The iPhone 5 has been a massive success for Apple. It’s only been out a week, but it’s already the fastest-selling iPhone in history, racking up 5 million units sold during its first three days of availability. But this isn’t just having a positive affect on Apple’s revenue; it’s also big business for iOS developers, who are seeing massive boosts to their download figures.
With all those people snapping up the iPhone 5, App Store downloads are booming. Seth Porges, developer of free fashion app Cloth [1] , reports that downloads of his app have jumped by as much as 246%:
For weeks prior to the iPhone 5‘s release, downloads of my iOS app Cloth (it’s a fashion thing, in case you’re interested) had been fairly stable. When the iPhone 5 came out on September 21st, downloads jumped about 12 percent from the 20th. On the 22nd, they were up more than 52 percent over the prerelease rate.The 23rd: 157 percent higher. The 24th: a 246 percent bump.
Porges isn’t the only developer seeing a rapid boost. A spokesperson for popular news reader Flipboard said that downloads of their app have doubled since the iPhone 5 made its debut; while Ian Marsh, the co-owner of Tiny Tower developer NimbleBit, said that downloads of their game increased by an incredible 700%.
Another factor behind the boost is iOS 6, which was released on September 19. The update brings a completely redesigned App Store, which makes iOS apps easier to discover, and provides app screenshots in search results.
According to Jacqueline Tanzella, Director of PR for travel-booking service Hipmunk, the App Store changes have helped more users find their app:
I talked to our iOS developer, and he says the iTunes feature definitely helped, but he attributed part of the increase to the new UI of the App Store, which shows a screenshot of the product. Now users can really see that our layout and results are a visual display and that we are really different from other travel apps.
As Porges notes, a massive increase to Apple’s iOS ecosystem is always going to boost App Store downloads. But it’s surprising just how much some rates have increased. If you’re an iOS developer, then, you may want to ensure your next app is out before Apple’s next iOS device.
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