Play Store downloads hit 28.3 billion during lockdown

It seems Android users spent their extra time during lockdown trying some new apps.

According to data from SensorTower, 24.3 billion apps were downloaded from the Play Store in Q1 2020. This jumped to 28 billion downloads in Q2 and peaked at 28.3 billion in Q3. For perspective, that represents a 31 percent year-on-year increase.

These were the most popular categories of downloads on the Play Store in Q2 2020:

Gaming (13.49%)Education (9.11%)Business (6.95%)Tools...

22 October 2020 | Android

Research: One in four people learnt to code during COVID-19 lockdown

Some people who found themselves with extra time during the COVID-19 lockdown put it to good use.

Research from digital transformation firm BoxBoat suggests that around one in four people spent time learning coding languages during the lockdown.

The most commonly learned programming language was Python, followed by Java and C++.

The greatest motivations for people setting out to improve their skills were career development (55%), personal development (46%),...

14 September 2020 | Languages

Google and Apple will deploy COVID-19 contact-tracing as lockdowns begin lifting

Google and Apple have partnered up to develop interoperable contact-tracing that will deploy to Android and iOS devices over the coming months.

With the COVID-19 pandemic appearing to decline in many countries, or at least plateau, the conversation is now shifting towards how lockdowns can be safely lifted to avoid a “second wave” of the killer virus.

Contact-tracing apps log all the people a person passes in the street using Bluetooth. If that person is diagnosed...

14 April 2020 | Android