Mobile apps are an extremely fertile market for those working in information technology. Exorbitant amounts of money are generated by the apps available in the two main stores, the Play Store for Android and the App Store for iOS. There are many opportunities, and creativity in coming up with a good idea that solves users’ problems counts for a lot when it comes to success in this field. Here, we will list 9 types of apps that are trending to inspire you.
It is worth remembering that, in addition to coming up with your own ideas, you can also offer your services to other companies that are looking to adapt to mobile devices. One booming industry is sports betting, as regulations have allowed apps to be available in official stores. 1xBet is official website that already offers an app to users, but this is still rare, so it is a great market to explore.
The app market worldwide
To understand how promising entering the app market can be, we have compiled some data on the revenue that apps generate in the two main official stores. It is worth remembering that the Android and iOS systems have crucial differences between them:
- The Android system is more open, which allows for easier and faster publication of apps. Meanwhile, iOS requires complex checks for apps to be made available on the App Store.
- Due to greater competition, Android apps are usually cheaper than iOS apps.
- Apple users tend to spend more money on apps than Android users, partly because apps are more expensive due to the company’s requirements.
- The programming languages are different. While iOS has its own specific languages, Android apps can be developed with more popular and established languages.
Based on these differences, it is easy to understand the values involved in the market. Although the number of apps available for iOS is lower, at around 1.55 million apps, the revenue generated in the App Store is much higher, at around $85 billion, according to 2023 data. On the Android system, there are more than 1.7 million apps available, but revenue is around $48 billion.
This involves the purchase of apps, the subscription services they offer, and in-app purchases. It is worth remembering that official stores take a share of these amounts, so this is another factor to consider when making your decisions.
It is also important to note that Android devices account for a much larger share of all devices used worldwide. According to data from 2025, more than 72% of all mobile devices sold are Android-based, which is more than 3 billion devices, compared to about 1 billion Apple devices. Now, check out the 10 types of apps that can inspire you in your creations after you learn how to create apps.
Health apps
Health apps have a major impact on users’ lives. In many cases, they integrate with wearable devices, such as smartwatches, and collect user data related to physical activity and other bodily factors, such as heart rate and sleep quality. However, this type of app is much more complex.
So, it’s a good idea to invest in simpler health apps. This includes more than just physical health, but also mental health. Some very basic but innovative ideas are winning over users. One example is the type of app where people record their emotions in the moment after receiving a reminder notification. This way, it is possible to check, even if subjectively, when users are happy, stressed, or sad, among other emotions.
There are also many video-based health apps. They provide training in activities such as yoga, meditation, and gym exercises for body strengthening. In these cases, it is possible to profit from both the sale of individual training sessions and from in-app subscriptions, which can be very lucrative.
iGaming apps
The sports betting and online casino segment, known as iGaming, already generates more than $100 billion a year worldwide, and growth is estimated at around 10% annually over the next decade. Therefore, this is an up-and-coming market for app developers.
There are two main opportunities for action:
- Adapt betting platforms that do not yet offer apps to customers, as these companies will seek initiatives to attract more users and facilitate their experience. An example of an existing app that is already well established worldwide is 1xBet mobile.
- Working on the development of casino games at a software company that provides games. Often, the games are very simple, with familiar bases and differing in only a few factors. Slots, for example, vary in their aesthetic and sound themes, the number of rows and columns, and the paylines. So, specializing in slots development is a great opportunity.
Educational apps
As smartphone users have adapted to digital learning, which was greatly driven by the digital culture that became established during the Covid-19 pandemic, educational apps have also grown in quantity and quality. Several of them offer innovative ways of dealing with content.
One type of educational app that is very successful is one linked to gamification. As users study and complete tasks, they earn points that can be seen in rankings. By stimulating this competitiveness and rewarding diligent students, everyone becomes more motivated and spends even more time within the app.
Another trend in the educational app segment is microlearning. Instead of large, complex courses, they present small educational content as in a social media feed. So, users spend time learning new things and get more out of the smartphone experience.
Among the segments that stand out within educational apps is language learning. Several of the most widely used methods, such as gamification and microlearning, emerged and became established with apps of this kind.
Expense tracking apps
Expense tracking apps are another major market trend. They can operate in two ways. One is more complex, integrating directly with banking apps to record and categorize users’ expenses. In the second, users themselves record and categorize their expenses, which makes these apps easier to develop.
As this is a simple type of app, the ideal is to try to differentiate yourself in terms of aesthetics and user interface, in order to enhance the expense tracking experience.
Artificial intelligence apps
No type of app is currently as talked about as artificial intelligence apps. After all, many people have become comfortable with the technology and now use it even for extremely simple tasks.
Here, creativity counts for a lot. The ideal is to think of a problem that people may have in their daily lives and think about how AI can solve it simply and easily. Then, create an interface using a consolidated artificial intelligence model, but with automated prompts to solve that problem. This may be the most difficult to execute on this list, but it also tends to be the most profitable due to the enormous profusion of AI apps.
Apps to help create content for social media
Social media is very lucrative for good content producers. And nowadays it is very easy to produce quality material, largely due to the facilities that various apps offer users. Among these conveniences are automated video editing, ready-made photo filters, the possibility of creating automatic subtitles, and even databases with ready-made ideas for videos and photos.
So, if you have a good idea of how to help produce and improve content for social media, you can profit greatly. Since users know they can make money from this activity, they will be willing to invest in good apps that facilitate the creation process.
Apps for parents concerned about their children’s smartphone activities
The number of children and teenagers on social media is a major concern for parents. After all, leaving a child alone with a cell phone is like leaving them alone in a public square: we never know what they might do in these environments and, more importantly, what others might do to them. Unfortunately, many criminals take advantage of children’s exposure on social media, which makes parental control apps even more important.
Therefore, this type of application is also a great opportunity for developers. As the subject is very sensitive and worrying, the willingness to invest in good tools is also high. Complex apps can be offered with subscription services at prices above the average for other types of mobile apps.
Mobile games
Mobile games have never gone out of style. After all, entertainment is, for many people, the main purpose of a smartphone. The market is huge: according to the Business of Apps portal, the segment’s revenue in 2023 was $81 billion. Of this, $33.3 billion was on the Android system and $47.7 billion on the iOS system.
Game production is also much easier with recent technologies. Development tools are much more accessible, both in terms of price and learning how to use them. In addition, if your intention is just to make money and not to produce works of art in games, artificial intelligence can help a lot, especially in the narrative and artistic aspects. Here are some game genres that are successful on smartphones:
| Genre | What it’s like |
| RPG | This is the genre that generates the most money in the mobile segment. These games have more complex structures, with characters that constantly evolve and bring satisfaction to players, which encourages greater spending. |
| Strategy | Strategy games may be the easiest to develop, depending only on a good idea. A common subgenre on mobile phones is tower defense, in which players must carefully plan structures to protect themselves from enemy attacks. |
| Puzzle | Puzzle games also depend much more on a good idea than on aesthetics. Therefore, their development can be much cheaper. Those who can come up with good challenges for players stand out. |
| Roguelike | Roguelikes are games with a high replayability rate, which is why they tend to captivate players. In short, death is permanent, and all runs are randomly generated, from items that enhance the journey to enemies. In some cases, their development can also be easy. |
| Sports | Sports simulators are also successful in the world of mobile games. A widely explored segment is team management simulators, which keep users playing for hours and do not require elaborate graphics, as the focus is on text and simulations. |
Productivity apps
The world of work has also been revolutionized by apps. That’s why productivity apps have become such a big hit. Everyone has their favorite, even if the differences between them are small. It depends a lot on personal taste, easy-to-access features, and a well-organized, attractive interface.
Several types of apps can be explored in this genre: note-taking, calendar organization, team collaboration, checklists, task scheduling assistance, team activity tracking, real-time collaborative document editing, and many other features.
You can even come up with ideas based on your own problems as a worker. If you can create an app that helps you be more productive at work, it will certainly be very useful for other users as well.