There are millions of software titles that make our life easier; they entertain us and keep us well informed when we use our computers, smartphones and tablets. Software has become an everyday tool for our more than 140 million users around the world who visit Softonic and consider it the world’s software guide. They come to read news, search for articles and tutorials, watch videos and download the best programs and apps. These 140 million individuals generate more than 5 million daily downloads, which allows Softonic to offer an overview on what are the worldwide software trends.

1. SOFTWARE
TRENDS

2. There’s millions of software titles that make
our life easier; they entertain us and keep us
well informed when we use our computers,
smartphones and tablets.
Software has become an everyday tool for
users around the world. Proof of this are the
more than 140 million people who visit
Softonic, considered the world’s software
reference guide when it comes to reading
news, searching for articles and tutorials,
watching videos and downloading
programs.
These 140 million individuals generate more
than 5 million daily downloads, which allows
Softonic to offer an overall view on what are
the worldwide software trends.

3. 1
a.
Software downloads
worldwide
Top 3 most downloaded programs
(web and mobile)
How can software trends be measured? The most accurate index comes from the software downloaded by
users. This data shows the most popular programs and apps on a global scale according to the device from
which they download (computer, smartphone, etc.).
SPANISH SPANISH
ENGLISH
PORTUGUESE PORTUGUESE
ENGLISH
Ares aTube
Catcher
avast!
aTube
Catcher
WhatsApp Facebook Opera
Mini
Top 3 most downloaded
programs (WEB)
Top 3 most downloaded
programs (MOBILE)
TubeMate Opera
Mini
WhatsAppFormat
Factory
VLC Skype
aTube
Catcher
Photoscape Ares
aTube
Catcher
Opera
Mini
Facebook TubeMate

4. Photoscape Minecraft avast! Google
Play
Pou WhatsApp
Google
Play
WhatsApp ViberuTorrent Google
Chrome
VLC
Minecraft Firefox Photoscape Flash
Player
Opera
Mini
Pou
Internet
Download
Manager
Windows
Live
Messenger
avast! Viber TubeMate Subway
Surfers
Windows
Live
Messenger
VLC Microsoft
Word
WhatsApp Viber Windows
Live
Messenger
TubeMate Flash
Player
Skypeavast! CCleaner AVG
lol
duowan
Format
Factory
WinRAR Google
Play
lol
duowan
Kies
GERMAN
FRENCH
ITALIAN
DUTCH
POLISH
JAPANESE
CHINESE
JAPANESE
CHINESE
POLISH
DUTCH
ITALIAN
FRENCH
GERMAN

5. b.
Countries with
the most downloads
Softonic is available in more than 10 languages (Italian, French, German, Polish, Dutch,
Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, English and Spanish), and with other sites in a growing
phase (Swedish, Korean and Turkish). Most of the 140 million users who visit Softonic use
either the English or Spanish version of the site.
Softonic in Spanish receives more than 82 million monthly visits and surpasses 2 million daily
downloads generated by users from different parts of the world. This is due to the fact that
Spanish is the second most spoken language in the world after Chinese. Which are the
countries that download the most from Softonic in Spanish? Spain, Mexico and Argentina.
On the other hand, Softonic in English receives more than 73 million monthly visits and serves
around 2 million daily downloads generated by users. The geographical split is also diverse
since English is the third most spoken language in the world after Chinese and Spanish.
Which are the countries that download the most from Softonic in English? USA, India
and Indonesia.

6. 13,683,331 13,533,175
6,981,257
3,282,483 2,594,777
COMMUNICATION GAMES BROWSERS MP3 &
MULTIMEDIA APPS
UTILITIES
GAMES DOWNLOADING
SOFTWARE
UTILITIES VIDEO COMMUNICATION
47,333,937
31,740,166 31,575,433
29,076,146
18,992,539
c.
Software downloads by category
Downloads by category help identify what are the users’ preferences when it
comes to software. Do they like games? Maybe apps and programs about
image editing and photography are the most popular? The following graphs
show the most popular software and apps for computers, smartphones
and tablets.
Downloads by category (WEB)
Downloads by category (MOBILE)

7. 1%
5% iPHONE
15% BLACKBERRY
23% SYMBIAN
26% JAVA
WINDOWS PHONE
1% WINDOWS MOBILE
29%ANDROID
d.
Percentage of downloads
per platform
By analyzing the platforms from which users generate
downloads, it is possible to know what are the most popular
devices for Softonic users. The access to Softonic via the
website has a very high percentage of users with Windows
operating system and the access to Mobile is mainly done
from devices with an Android operating system.
7% OTHERS
88% WINDOWS
4%
1% WEB APPS
MAC OS
Percentage
of downloads
(MOBILE)
Percentage
of downloads
(WEB)

8. 2
Quarterly newsworthy topics
Softonic is positioned in the market as a software guide that offers an overall view of what are the global
trends regarding programs and apps. Sharing news and relevant information about software, as well as
the interaction with users in several languages, allows Softonic to detect what are the newsworthy topics
from the past quarter in the software market.
a.
A Change in Microsoft
Substituting Hotmail with Outlook.com as well as Windows Live Messenger with Skype has generated a
lot of doubts within their user community. In the case of Brazil, an article with a tip to go back to
Hotmail (before the definite change) was an absolute success, driving visits to OnSoftware, Softonic
expert’s blog, and registering more than 2,500 comments that made it clear that users were not happy
with the change. Meanwhile the visits to articles about how to use Skype grew in 70%.
The same thing happened with users of Softonic in English and French. They were not happy and they
expressed it through comments on articles regarding Microsoft’s new products. However, the change
has positioned Skype as the most popular VOIP application since it has considerably increased its
downloads from Softonic in English.
b.
The WhatsApp dilemma: paid or free?
The controversial announcement that WhatsApp would start charging for the service has brought some
consequences for the popular messaging app. The reaction to the news boosted LINE’s downloads
(WhatsApp’s main competitor) from Softonic in Spanish. LINE has moved to the first place for BlackBerry
and Windows Phone, it has become the most downloaded free app from Google Play and the most

9. downloaded free messaging app in iTunes. To top it all off, LINE’s desktop application has reached the
11th place in Windows downloads from Softonic.
Despite the controversy, users of Softonic in English and Italian are still considering WhatsApp an essential
app for their smartphones, this is proven by the fact that the most read articles of the quarter have been
“WhatsApp’s definite guide” (Italian) and “10 WhatsApp features you might have missed” (English).
c.
New versions of great videogames
There’s been several major video game releases this past quarter, updated versions of great
games such as Dead Space 3, Crysis 3, SimCity and the new Tomb Raider have been a real hit
with users in Softonic in German and French.
d.
Mobile phones are also for gamers
Softonic in English users have demonstrated that the mobile platform has a great potential for video
game lovers. Games such as Temple Run 2, Talking Cat and Angry Birds Seasons 2 have been the
most popular games downloaded this past quarter.
e.
Italians and Facebook
During March, the visits to an article that explained how to quit Facebook for good have doubled: Could
it be that the users of Softonic in Italian are getting bored of the most popular social network of all time?
According to our team of experts, this could be due to the fact that users are becoming more sensible
about their privacy, and on the other hand there’s been an uprising of other social entertainment options
that are taking the spotlight away from Facebook. New competitors that take advantage of the
possibilities mobile devices offer such as Vine from Twitter or completely new applications that are more
respectful with privacy such as Path, have become very popular with our users.

10. f.
The gap left behind by Google Reader’s shutdown
After the announcement made by Google that they will be shutting down their popular RSS reader, it
seems that Feedly might be the alternative, at least for the users of Softonic in Spanish. However, there has
been no real boost to Feedly’s downloads from Softonic for Firefox or Chrome and there’s been no
notorious mention for it in the RSS Feed Reader category. Could this mean that Google Reader was not as
popular as it once seemed? According to Softonic’s team of editors, the low popularity of RSS Readers is
due to two main reasons: the format they use and the boom of Social Media. The RSS format has not
been updated for quite some time now and there’s little room for innovation. To this, we should add the
new trend of how users access information. They prefer social networks to access, filter and share news
that's interesting to them since these platforms are much more integrated with their lifestyles and the
relationship they have with information.
g.
Tablets and Francophones
The use of tablets has considerably risen with the users of Softonic in French. This has been very notorious
thanks to the increase in searches for apps specific for iPad Mini and Android tablets.

11. The report's results on software trends show that devices - computers,
smartphones, tablets - have emerged as social and leisure tools. Proof of this
is the fact that games, messaging software and social networks, together
with programs for downloading and file sharing, have been the program
categories with the highest number of downloads in the first quarter of the
year.
With regards to devices, survey data show that the use of mobile devices to
download software continues to grow rapidly. In fact, of more than 5 million
downloads a day from Softonic, 1 million downloads come from the mobile
version of the site, which includes both smartphone and tablet users. In this
respect, Android users are the most active community (29%), followed by
Java (26%) and Symbian (23%). Meanwhile, users of Windows operating
systems lead the number of downloads via the web (88%).
In addition to software download trends, users have not been immune to the
latest industry news; Hotmail’s replacement with Outlook, Messenger
changing to Skype, or the controversy about the new charges for using
Whatsapp have been some of the most talked about topics by more than
140 million Softonic’s users.
3
Conclusions