download numbers, but developers are still making more money on Apple's rival platform, according to a report from analytics firm App Annie.

Google's app store saw a "huge increase" in downloads last year, driven by first-time smartphone and tablet owners in emerging markets like Brazil, India, Indonesia, Turkey, and Mexico, allowing the Web giant to widen its already significant download lead over Apple, the report notes.

In its 2014 recap, App Annie reported that Google Play had a 60 percent download lead over iOS. In 2015, Google widened that lead to nearly 100 percent. In other words, people around the world downloaded twice as many apps from Google Play last year than they did from the App Store.

But when it comes to making money, Apple is still on top. Both stores made "considerable gains in revenue" last year, but iOS continues to outpace Google Play, according to App Annie. Apple can largely thank China, the U.S., and Japan for its massive worldwide iOS revenue gains last year, as these countries together accounted for nearly 90 percent of the App Store's year-on-year revenue growth.

In January, Apple revealed it has paid more than $40 billion to developers since the App Store's inception. As of February 2015, Google had paid out $7 billion to Android developers.

Like last year, both tech giants made most of their app cash from games, which accounted for 90 percent of revenue on Google Play and 75 percent on the App Store.

Overall, "2015 was a banner year for the app ecosystem," App Annie said. "Subscription monetization proved successful for video streaming, music streaming, and dating apps. Games, ridesharing, and [mobile] commerce also continued to grow in downloads and usage."

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Going forward, the company expects TV and wearables to be "the next frontier in apps." App Annie also sees "significant" room for growth in the mobile app market.

"Device penetration remains relatively low in a number of emerging markets, and future increases are likely to bolster download growth," the company wrote. "Store revenue will continue to grow as audiences broaden and monetization options such as in-app subscriptions gain further traction in the coming year."

For more, check out PCMag's roundups of the 100 best iPhone and Android apps.