If you are thinking of making an app that can help you earn an incredible amount of ROI per download then the Apple App Store is where you can place your bet on. During the first half of 2019, Apple App Store earned 80% of the total revenue that came in from apps globally, with Google Play Store just getting 20% of the revenue despite it getting three times as many downloads as Apple’s App Store.

iOS has long been considered by iPhone app development companies as the ultimate platform to place any app on due to the incredibly consistent revenue streams it can bring on the base of its highly loyal audience.

Apps are perhaps one of the most lucrative business opportunities around these days if you can get it right, with some apps raking in billions of dollars in revenue.

These high earning apps are obviously the ones that users like to engage the most with, because users won’t be spending money on something if they don’t feel like they are getting great value out of it.

So, if you are business owner, running a startup or even a large scale enterprise and looking forth towards investing in the app industry towards creating an iOS app that can provide you with consistent and sustainable profitability, then what kind of apps should you be making?

The best way to find this out is to go through an overview of who’s ruling the roost on the Apple App Store as the top earners.

Out of the top 5 earning iOS apps, four of them are gaming apps, signifying just how much interest users are showing in this particular category and why it’s becoming the easiest category to venture into if you want to build an app that can really earn big.

Here’s an overview of the top 5 earning apps on iOS last year. The figures are for the year preceding June 2020.

1.    Tinder (Revenue $27.91 Million)

The presence of Tinder as the highest earning app on iOS for last year shouldn’t come as a major surprise to anyone. Tinder is the most popular dating app in the world, used by millions of users worldwide.

The main monetization model of Tinder revolves around providing in-app purchases to its users in the form of profile prioritization and ending the limitation on swipes. There are ads displayed on Tinder as well, but that’s a very minimal feature when it comes to bringing in revenue for the app.

Tinder is owned by Match.com, which also owns other popular dating apps like Hinge and OkCupid, which means that the firm specializes in understanding how exactly apps can facilitate dating on digital platforms among users from diverse backgrounds, preferences and age groups.

Nowadays, Tinder is actively focusing on positioning its Interactive Swipe Night feature, which is its bid to attract and retain the youngest users out there. This feature aids matching people in close proximity or when they engage with the in-app content.

Tinder is No# 1 earning iOS app as on June 2020, cementing its place once again as one of the most popular apps in the world. 

2.    ROBLOX (Revenue $26.15 Million)

Roblox’s appearance on this list as the second highest earning iOS app can come off as a major surprise to many. The app raked up a whopping $26.15 million in revenue till June 2020, which is incredible considering that it’s not your conventional gaming app like Fortnite or PUBG mobile.

Roblox is an iOS app that primarily targets kids, offering free games based on 3D play. On this app, kids can visit theme parks, host birthday parties, build homes, and keep pets among many other exciting activities.

As for how it monetizes itself, Roblox offers Robux as a digital currency to use inside its app in order to unlock premium features. These premium features can include removing limitations on the way one can build theme park rides or the speed at which gameplay continues.

The earnings of Roblox surged during the Covid-19 pandemic as parents required kids to remain busy with something that wasn’t just fun but provided productive engagement as well. Roblox emerged as the perfect answer to this, hence becoming one of the top earning iOS apps of this year.

3.    Monster Strike (Revenue $25.96 Million)

Monster Strike’s is the third highest earning iOS app as of June 2020, and come to think of it, just a couple of years ago, its developer Mixi was considering it as a failure. This speaks volumes about the fact that if you can tweak a particular app just enough to suit the preferences of your audience, then there is nothing that can be considered a permanent failure in the world of apps.

Monster Strike is a multiplayer role-play physics game where players are required to complete different missions, where they continue to build their monsters and use them in a bid to defeat other players on a consistent basis. The strongest support base for this game still comes in from the Southeast Asian regions, with Japan remaining its number one market till now.

4.    King Of Glory (Revenue $25.82 Million)

Multiplayer battle online arena games are insanely popular these days and among the stars of this category is King of Glory. This game has been developed by Tencent, one of the most influential tech companies of the world, and now this game is enthralling Western audiences, making it one of the top earning games on iOS this past year.

The game apps’ searing popularity has led towards the growth of eSports competition of it and despite the fact that it has got strong competition from other MOBA games like Fortnite, King of Glory is staying strong in terms of absolute revenue generated from the iOS app store.

The monetization model followed by this app is the same as most other popular, high earning apps. Users are free to play the game but they will be required to pay if they need access to more advanced and premium features.

5.    Pokemon Go (Revenue $24.60 Million)

The ones that stay at the top are the ones which are the fastest to adapt to newer conditions. This holds true for no one more in the app category than for Pokemon Go.

This game, which came out with a bang four years ago, still continues to rule the roost as one of the most popular games in the world. Basically, Pokemon Go is a location based game, but when the Covid 19 pandemic hit and most people preferred to stay indoors, the game tweaked itself and allowed multiple features for gamers so that they could actively engage with it even when they weren’t going outside.

Remote participation has now been allowed in raids and the Adventure Seek feature now doesn’t require you to be outdoors and can be equally played with indoors with all conditions matching your current surroundings.

The app is widely popular and its earnings of an impressive $24.60 million are proof of just how great people find to play and engage with this top notch iOS gaming app.

Last Words:

Others that narrowly missed out on making the list include Fortnite, Jedi Survivial (PUBG), Professional Baseball Spirits A, Tencent Video and Three Kingdoms, as they form the top 10 of highest earning iOS apps along with the top 5 highest earning iOS apps listed above as of June 2020.

From what is highly evident, one can easily deduce that gaming apps are by far the most consistent earners as they make up 8 of the top 10 highest earning iOS apps. If you are interested in developing a gaming app, then this might be the best time to do it, since the interest of users is at an all-time high in this category and likely to grow even further in the times to come.

Combining the popularity of gaming apps among today’s users and iOS’s ability to make users engage monetarily with the apps they use, might be the perfect combination to base your next million dollar app idea on, so don’t waste time and get on with things now.

Author Bio:

Jane Collen is a creative content writer and digital marketer at TekRevol. She works closely with B2C and B2B businesses providing blog writing, video script writing, ghostwriting, copywriting and social media marketing services.