State of app marketing in the Philippines – 2025 Edition

Once considered an emerging digital economy, the Philippines has become one of Southeast Asia’s most dynamic app ecosystems. With 3 billion app installs in 2024, up 615% since 2018, the country now plays an outsized role in shaping mobile-first behavior in the region.

After years of rapid growth, the market is showing signs of deeper maturity. Apps now play a central role in how people bank, shop, date, and communicate, reflecting mobile’s role as core infrastructure, not just convenience. As non-gaming categories take the lead and iOS gains momentum in monetization and re-engagement, the country is clearly shifting from volume-based growth to a value-led strategy.

This report unpacks the data behind that shift, highlighting performance, opportunity, and risk across platforms and verticals.

Growth in the Philippines is being shaped by deeper shifts in infrastructure, access, and mobile behavior. What began as a mobile-first transition is now a mobile-by-default reality: smartphones are widespread, digital services are embedded into daily life, and user expectations are rising. 

In 2024, app install volume grew 25% YoY, and Android accounted for 90% of total installs, underscoring the role of accessible devices and national connectivity programs. With install share up 128% since 2018, the Philippines stands out as the only SEA market with six consecutive years of growth, defying regional slowdowns and reaffirming its trajectory as a mobile-first economy.

Key Figures:

• Smartphones are nearly universal: Shipments reached 18 million in 2024, thanks to affordable devices and wider availability beyond urban centers.
• Fintech and eCommerce are surging: With 300+ fintech companies and a $72B eCommerce projection, mobile is now core to how people shop, save, and pay.
• Connectivity is expanding fast: National programs are helping bring fast, affordable internet to regions that were previously offline or under-connected.

The population is young and mobile-native: With a median age of 25.7, most users grew up on mobile. This isn’t digital adoption—it’s digital default.

Android continues to lead in install volume, with over 2.75 billion installs recorded in 2024. It remains the dominant choice for scale, particularly in high-volume and early-growth categories like Finance and Dating. 

While Android maintains the advantage in raw installs, app performance across platforms shows a more complex picture—one shaped by differences in engagement, monetization, and user behavior.

On iOS, user behavior is shifting in ways that point to deeper engagement and stronger monetization signals. Shopping has seen a notable rebound, and Dating continues to gain traction, especially among high-intent users. These shifts highlight how different platforms deliver different types of user value—and why marketers are adapting their strategies accordingly.

Key Figures:

• Finance remains the largest vertical by volume, with 1.1B installs on Android and 45.3M on iOS in 2024, highlighting sustained scale and relevance across platforms.
• Dating grew more than 40% YoY, with iOS alone rising 34%.
• Shopping saw a gain of 24% YoY on iOS, recovering after two years of decline.

Marketers are adapting their platform strategies based on these usage patterns. Android continues to deliver reach at scale, while iOS is driving more consistent returns through re-engagement and higher revenue per user, particularly in non-gaming categories.

User acquisition (UA) spend in the Philippines grew 28% in 2024, totaling approximately $988 million across Android and iOS. 

Rather than spreading budgets broadly, marketers are increasingly targeting channels and categories that show consistent post-install value. That includes stronger re-engagement potential, better monetization, and more reliable downstream ROI.

iOS UA spend grew 2x faster than Android in 2024, rising 54% YoY compared to Android’s 27%. Finance and Shopping drew the most investment, while Gaming remained steady on Android and spiked on iOS despite its smaller install base. The shift reflects a more disciplined acquisition strategy, focused on quality, efficiency, and long-term value.

Key Figures:

• iOS UA spend increased nearly 2x faster than Android, indicating a shift toward higher-value user segments
• Finance apps captured the largest share of iOS UA spend, with spend increasing by 52% YoY in 2024, reflecting strong monetization confidence.
• Non-gaming now accounts for the majority of UA spend growth, up 41% YoY

Smarter UA strategies are reshaping investment decisions. Marketers are prioritizing channels that deliver consistent value over pure scale.

Between Q1 2023 and Q1 2025, iOS remarketing conversions grew by 346%—more than twice the rate of Android. This reflects a clear shift in marketing priorities: brands are moving beyond acquisition and investing in long-term user value.

Remarketing has become central to growth, as marketers invest more in the infrastructure needed to retain and re-engage high-intent users. Marketers are building the infrastructure to support smarter segmentation, deep linking, and campaign personalization, particularly on iOS, where re-engagement tends to generate stronger lift.

What stands out:

• iOS continues to drive higher-value re-engagement, making it a priority for marketers focused on full-funnel performance.
• Infrastructure maturity (e.g., deep links, predictive targeting) is enabling more scalable remarketing strategies.
• Even Android, long seen as a scale platform, is showing increased traction in re-engagement, pointing to market-wide adoption of LTV-driven strategy.

As acquisition costs climb, the ability to re-engage and retain users is emerging as one of the most important performance levers in the market.

Monetization in the Philippines is maturing quickly. In-app purchase (IAP) revenue continues to grow across both platforms. In 2024, iOS IAP rose 38% year over year, while Android IAP grew just 2%, underscoring how differently the two platforms are converting engagement into revenue. Android still leads in gaming IAP volume, but iOS is gaining ground rapidly, especially in Finance and Shopping.

Between mid-2023 and early 2025, iOS IAA (In-app Advertising) revenue increased by 82%, rising from $639K in Q3 2023 to $1.16M by Q4 2024, outpacing Android’s 38% growth over the same period.

Many apps now rely on a mix of IAA, IAP, and subscriptions, adapting their strategies to reflect how users interact with content and value. The flexibility to monetize across different formats has become a key advantage, especially in a market with diverse user behaviors and price sensitivity.

Key Figures:

• Android gaming continues to dominate IAP growth, up 145% YoY
• On iOS, non-gaming IAP rose 45%, led by Finance and Shopping
• Hybrid monetization is gaining traction, now used by 9.2% of gaming apps and 7.7% of non-gaming apps in Q1 2025, up from less than 5% in early 2023.

This shift points to a more adaptive monetization mindset. Developers are aligning formats with how users interact—balancing reach, retention, and revenue.

The Philippines ranks 8th globally in install fraud, with Android fraud reaching 11% in Q4 2024 and iOS at 8%. Bots make up 86% of total fraud, and Finance apps account for the vast majority of exposure, totaling over $730 million across both platforms.

Bot activity continues to dominate, making up 86% of detected fraud, while newer methods like fake publisher activity are rising fast, especially on iOS, where these attempts increased 87% year over year. But there are also signs of progress. Fraud rates in Finance and Food & Drink apps have started to decline, suggesting that targeted mitigation strategies are beginning to pay off.

Key Figures:

• The Philippines faces $845 million in total fraud exposure in 2024, with Finance alone making up over $730 million. 
• Android accounts for the majority, with 91% of exposure concentrated in Finance apps. iOS also shows elevated risk, with 74% of exposure tied to Finance and 5% to Shopping.
• Fraud rates dropped by 45% on Android and 60% on iOS since their peaks, proving that consistent, targeted prevention drives real results.

Finance fraud, in particular, should be treated as a priority, given its scale and financial exposure in the Philippine market

As marketing sophistication increases, so does exposure. Without proper protection in place, even well-optimized campaigns are at risk of being undermined. Defending growth is now as critical as driving it.