UPDATE January 10, 2023

This year, more people than ever visited the App Store to discover and download the world’s most creative and cutting-edge apps and games in a safe and trusted environment. Powering a robust global economy, the App Store connects developers of all sizes, from emerging solo creators to large international teams, with more than 650 million visitors across 175 regions each week. Developers selling digital goods and services on the App Store have earned more than $320 billion since the platform’s 2008 launch, marking another year of record earnings. And this considerable number represents just a fraction of the overall commerce the app ecosystem facilitates. Throughout the year, new apps and games delivered fresh ways to connect. Innovative social app BeReal, which garnered global popularity for deepening authentic connections among family and friends, burst onto the scene, while Apex Legends brought its fast-paced hit battle royale game to iPhone, and Dot’s Home, which spotlights systemic injustices through thoughtful interaction, used the power of code to impact culture — earning their developers 2022 App Store Awards. Reflecting how apps have provided users ongoing services for everything from productivity to entertainment to social connection and beyond, subscriptions on the App Store drive a significant portion of more than 900 million paid subscriptions across Apple services. Charts of the year’s most downloaded apps and games are available on the App Store.

Apple Arcade continues to be a standout game subscription service featuring award-winning and highly rated titles, from new releases to beloved favorites from the App Store. Subscribers have unlimited access to an evolving collection of over 200 games, with fun new content added weekly. The service also offers unique benefits players love — including no ads or in-app purchases — and support for Apple’s high privacy standards. In 2022, the Apple Arcade catalog expanded with more than 50 exciting new titles, including Warped Kart Racers, Jetpack Joyride 2, Gibbon: Beyond the Trees, Wylde Flowers, and Cooking Mama: Cuisine! The service also released over 300 updates and expansions for many existing hits, including Sneaky Sasquatch, The Oregon Trail, Mini Motorways, LEGO Brawls, and Angry Birds Reloaded.

2022 was a big year for Apple Music, which now features over 100 million songs, representing nearly the entire history of recorded music. That’s 100,000 times “1,000 songs in your pocket.” And with Spatial Audio, Apple Music set a new quality bar for music streaming, giving fans a deeper and more immersive experience than ever before. Since launch, the number of monthly Spatial Audio listeners has more than tripled, with more than 80 percent of worldwide subscribers enjoying the experience, while monthly plays in Spatial Audio have grown by over 1,000 percent. Additionally, this year Apple Music partnered with Mercedes-Benz to bring Spatial Audio to drivers worldwide for the first time. Apple Music Live gives fans access to exclusive live performances by some of the biggest global stars in music, including Harry Styles, Lil Durk, Mary J. Blige, Billie Eilish, Luke Combs, Wizkid, and Alicia Keys. Following each broadcast, listeners can enjoy each show anytime on demand in immersive Spatial Audio. And just last month, Apple introduced Apple Music Sing, giving subscribers the ability to sing along to their favorite songs. With adjustable vocals and Apple Music’s unparalleled real-time lyrics experience, users can easily perform duets, sing backup, or take the lead using an ever-expanding catalog of the world’s most singable songs.

2022 was also a milestone year for Shazam, marking the service’s 20th anniversary with 70 billion all-time Shazams. Last year, Shazam launched 17 new national charts and 58 new city charts, expanding coverage of the world’s most discovered music to more parts of the world, as users discovered over 40 million different songs and more than 1 million artists received their very first Shazam. Last year, the songs on Shazam’s Global Top 200 were more diverse than ever before, illustrating that a new generation of fans increasingly connected with older songs, with “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush (1985) being the oldest song to reach No. 1. Shazam also introduced a suite of new features, including a brand-new library sync using iCloud, enhanced Siri integration, and the ability to find concert details, making it easy for users to explore upcoming live shows while increasing exposure for artists. Last week, Shazam released its 2023 Predictions, a 50-song playlist featuring artists who are poised to have a breakthrough year. Shazam’s predictions have uncovered talent from every corner of the globe earlier than any other service, with artists like Ayra Starr, who was one of Shazam’s five featured predictions in 2022, making Shazam’s Global Top 10 last fall.

In 2022, Apple Fitness+ became available to iPhone users to subscribe to and enjoy in 21 countries, even if they don’t have an Apple Watch, and grew the library to 3,500 workouts and meditations. Fitness+ also introduced Time to Run; Collections; an Artist Spotlight series with workouts featuring music by Taylor Swift; the workout program Yoga for Every Runner, featuring and designed with ultramarathoner Scott Jurek; and much more. To kick off 2023, Fitness+ announced new ways for users to improve their fitness and overall well-being, including Kickboxing, a new total-body cardio workout type; a new Artist Spotlight series with workouts featuring music by Beyoncé; a brand-new meditation theme, Sleep, along with a new program to help users get started, Introduction to Meditations for Sleep; the fifth season of Time to Walk, beginning with Jamie Lee Curtis; two new Collections; and three new Fitness+ trainers.

Apple News+ subscribers continued to enjoy full access to journalism from hundreds of the world’s top outlets, including The Atlantic, National Geographic, People, TIME, The Wall Street Journal, and Vogue, as well as dozens of local and regional outlets, including The Charlotte Observer, The Houston Chronicle, The Miami Herald, and more, all in the News app. News+ subscribers have also tuned in to millions of hours of professionally narrated audio stories, with some of the most-listened-to stories coming from New York Magazine, Sports Illustrated, Texas Monthly, The Los Angeles Times, and The New Yorker.

Apple Podcasts continued to help listeners discover great new podcasts, enjoy their favorites, and support the creators who make them possible while receiving new exclusives, early access, ad-free listening, and more premium benefits through Apple Podcasts Subscriptions. Over the coming weeks, listeners will be able to enjoy new premium audio experiences from the Brains On! universe for kids, the economists behind Freakonomics Radio, The Pitch with Josh Muccio, and NPR’s daily news program, Up First, plus new series from top creators including iHeartMedia, SmartLess Media, Sony Music Entertainment, and Wondery.

Apple Maps has been rebuilt from the ground up with more accurate navigation, richer detail, and amazing features like Look Around and Natural Language Guidance. In 2022, the new map rolled out in 13 additional countries and territories around the world, including France, Germany, Israel, New Zealand, and Singapore. The three-dimensional city experience is also now available in Atlanta, Chicago, Miami, Montreal, Las Vegas, Seattle, Toronto, and Vancouver, allowing Maps users to explore even more cities in vivid detail. With iOS 16, Maps introduced multistop routing, as well as enhanced public transit updates, making it easy for riders to see how much their trip will cost, add transit cards to Wallet, see low balances, and replenish transit cards, all without leaving Maps. Users across the US can also now take advantage of detailed, turn-by-turn cycling directions for bike lanes and other bike-friendly routes.

iCloud keeps a user’s most important information — like photos, files, and apps — secure, up to date, and available across all of their Apple devices. It powers important features such as iCloud Photos, which lets users easily browse, search, and share photos and videos. iCloud Shared Photo Library, introduced in iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS Ventura, enables families to share photos seamlessly using a separate iCloud library that up to six users can collaborate on, contribute to, and enjoy. In addition to these and other helpful features, iCloud leads the industry in using privacy-preserving security technologies, including two-factor authentication, which is utilized by over 95 percent of iCloud users, and Advanced Data Protection for iCloud, which uses end-to-end encryption to keep users’ data secure and under their control.

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1. These features are available in the US and Canada.
2. Apple Card and issuer Goldman Sachs received the highest score in the Midsize Credit Card Issuer segment in the J.D. Power 2021-2022 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Studies of customers’ satisfaction with credit card issuers. Visit jdpower.com/awards for more details.
3. Ace Hardware: 3 percent Daily Cash is available in the United States when using Apple Card with Apple Pay online, in the mobile app, and at participating stores listed at acehardware.com/applecard. Excludes online and mobile app gift card purchases and purchases from third-party merchants using independent point-of-sale systems within a participating Ace Hardware store. Please check with local participating Ace Hardware stores whether purchases are eligible for 3 percent Daily Cash.
4. ID cards in Wallet are currently available for use in select TSA checkpoints. Travelers should refer to checkpoint signage to confirm availability. ID cards in Wallet requires an eligible device and OS. 
5. Apple Cash services are provided by Green Dot Bank, Member FDIC. Learn more about the Terms and Conditions. Apple Cash services are only available in the U.S. on eligible devices. To send and receive money with an Apple Cash account, persons must be 18 and a U.S. resident. If person is under 18, a family organizer can set up Apple Cash as part of their Apple Cash Family account. Security checks may require more time to make funds available. Apple Cash Family accounts can send or receive up to $2,000 per transaction or within a seven-day period. Sending money from Wallet requires iOS 15.5 or later.

To access and use all Apple Card features and products available only to Apple Card users, Apple Card to Wallet must be added on an iPhone or iPad that supports and has the latest version of iOS or iPadOS. Apple Card is subject to credit approval, available only for qualifying applicants in the United States, and issued by Goldman Sachs Bank USA, Salt Lake City Branch.