What's With These Widgets Going Viral???

Ariel Ariel
4/15/22

This is a single insight from This Week in Apps #109 - Off to a Weird Start.... Check out the full article for more insights.


Another week, another widget shooting to the top of the App Store. Wait, I definitely said that recently. Yes, yes I did...

Well, it's happening again.

LiveIn, a home screen widget that lets your friends share pictures, has taken over the US App Store.

Downloads across the App Store and Google Play, which averaged just 3,000 per day in March, according to our estimates, jumped to nearly 160,000 on Tuesday. Up nearly 2,500% within a few weeks. That's a lot for a widget that's only a few months old.

The US had the most downloads, but Saudi Arabia was right behind it, with Brazil and India in 3rd and 4th places.

LiveIn's widget idea isn't novel. A few months ago, LocketWidget rose to the top of the App Store, doing exactly the same thing. I looked at LiveIn's release date and guess what? It came a few weeks after LocketWidget hit peak downloads.

Coincidence? I think not. Inspiration? That's more like it. Since taking off in early January, LocketWidget was downloaded more than 11,000,000 times from the App Store, according to our App Intelligence. And that's after it lost its top spot.

LiveIn's rise is a reminder you don't have to be the first to an idea to be successful. It doesn't mean LiveIn will be successful, but for now, the opportunity is there.

App Intelligence for Everyone!

The insights in this report come right out of our App Intelligence platform, which offers access to download and revenue estimates, installed SDKs, and more! Learn more about the tools or schedule a demo with our team to get started.

Are you a Journalist? You can get access to our app and market intelligence for free through the Appfigures for Journalists program. Contact us for more details.

All figures included in this report are estimated. Unless specified otherwise, estimated revenue is always net, meaning it's the amount the developer earned after Apple and Google took their fee.


Related Resources

Peacock Is Riding the Winter Olympics Straight to 100 Million Downloads
Insights
Peacock Is Riding the Winter Olympics Straight to 100 Million Downloads

The Winter Olympics are pushing Peacock toward a major milestone. But the real story is how NBC's streaming app doubled its revenue while Disney's apps went the other way.

The Most Predictable Spike in the App Store
Insights
The Most Predictable Spike in the App Store

Every year, one app quietly takes over the App Store charts for a few days. It's not a game, not a social network, and not AI. Here's what's behind the spike.