Shopping installs grew nearly 10x as efficiency improved
Finance paid installs jumped 397%, but value lagged
UA spend declined 15% as advertisers tightened budgets
Efficiency is reshaping India’s app market
India’s app economy continues to expand in both scale and value. In Q2 2025, smartphone shipments reached 39 million units, representing a 7% year-over-year increase. Affordable 5G devices also surged in popularity, with shipments rising by nearly 20% YoY as consumers upgraded to faster connectivity.
Value growth is outpacing volume growth. India’s smartphone market grew 8% in volume and 18% in value in Q2 2025, driven by demand for mid-range and premium models supported by financing and discount programs. Combined with near-universal adoption of UPI among young users, India is becoming not only the largest but also a more monetizable app market.
Together, these shifts mark a turning point. Marketers are no longer focused solely on acquisition volume. Efficiency, engagement, and monetization quality are now central to strategy.
In this report, all India-specific app marketing results are based on fully anonymous and aggregated data from AppsFlyer’s India dataset. We analyzed platform splits (Android vs iOS), user paying behavior, UA spend trends, monetization models, engagement, and fraud exposure. Together, these insights provide a detailed picture of how India’s app market is evolving and where opportunities and risks lie for 2025 and beyond.
* All results are based on fully anonymous and aggregated data. To ensure statistical validity, we follow strict volume thresholds and methodologies and only present data when these conditions are met. When normalized data is presented, the share of each quarter out of the total for the entire time frame is shown to create a trend.
Installs grew 816% since 2017, but growth is slowing
India’s app market has scaled at an extraordinary pace, expanding by +816% since 2017. After years of double-digit gains, installs rose by just +3% in 2024 and are forecast to decline by –2% in 2025. This reflects a market shifting from explosive expansion toward a steadier, efficiency-driven phase.
Category dynamics diverge. Gaming has expanded more than 15 times since 2017, but is expected to contract by 5% in 2025. Non-gaming has grown 5x, anchored in payments, commerce, and mobility apps that now form the backbone of India’s app economy.
Platform dynamics show the balance between scale and value. Android holds 94% of installs in 2025, reflecting mass adoption. But the mix is shifting: shipments of mid-range and premium smartphones are rising, supported by EMI (Equated Monthly Installment) financing programs that allow consumers to spread payments, alongside rapid 5G adoption. These trends are expanding India’s base of higher-value users. iOS, while just 6% of installs, has doubled its share since 2017 and represents a growing premium segment concentrated in urban centers.
In the regional context, India’s trajectory outpaces that of Japan and is comparable to Indonesia’s. The Philippines grew faster, but from a smaller base. India remains a leading contributor to Asia’s app economy by scale, shaping user acquisition priorities across the region.
App Install Trends
Overall install trend by country (normalized)
UA spend contracts 15%, but iOS spend is rising
India’s user acquisition (UA) market has tightened. Overall UA spend was lower in 2025 than in 2024, with a 15% year-over-year decline across Q1–Q3, reflecting more cautious budgeting. The decline was driven entirely by Android with iOS experiencing a 17% YoY increase.
Acquisition outcomes reflected these patterns. Paid installs rose by just +4% on Android, but jumped by +234% on iOS over the period. Efficiency gains were even sharper in remarketing: conversions climbed +31% on Android and +381% on iOS, underscoring how performance has shifted decisively toward Apple’s smaller but higher-value user base. Q4 2024 highlighted this volatility, with Android flat, while iOS remarketing conversions surged by +215% year-over-year.
Despite the contraction, India remains one of the largest UA markets globally. In 2025, advertisers spent over $4 billion, placing India’s Android UA budgets second only to the United States.
India’s UA market is therefore smaller in size but sharper in focus. Android continues to deliver scale, but iOS has become the clear efficiency channel — and the platform where performance marketers increasingly lean to maximize ROI.
UA Spend trend by platform (normalized *)
Paid installs and Remarketing conversions trend by platform (normalized)
Engagement on iOS rose 89%, reshaping usage patterns
As installs plateau, engagement offers a clearer lens into India’s app economy. Overall, sessions remained steady in 2024, underscoring that while top-line growth slowed, apps continue to play an essential role in daily life.
The platform split highlights the contrast between scale and depth. Android sessions rose +25% from Q3 2023 to Q2 2025, reflecting stable gains on a mass scale. iOS sessions nearly doubled in the same period (+89%), showing how smaller but premium cohorts are driving deeper engagement.
Category dynamics reinforce this trend. Payments, commerce, and mobility apps continue to anchor everyday usage, reflecting their role as digital infrastructure. Entertainment and other content apps sustained activity, but the sharper growth came from premium segments on iOS.
India’s engagement story is therefore one of stability at the top line, but structural change underneath. Android continues to deliver scale, iOS is intensifying premium usage, and engagement depth is increasingly becoming the marker of value.
App sessions trend by platform (normalized)
Finance paid installs surged 397% on iOS, while Android declined 40%
Finance has been one of India’s fastest-growing verticals, expanding from less than 1% of installs in 2017 to over 25% by 2024. But growth is now showing signs of strain, with Finance’s share easing to 18% in 2025.
Platform dynamics underscore this shift. On Android, Finance share is trending down from 25% in 2024 toward 18% in 2025, reflecting cutbacks in broad UA campaigns. iOS, by contrast, continues to expand, rising from 19% in 2023 to 29% in 2025, another sign that advertisers are leaning into premium cohorts with higher transaction potential.
Paid install trends highlight the same divide. Android paid installs declined by 40% between Q3 2023 and Q2 2025, while iOS surged by 397% over the same period. Yet, remarketing conversions did not keep pace, falling by –43% on Android and –48% on iOS, showing that the rising acquisition has not fully translated into transacting users.
The picture is one of momentum shifting, but efficiency gaps persist. Finance is no longer the pure growth engine it was in earlier years, but it remains a high-stakes vertical where marketers must balance Android scale with iOS efficiency — and focus on closing the gap between acquisition and value.
App install trend
Paid installs and Remarketing conversions trend by platform (normalized)
Gaming paid installs fell 5% as monetization fragmented
Gaming, India’s largest app category, is showing signs of maturity. After years of rapid expansion, paid installs declined 5% in 2025, reflecting a market that is no longer defined by broad top-line growth.
Subgenres are diverging. Hypercasual games remained the volume driver, sustained by ads, with IAA revenue up 117% overall and 126% on Android. Midcore titles deepened engagement, with hybrid adoption rising +21% as developers combined ads and in-app purchases. Casino leaned further into hybrid (+28%), while Casual games contracted –20%, squeezed by weaker yields and higher churn.
Overall monetization splits highlight this fragmentation. Across Gaming, IAA held steady at ~53%, IAP slipped to 21–22%, and hybrid climbed to ~25%. No single model dominates: hypercasual thrives on ads, midcore is balancing models, and casino is tilting towards hybrid.
India’s Gaming story is therefore one of fragmentation rather than uniform growth. Hypercasual continues to provide reach, midcore, and casino build monetization depth. Success depends on adapting strategies to the realities of each subgenre rather than chasing a single winning model.
Paid installs and Remarketing conversions trend by platform (normalized)
Share of apps by monetization model
Shopping paid installs grew 197% on iOS, reinforcing India’s global role
In 2025, India ranks among the largest markets for Shopping app installs, alongside the United States and Brazil, and ahead of other high-volume markets such as Indonesia, the United Kingdom, and Mexico.
The platform picture highlights this dual-track growth. Paid installs grew by 63% on Android and 197% on iOS, reflecting a balance between scale and a premium focus. Conversion efficiency diverged even more: remarketing conversions rose +47% on Android and +386% on iOS, underscoring how sharply efficiency splits by platform.
Engagement reinforced Shopping’s strength, with sessions climbing by 26% overall (+25% on Android, +32% on iOS). These gains are often amplified during India’s festive cycles, such as Diwali and year-end sales, which consistently deliver spikes in installs and purchases.
The Shopping vertical illustrates India’s dual dynamic. Android drives mass-market adoption at scale, while iOS maximizes ROI through higher efficiency among premium users. Even as other large markets flatten, India continues to expand its contribution, playing an anchor role in global Shopping adoption. For marketers, the opportunity lies in balancing Android’s breadth with iOS’s efficiency, while planning around seasonal peaks that shape India’s digital commerce calendar.
Country performance 2025 vs 2024
Paid installs and Remarketing conversions trend by platform (normalized)
App sessions trend by platform (normalized)
Short drama app installs in India surged, with 94% driven by paid acquisition
India’s short video drama ecosystem has become one of the fastest-scaling entertainment categories of 2025. Quarterly installs have expanded nearly 18x since early 2024, with non-organic installs accounting for 94%, a clear sign of how aggressively platforms are investing in paid acquisition to capture early audiences.
Engagement has accelerated in tandem: total sessions grew by 21% quarter over quarter, underscoring both audience stickiness and a steady rise in content availability. Yet, retention remains an emerging challenge—30-day rates declined by over 50% year-on-year, highlighting the need for stronger storytelling, community-building, and re-engagement strategies.
At the same time, the category’s rapid growth has exposed new risks. Install-level fraud rose sharply to 8%, prompting leading platforms to adopt stronger measurement foundations—leveraging ROI360, deep linking, and fraud protection to sustain campaign efficiency at scale.
For marketers, short drama is now both a performance opportunity and a test of discipline: an acquisition-heavy category demanding deeper optimization, retention analysis, and secure measurement to sustain momentum beyond its breakout phase.
Overall installs and Non-organic install trend (normalized)
Install split by type – India
Total app sessions (normalized)
Fraud averaged up to 16%, with Finance most exposed
Fraud remains a major structural challenge in India’s app economy. Between 2023 and 2025, it averaged 12% of installs, placing India among the more exposed markets in the APAC region.
Platform trends show diverging risks. On Android, exposure fell from 16% in late 2023 to 12% in mid-2025, reflecting improved detection. On iOS, however, rates increased from 12% to 15%, indicating that no platform is immune to evolving fraud tactics.
By vertical, Finance remained the most heavily targeted, with fraud consistently above 30% and peaking at 38% in mid-2024 before easing to 33% in Q2 2025. Entertainment was volatile, spiking to 17% in 2024 before dropping to 3% the following year. Shopping increased year-over-year by 7%, while gaming remained comparatively lower, at below 5%.
The nature of fraud is also shifting. Bots still account for over 70% of Android fraud, but more sophisticated techniques are rising fast. Install hijacking surged 400% in Finance and 223% in Gaming, inflating acquisition costs and complicating attribution.
Regionally, India’s exposure is high but not unique. Rates of 10–16% are in line with those of Indonesia and Vietnam, although they are well above those of Japan (5–7%). The implication is evident: protecting ROI increasingly requires fraud prevention to be embedded at the core of UA and monetization strategies.
Install fraud rate trend by platform
Share of install fraud by type
- What shifts are you seeing in India’s user acquisition strategy as growth stabilizes—and where is performance really coming from now?
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The core strategic shift in India’s user acquisition (UA) is moving from volume-led acquisition to performance-driven growth, with a focus on driving user Lifetime Value (LTV). The era of explosive App volume is over, and install growth is expected to slightly decline in 2025 as the market matures.
As a result, the focus is shifting from simply chasing installs to maximizing efficiency, engagement, and monetization quality. On Google Ads Platform, performance is now driven by a strategic dual-platform approach: Android scale and iOS efficiency.Android still delivers mass-market reach, but advertisers are increasingly optimizing for down-funnel quality rather than broad reach. Meanwhile, iOS has emerged as the premium, high-efficiency channel, targeting a high-value user base. Beyond acquisition, retention of Power Users is critical as they contribute to a significant share of platform sales. - How are engagement patterns evolving across key categories—and which early behaviors best predict long-term value?
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Engagement is rapidly becoming the new currency of success in India’s mature app market. While overall session volume remains stable, the underlying patterns indicate that people are using apps in a deeper, more meaningful way. The shift across all categories is from simple transactions to habitual, personalized utility.
On Google Ads platform, we notice evolving engagement patterns across both established (i.e. Finance, E-commerce, OTT ) and high-growth categories (i.e. Quick Commerce, Micro-Drama)
For instance, for Fintech, engagement has moved from occasional transactions (like loan applications) to habitual utility. Key indicators are daily check-ins for portfolio tracking or frequent UPI usage.
For E-commerce, deep engagement involves interacting with content like video commerce/live streaming and consuming vernacular product reviews, which significantly increases session duration.
In Entertainment & OTT, the primary shift is towards regional language content and highly responsive formats. Engagement is crucially measured by user interaction with AI-driven personalization and completion rates for full episodes/movies, as users expect content to adapt instantly to their context (time, location, preference).
The primary shift in Quick Commerce is the move from a novelty to an essential utility. Acquisition remains hyper-localized and geo-fenced, focusing on speed and the availability of hyperlocal inventory (“Get it in 10 minutes”).
While the Micro-Drama vertical is fueled by the demand for bingeable, short-form content, using ad creatives that leverage compelling story-arc cliffhangers to generate immediate curiosity.
The predictive window for LTV has narrowed, making the first 72 hours critical for capturing high-value signals. This might be completion of KYC/Payment in Finance or the first micro-transaction conversion in Micro-Drama. For Quick Commerce, the ultimate LTV predictor is the Repeat Purchase Rate (RPR) within the first 30 days, signaled by the early frequency of browsing and cart additions. For content-driven apps, it is the Full Episode Completion Rate and the speed of content consumption on Day 1. - How do Google's App Campaigns help advertisers maximize performance and ROI specifically within the higher-value iOS segment??
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Google’s App Campaigns are engineered to navigate the unique complexities and high-value opportunity of the iOS environment. Our strategy is built on three core pillars that empower advertisers to maximize ROI, utilize privacy-centric data, and secure conversion visibility, especially against the backdrop of ATT and SKAdNetwork changes.
1. AI-Powered Optimization
We are continually strengthening our AI-powered campaign models to increase prediction accuracy and reduce campaign fluctuation. By utilizing consented conversions and YouTube ATT opt-in data, our models gain more “ground truth,” leading to significant performance gains for clients. Recent back-end quality enhancements to our AI models have yielded a median: 17% CPA decrease and a 37% reported in-app conversions increase (Source: Google Internal Data, October 2024 traffic experiment) . This level of automated optimization helps advertisers profitably target premium users across Google’s massive inventory—Search, YouTube, and the Google Display Network—where iOS users are highly active.
2. Privacy-Preserving Measurement
Google is leading the charge in developing durable measurement solutions that protect user data. Our approach relies on modeled conversions, aggregated data, and On-Device Measurement (ODM). ODM is a unique solution that uses the client’s first-party data for attribution without allowing any user-level data to leave the device. This privacy-safe methodology results in more observable iOS conversions for campaign performance and conversion visibility.
3. Integrated Conversion Measurement
To deliver a comprehensive and accurate view of campaign performance, Google launched Integrated Conversion Measurement (ICM). This solution provides more robust reporting for App Attribution Partners. Furthermore, the launch of Integrated Conversion Measurement (ICM) in App Ads will offer comprehensive reporting, simplifying cross-platform data analysis and providing clarity on the true impact of iOS ad spend.
The above approach when coupled with available bidding strategies such as tROAS, allows advertisers to set a specific return on ad spend (ROAS) for their app campaigns, enabling them to optimize towards achieving their business goals.
- During peak seasons, how should acquisition and re-engagement be sequenced to build lasting value rather than short-term spikes?
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India’s peak season, be it the Festive Period, IPL or other demand spikes, is no longer a short window; it’s a multi-moment economy spanning weeks. While data-driven, always-on growth campaigns are essential, a phased approach is the key differentiator between short-term spikes and sustainable, lasting growth.
First, the real work starts long before the festive rush. This is where we lay the foundation. This is why we created tools like Demand Gen campaigns, to help brands build awareness and connect with communities on platforms like YouTube and Discover early on. It’s about building brand recall with high-intent users before the marketplace becomes noisy and expensive.
Then, as the peak season arrives, the focus must shift from reacting to proactively managing the surge. Our AI is powerful, but it’s at its best when it can anticipate change.We’ve seen that advertisers who use Seasonality Adjustments for Performance Max campaigns typically see a substantial lift in conversion rates during short sales events. It’s about giving our AI the context to be a smarter partner for you when it matters most, capturing demand across all of Google’s channels.
Finally, what happens post-peak is most critical. This is where loyalty is truly forged. Unfortunately, it’s also when risks are highest; some industry reports show phishing attacks can spike by up to 70% during peak shopping seasons. Therefore, the focus must be on re-engagement and protection. By using AI-powered tools to safeguard the user experience, you not only protect your ROI but also solidify the trust you’ve worked so hard to build.
Ultimately, winning in India is a long-term commitment. Play it as a test match rather than a T20, integrate your campaigns in tandem with your users journey – not just during the celebrations, but every day after. - How will AI shape app marketing in India over the next 12 months?
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The next wave of app marketing in India will be defined by a simple truth: AI will no longer be an add-on—it will be the crucial enabler aiding decisions from product development to user engagement. For us at Google, this evolution is about using AI not just to accelerate outcomes, but to deepen human creativity and connect brands with users more meaningfully.
First, AI will serve as a core business transformation engine. FinTech leaders are already using machine learning to analyze non-traditional datasets—like utility bills and in-app behaviors—to assess creditworthiness. This innovation has the potential to unlock access to credit for millions of new users across Bharat, expanding the addressable market by nearly 20% over the next few years. The same transformation is visible in app engineering, where internal Google data shows AI-assisted coding tools can cut development cycles by up to 40%, freeing teams to focus on innovation rather than iteration.
Second, AI will reimagine marketing productivity and performance. Platforms using tools like Gemini and Performance Max saw an average of 18% higher ROAS by analyzing user signals across YouTube, Search, and Play in real time. By generating localized creatives and translating them across 10+ Indian languages, marketers are building deeper relevance at scale—something impossible through manual intervention.
Finally, AI will make real-time marketing optimization the new normal. Predictive models now estimate a user’s lifetime value before acquisition, helping brands shift budgets dynamically toward high-value cohorts. Marketers leveraging these insights on Google Ads and Firebase have seen up to a 25% lift in LTV within 90 days.
AI’s role over the next 12 months will be to empower India’s app ecosystem to think beyond campaigns—to build resilient, insight-rich, and locally resonant businesses that grow with every user touchpoint. - What one piece of practical advice would you give marketing leaders planning the next year?
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If there is one message for app marketing leaders planning the year ahead, it is this: Own Your Data and Let AI Own the Scale. The key to winning the next wave of growth in India is clarity and agility powered by a technical advantage.
Build the Foundation: The First-Party Data Mandate
1. The era of easy third-party signals (like mobile ad IDs) is ending. First-party data (1P), collected directly from your users with explicit, verifiable consent (in compliance with the DPDP Act), is the only reliable, future-proof fuel for growth.
2. Action: Invest immediately in a Consent-First Customer Data Platform (CDP). This is non-negotiable. Your ability to measure, personalize, and optimize will depend entirely on the quality and volume of this clean, consent-driven 1P data.
Feed the Engine: Maximize AI-Driven Automation
1. Generative AI for Reach: The only way to win in vernacular-first Bharat is by deploying vast amounts of hyper-localized, culturally resonant creatives. Use Generative AI tools to create and test thousands of variants across key regional languages (vernacular-first creative at scale).
2. Machine Learning for Efficiency: Power your automated campaign platforms (like Google’s App Campaigns or PMax) by piping in your clean 1P data signals. The combination of your proprietary data and our AI will deliver unparalleled efficiency, finding high-value users even when third-party signals are scarce.
Your Mandate: Spend your human time on insight, strategy, and business planning. Let AI handle the heavy lifting of data analysis, creative execution, and campaign optimization—fueled exclusively by your clean, consent-driven first-party data. Clarity on this dual investment will outperform raw scale every time.
Install momentum has flattened, with growth at +3% in 2024 and a –2% forecast for 2025. India’s next chapter will be driven less by volume and more by efficiency, retention, and monetization quality.
India’s app economy is split between Android’s reach and iOS’s performance. The lesson is not choosing one, but building strategies where both play distinct roles.
New behaviors and models are reshaping value. Deeper iOS engagement and efficiency gains in categories like Shopping and Finance highlight where quality is replacing quantity.
Paid installs can surge without remarketing conversions keeping pace. In Finance, iOS paid installs rose by +397% while remarketing conversions declined. The job is turning new users into retained, transacting ones.
Fraud averaged 12% overall, peaking at 38% in the Finance sector. With Shopping also rising fast, protecting ROI increasingly requires prevention to be embedded in every performance strategy.