In late September, the release of the latest iOS 14 update lead to Pinterest breaking their daily downloads record.
With the latest iOS 14 update, Apple users have the ability to completely customise their iPhone home screens, and the excitement received from this has led to Pinterest becoming a go-to app. As users have been searching for inspiration for their home screens, it has been estimated that Pinterest has reached a new daily download record, with them speedily climbing up the App Store’s Top Charts.
According to data released by intelligence firm Apptopia, the impact of the newest iOS 14 customisation trend saw Pinterest recording 616,000 new app downloads worldwide on September 21.
However, a different third-party estimate, Sensor Tower, states that the record-breaking day for Pinterest was actually September 20. By their estimations, Pinterest actually recorded closer to 680,000 global downloads on September 21 – across both Android and iPhone.
While this is a significant install increase for Pinterest, Sensor Tower estimates that the app generated approximately 800,000 downloads globally on September 20 across both Android and iOS. In comparison, it is estimated that they had 607,000 installs on September 13, just days before the worldwide release of iOS 14, the new operating system for Apple’s mobiles.
This represents a 32 per cent increase in week-over-week growth from previous days.
On September 18, Pinterest was No. 47 on the iPhone App Store free apps charts in the US. By September 20, the app has climbed to No. 7 and No. 6 on the 21 September.
In the Lifestyle category on the iPhone App Store, Pinterest has now jumped to No. 1, however, this is not surprising as it has regularly occupied either No. 1 or No. 2 since February 4 this year.
“Trending wallpapers and aesthetic homescreen ideas” sits at the top of Pinterests home page, and trends for iPhone designs are now featured in their “daily Inspirations” collection.
Users are now sharing their custom icons and designs for others to use on their homescreens through pinterest.
Home screen widgets are nothing new; this is a feature Android users have had for a long time. However, this update from Apple has created a significant change to Pinterests ecosystem.
This new iOS updates has given users what they have demanded: cusomtisation to personalise their iPhone to reflect their personal interests and tastes. Not only can users customise their home screens, but they can also hid apps that they don’t use frequently.
Users have also taken to using the Shortcuts app to their advantage by designing their own icons. However, this isn’t really an update, it’s more a hack because it creates a customised shortcut to launch certain apps rather than actually changing their apps icon itself.
However, Pinterest is not the only app seeing increased user demand since the newest update.
In the US Free Charts, the top three positions are held by Widgetsmith, Colour Widgets and Photo Widget. Pinterest continues to move up. Motivation – Daily Quotes is following many of these apps and gaining traction. Even Tune Track, an app that was an early adopter of widgets, is increasing in popularity.
Paid apps are also seeing an increase in downloads, with apps such as Procreate Pocket and Photo Widget taking up No. 1 and No.2 in the charts.
While Pinterest would not release information about their install figures, they did insist that their spike was not provoked by a paid user campaign. The company states that they have seen organic growth in not only installations of their app, but in searches for iOS 14-related content.
“There has been an increase in searches for iOS 14 wallpapers and home screen design its week by Gen Z users.”
A Pinterest SPokesperson has commented on the 50 per cent spike in their Gen Z demographic in June this year, stating that they are the primary searchers for iOS 14 related topics on the app. “These Pinners often use Pinterest as a resource for aesthetic inspiration and decorating offline spaces like bedrooms, so it’s interesting to see them seek inspiration for their online space, too.”
