App downloads have soared during the coronavirus crisis, with the business, food & beverage and gaming categories showing the highest growth.

SaaS company Adjust has published in its App Trends 2020 report, in which it compares app downloads data from the first quarter of this year with the same period in 2019.

Adjust says business app sessions have undergone a huge rise (an increase of 105 per cent over last year), with app downloads surging 70 per cent. Revenue events have risen 75 per cent, as users select premium app versions to assist the transition to working from home.

With many restaurants forced to offer takeout-only meals, F&B apps also saw a major increase in sessions (up 73 per cent on this time last year). Installs of these apps have gone up by 21 per cent.

But the fastest-growing category for app downloads was Gaming, with a 132-per-cent increase during the last week of March alone. There was a 47-per-cent year-on-year increase in gaming sessions and a 75 per cent increase in installs in the first quarter of this year compared to last year. 

 “Beyond these increases in installs and sessions, the report shows little evidence to suggest that there’s been a fundamental shift in user behavior post-install,” said Adjust co-founder and CTO Paul H. Muller. 

“Users are still taking the same actions in-app, such as averaging a little above two sessions a day, to churning at predictable points in the customer journey.”