Sensor Tower's 2021 State of Lifestyle Apps Report Reveals U.S. Installs Hit a Record 151 Million in Q1 2021

Lifestyle category apps are off to a strong start in 2021, both in terms of adoption and consumer spending in the United States. Sensor Tower's State of Lifestyle Apps 2021 report, available now, analyzes trends in the category and analyzes how subcategories such as Dating, Social Discovery, and Home Technology performed throughout 2020 and in early 2021.

U.S. Consumer Spending on Lifestyle Apps Hit Nearly $300 Million in Q1

Although U.S. consumer spending in Lifestyle category apps declined slightly quarter-over-quarter in 2019, 2020 saw a resurgence. The category's revenue grew each quarter over the last year, and that trend continued into the first quarter of 2021 when the category reached $296 million in spending, up 30 percent year-over-year.

Excluding Tinder, which introduced direct payments on Android, the Lifestyle category saw a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 50 percent in U.S. consumer spending since the first quarter of 2018.

U.S. Adoption of Lifestyle Apps Hits a Record 151 Million in Q1

For the first time ever, Lifestyle category apps saw 151 million first-time installs in a quarter in Q1 2021, up 10 percent year-over-year. This growth in adoption was driven especially by Android users; Google Play installs reached 69 million last quarter, up 30 percent Q/Q. This brought Google Play's share of the downloads to 46 percent, which was the highest it had seen since 1Q18.

Match Group's Dominance in the Dating Space Continues to Grow

Match Group maintained a strong presence in the top charts in 1Q21, taking seven out of the 10 spots in the top dating apps by U.S. consumer spending. While competition from other services has been heating up, Match's portfolio also continued outperforming them in terms of adoption last quarter. Although Dating app downloads fell 23 percent Y/Y in 1Q21, Match Group apps didn't see as much of decline and grew their market share of installs to 64 percent.

Social Discovery Grows Its Market Share of Spending

Social discovery apps, which enable users to socialize and emphasize friendships rather than dating, saw a boom in popularity in 2020 with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. consumer interest has continued into 2021 as the subcategory's revenue continues to grow, climbing to 38 percent market share of spending in 1Q21 among the top 10 social discovery and dating apps.

Social discovery's market share of consumer spending last quarter was 2.7 times the market share in 2018. The subcategory is led by BIGO LIVE, an app that includes features such as livestreaming, video chat, and social audio.

For more analysis from the Sensor Tower Store Intelligence platform, including key insights on the performance of top lifestyle apps in the U.S. along with detailed analyses of subcategories such as housing and rental apps, download the complete report in PDF form below: