Global iPad app downloads and in-app consumption grew strongly in the first quarter, apparently driven by the Covid-19-induced lockout.
iPad app downloads achieved their first year-over-year increase since the fourth quarter of 2013, jumping 40 percent to more than 1.1 billion, Sensor Tower data showed.
The education app performed particularly well, with downloads up 78% to 105 million, breaking the quarterly record of 100 million downloads.
According to Sensor Tower, this figure highlights "the tremendous impact of Covid-19 on homeschooling".
It was also the best quarter for gaming app downloads since the first quarter of 2016, with 603 million downloads.
The 88 million installs of entertainment apps surpassed the record set in the second quarter of 2018.
Global consumer spending exceeded $2 billion for the first time in the first quarter of this year, with Sensor Tower estimating a total of $2.1 billion, of which about 76 percent came from gaming.
Sensor Tower said it expects the further analysis to show a similar increase in (app) downloads on other platforms.