How to View How Many Times an App Has Been Downloaded

With millions of apps available these days, it’s difficult to filter the ones which would be useful for us. For instance, if you want to download a fitness app, you’ll find such a plethora of apps online that it’s sure to confuse you.

The number of downloads an app becomes an essential metric in such a scenario. It’s a great way to know how popular a particular app is. Also, if you’re an app developer, it’d be wise to see how similar apps perform in the target region of your choice.

Let’s see how to find the number of app downloads.

App Downloads Statistics on the Google Play Store

Fortunately for app creators, getting the download data of your app is plain sailing. Google encourages creators and provides the most detailed analytics so that you can understand what’s working and what’s not.

These are steps you need to follow to know how many times an app has been downloaded. Remember, you can’t check the download data for apps you haven’t created with this method.

1. Login to your Google Play console
2. You’ll now be on the dashboard page of your app. At the top right corner of the page, select the Lifetime option.
3. You’ll find all the details on this page. The statistics are for the lifetime of your app, meaning the data presented covers the time from when the app was first launched up until the date you’re checking. You can see various metrics, including Installs by user, Uninstalls by user, Average rating, Crashes & ANRs, among others.
4. If you want to get even more specific, go to a particular category card, and you’ll find the option Export Report at the bottom right. Clicking on this option will show you more details within the respective category.

But I’m Not an App Creator, So What Do I Do?

Well, if you aren’t an app creator and still want to know the number of downloads for a particular app, Google won’t help you. There is no official way to see the exact number of downloads of an app unless you use external resources.

Google Play does, however, give you an approximate number of downloads for each app available on the store. Launch the store app from your smartphone and look up the app you want to check.

Tap on it when it appears in the search results, and it will take you to the download page. The number of downloads will be above the Install button and next to the app’s size and age rating.

Sensor Tower is an external resource you can use to check how many times an app has been downloaded. It’s a free platform that claims to have precise data, but unfortunately, this claim can’t be verified. However, the success of the platform leads one to believe that their data is not wide off the mark.

Note: Take notice of the icon next to the application names in the screenshot above. Those with the Android icon belong to the Google Play Store while the ones with the Apple icon are applications you can download in the Apple App Store.

To find the number of downloads using Sensor Tower, you’ll first have to create a free profile using your email address. Once you’ve done that, you can log in to Sensor Tower’s desktop site. On the top menu, click on the Products option. Now, select App Analysis from the pull-down menu.

You can now search for an app in the search bar in the top-right corner of the page. Below is a screenshot of Sensor Tower showing the data for HBO NOW.

As you can see, not only is the revenue breakdown mentioned up and center, but you can see the number of downloads below the search bar. The total revenue for the app is next to it.

Sensor Tower offers more details, but you’d need to purchase a subscription to get more information on a particular app.

What About the App Store?

Like Google, Apple does not make its data, including the number of downloads for a particular app, readily available. If you’re a developer and want to know detailed statistics, we recommend you use the official App Analytics.

It’s a great platform that allows users to scrutinize every bit of data about their app. The list includes user downloads, engagement, web and app referrals, crash rates, among many other things.

Just like with the Play Store, you can use the Sensor Tower to get the info on the number of downloads, but we’d recommend against that. If you’re a developer, you’ll do well to get the information straight from the horse’s mouth.

Unfortunately, the App Store doesn’t show an estimate of downloads like the Google Play Store does.

The Truth Is Out There

If you’re a developer and want to know how your app is performing, you can use the Google Play console or the App Analytics for Android and iOS, respectively.

However, if you’re not a developer and are keen to know the detailed statistics of an app anyway, we recommend you use a free platform like Sensor Tower. But remember that not all their data is freely available, and you might need to pay if you want some particular bit of information.

If you know any tips or tricks to get access to the download data for an app, please share them with the Alphr community.