AppsFlyer, the marketing cloud, has released the State of Subscriptions for Marketers 2026, an analysis of subscription trends across platforms, categories and geographies. The data reveals a clear shift in what consumers are paying for, how they are paying for it, and where in the world they are doing it.

Short Drama (bite-sized serialised video content designed for mobile consumption) is now one of the fastest-growing subscription app categories globally, with paid installs up 155 per cent year-over-year. Audiences in India and LatAM, in particular, are driving the growth.

At the same time, Android paid installs now make up the majority of all Android installs for the first time, reflecting a wave of new paying consumers in emerging markets that is reshaping the global app economy.

Additional findings from the report:

●  Short Drama and OTT and Live Streaming are where consumer appetite is strongest, and both are dominated by a handful of players. Together they drove 73 per cent of net Android paid install growth. The top five apps in each category control over 90 per cent of spend, a level of concentration that leaves little room for new entrants regardless of budget.

●  Short Drama is taking off around the world, but the pace varies sharply by market. Germany led with 210 per cent year-over-year growth in the number of app downloads, followed by Turkey at 171 per cent, and Mexico at 170 per cent. In the UK, appetite grew by a more modest 36 per cent. Much of this growth is being driven by aggressive marketing rather than organic discovery, with over 60 per cent of all Short Drama installs now coming from paid channels, up 25 per cent year-over-year.

●  How consumers pay for apps is diverging by category. OTT and Live Streaming is consolidating around pure subscription, with its subscription-only share rising from 53 per cent to 62 per cent. Short Drama is moving the other way, with ad-supported revenue growing from near zero to 7.4 per cent as consumers in fast-growing markets prefer to watch ads rather than pay. Gaming is shifting away from advertising toward in-app purchases, with that share up 25 per cent, even as overall spend in the category falls.

●  Consumers in emerging markets are fuelling subscription app growth. Overall subscription app user acquisition spend grew 24 per cent year-over-year, with Android growing at four times the rate of iOS. The Indian Subcontinent accounted for 49 per cent of net Android paid install growth and LatAM a further 18 per cent, while North America was essentially flat.

●  Free trials tell different stories depending on the app. Gaming pulls the most users into free trials at 12.2 per cent, but only 19 per cent go on to pay. Education and Lifestyle convert over 40 per cent of trialists, suggesting those apps deliver enough value within the trial to justify the cost. Health & Fitness consumers are the most decisive, with many paying upfront without a trial, particularly in Western Europe.

“The subscription app market is still growing, but the centre of gravity has shifted,” commented Shani Rosenfelder, Director of Content Strategy and Market Insights, AppsFlyer. “Android is now the primary growth engine, emerging markets are driving the bulk of new subscribers, and the categories pulling ahead are the ones that figured out where their audience actually is, not where the industry assumed it would be. The marketers who close that gap fastest will have a meaningful advantage.”

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Categories: App, Consumer Behaviour, Content, Headline, Research

Tags: android, app, AppsFlyer, microdrama, shorts