Apple App Store hits 25 billion downloads

Apple has passed 25 billion app downloads on the iTunes App Store. The company announced the milestone over the weekend, along with a host of other impressive app-related figures.

Apple's App Store went live in July 2008 and now has more than 550,000 apps, with hundreds added every day.

The 25 billion landmark has been hit in less than four years, with it now reported that around 48 million iOS apps are downloaded every day.

The 25 billionth app download was made by Chunli Fu, of Qingdao, China, who downloaded Disney's game, Where's My Water?. He received a $10,000 iTunes gift card for his troubles, courtesy of Apple.

Apple claims "the app revolution has added more than 210,000 iOS jobs to the economy since the introduction of the iPhone in 2007", with more than 248,000 registered iOS app developers in the US alone.

An impressive $4 billion in royalties has been paid to iOS app developers since the store's inception.

Apple also published all-time Top 25 lists of free and paid-for apps. The Facebook app leads the way on the free list, followed by Skype and eBay, and further down two of our favourites, Shazam and Movies by Flixster.

The paid-for apps list is dominated by games and indeed Angry Birds, though it's good to see the excellent TuneIn Radio Pro app in at number 7. Head to the App Store on iTunes for the full list.

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Joe Cox
Content Director

Joe is the Content Director for What Hi-Fi? and Future’s Product Testing, having previously been the Global Editor-in-Chief of What Hi-Fi?. He has worked on What Hi-Fi? across the print magazine and website for almost 20 years, writing news, reviews and features on everything from turntables to TVs, headphones to hi-fi separates. He has covered product launch events across the world, from Apple to Technics, Sony and Samsung; reported from CES, the Bristol Show, and Munich High End for many years; and written for sites such as the BBC, Stuff, and the Guardian. In his spare time, he enjoys expanding his vinyl collection and cycling (not at the same time).