Historically, App Store has always generated a lot more revenue compared to the Google Play store. The App Store continues to maintain that lead, and in the third quarter of 2018, that gap between the two widened to the highest point yet, the largest gap since at least 2014.

According to the report, approximately 66% of the $18.2 billion in mobile app revenue generated in Q3 2018 came from Apple’s App Store. The store made $12 billion in this quarter and went up 23.3% from the $9.7 billion it made during the same period last year. Meanwhile, Google Play earned $6.2 billion in the quarter, a modest 21.5% increase from the year-ago quarter’s $5.1 billion.

It seems that subscriptions are the new revenue generator for major companies. For example, Netflix is the top non-game grossing app for the third quarter in a row, adding an estimated $243.7 million in revenue across both platforms.

Major source of revenue for App Store and Google Play:

Mobile gaming also played a huge part in the increase in revenue and reached a whopping $13.8 billion in Q3. It accounted for 76% of all app-revenue across both platforms, with $8.5 billion coming from App store while $5.3 billion coming from Google Play.

According to statistics the top-grossing apps across both stores, are subscription apps which are continuing to aid in this revenue growth. Netflix remained the top-grossing non-game app for the third quarter in a row, bringing in an estimated $243.7 million across both platforms. Tinder and Tencent Video remained in the second and third spots, respectively.

Where Play store takes the edge:

App store might generate more revenue but in terms of the number of apps downloaded, Google Play store still reigns supreme. This was due to the rapid growth of lower-cost Android phones. According to the report App, installs grew by 10.9% across both stores, reaching 27.1 billion, up 24.4% from Q3 2017.