Apple says that the first week of January set a new record for billings from the App Store with customers around the world spending nearly half a billion dollars on apps and in-app purchases, with New Year's Day 2015 marking the single biggest day ever in App Store sales history.
This follows a record-breaking 2014, in which billings rose 50% and apps generated over $10 billion in revenue for developers, says the company. To date, App Store developers have earned a cumulative $25 billion from the sale of apps and games.
"This year is off to a tremendous start after a record-breaking year for the App Store and our developer community," says Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet software and services.
Apple says developers of all sizes, across the App Store's 24 categories, "create incredible apps for iOS, and an especially inspired segment is the newest generation of independent game creators, including the UK's ustwo, maker of the fantastic game Monument Valley; Australia's Hipster Whale, creator of the clever and intuitive game Crossy Road; and US developer Sirvo, inventor of Threes!, a puzzle game that was named the App Store's Game of the Year on iPhone".
The company adds that developer innovation on the App Store in 2014 was fuelled by iOS 8 featuring Swift, a new programming language that makes it even easier for developers to create apps, as well as the introduction of robust frameworks HealthKit and HomeKit.
"HealthKit lets health and fitness developers share data with the Health app, while HomeKit is a framework allowing developers to create software that discovers, configures, communicates with and controls devices for home automation. iOS 8 also introduced developers to Metal, a graphics technology created to maximise the performance of the A7 and A8 chips, which is being embraced by major game developers around the world," says Apple.
"In 2014, the App Store also unveiled new features for developers including app previews and app bundles, TestFlight for beta testing pre-release apps, an expanded Kids Category to showcase apps specifically made for children under 12, China UnionPay as a payment option for customers in China and Apple Pay, making secure purchases even easier."
Apple launched the App Store in 2008 and, since then, the iOS ecosystem has helped create 627 000 jobs in the US alone, says the company.
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