Top grossing non-gaming apps in the U.S. last year included Pandora, Disney+, and YouTube

Worldwide spending on the top 100 non-game subscription apps worldwide through the Apple App Store reached a total of $10.3 billion last year. That figure was almost four times the $2.7 billion amount spent in the Google Play Store over the same time period according to Sensor Tower. Overall spending in that category (both iOS and Android) rose 34% on an annual basis from $9.7 billion in 2019 to $13 billion last year. Consumers spent $111 billion on in-app purchases in both app storefronts last year. In 2020, U.S. consumers spent $5.9 billion on the top 100 non-game mobile apps offering subscriptions during 2020. That was a 26% hike over the $4.6 billion spent on such apps in 2019.

If there is one thing that has been true over time, it is that the App Store generates more revenue than the Google Play Store even though Android controls roughly 85% of the global smartphone market. But here is something that Android users might want to know. The top 100 non-game subscription apps took in $4.5 billion in 2020 from the U.S. App Store, up 26%. While the same type of apps generated a much lower $1.4 billion in the Play Store last year, the year-over-year increase of 40% was larger than the 26% that the App Store achieved.

While talking about these numbers might be interesting, what you want to know is the name of the apps that sucked up cash like a vacuum cleaner collects dust. So here we go. The number one app in the App Store by revenue worldwide last year was YouTube. The streaming video app took in a leading $991.7 million bucks in the last year which includes the $562 million it generated in the U.S. It was the top subscription app in the App Store while Google One had this honor in the Google Play Store taking in $445 million worldwide and $255.7 million in the U.S. The service includes cloud storage. Every Google Account starts with 15GB of free storage shared with Google Photos, Drive, and Gmail. In the states, an additional 100GB of cloud storage is $1.99 per month or $19.99 per year. 200GB of storage is $2.99 per month or $29.99 annually. And 2TB of data is $9.99 per month or $99.99 for a year.

The second largest subscription app in the states last year was the hugely successful Disney+ streamer. With close to 100 million customers, Disney+ is well ahead of expectations thanks to a huge variety of programming including Marvel's popular WandaVision which stars two characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Disney+ finished third in the App Store for 2020 and was second in the Google Play Store. This finish must have made the Disney executives in charge of streaming ecstatic for topping expectations.

The third highest grossing subscription app in the U.S. was dating app Tinder which got help from its second place showing in the App Store. It didn't place in the top ten non-game subscription apps in the Play Store. We already told you that Google One was the top grossing app in the U.S. version of the Google Play Store last year. But overall in the states, the dating app finished fifth after Pandora. The music streamer was fourth overall and in the App Store and did a tad better in the Google Play Store where it was third.

Speaking of streamers, video streamer HBO Max first left the starting gate on May 27th. Led by popular sitcom Friends (an HBO Max exclusive), the app finished 8th overall among non-game subscription apps in the U.S., seventh in the App Store, and fifth in the Google Play Store. Thanks to its ESPN+ premium service, ESPN hit the charts last year. Combining iOS and Android versions of the app, ESPN finished in 10th place. In the App Store it was ninth, and was sixth for 2020 in the Google Play Store.