Search Trends & Top Apps in the Education Category

Downloads in the education category have soared, mainly driven by the surge in apps to help students do their homework such as Google Classroom, Socratic, Photomath, Class Dojo etc. However, apps that focus on helping users learn a new skill have flourished too as people are finding ways to stay busy. If you’re getting bored at home, why don’t you pick up a new skill too!

1. Learn a new language

Duolingo remains the most popular language learning app. But competitors Babbel and Rosetta Stone’s downloads and category rankings soared starting March 16th securing a top 30 position in both stores. Especially Babbel is experiencing tremendous growth, also when looking at the search behaviour, keyword volume for ‘Babbel’ has grown faster than the other brand names.

Category rankings for Duolingo, Babbel and Rosetta Stone in the US.

Search volume for general terms like ‘learn new language’ or ‘free language learning’ more than doubled in the past month. When digging deeper in the specific language topics we find that people seem to be most interested in learning Spanish, but also Korean and Italian has picked up in popularity.

Trends in keyword search volume in the Apple App Store in the US.

2. Learn to play an instrument

Maybe now is the perfect time to finally learn to play an instrument! Since the end of March search volume for terms related to learning a new instrument have grown rapidly. And popular apps like Yousician or Simply Piano are now also occupying the top rankings in the Education category.

Category rankings for Yousician and Simply Piano in the US.

Users are searching for apps to learn keyboard, guitar, piano but also ukulele. People search in different ways using terms like ‘how to’ or ‘learn to’ as well as ‘learning’, ‘lessons’ or ‘beginners’.

Trends in keyword search volume in the Apple App Store in the US.

3. Follow a course to learn a new skill

Getting bored at home? Popular apps like MasterClass, Udemy, Coursera, Linkedin Learning or edX offer a wide variety of courses ranging from photography or coding classes to cooking lessons or university business courses. Set some time apart to finally brush up your skills!

Masterclass has shown tremendous growth on the Google Play Store, on the Apple App Store, it is edX that has shown the most growth since mid-March.

Category rankings for Udemy, Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, MasterClass and edX in the US.

Users have been searching for learning apps using general terms like ‘online learning’, ‘learning for adults’ or ‘learn something new’ but they also use specific search terms such as ‘learn keyboard’, ‘learn to cook’, ‘learn how to sing’ or ‘learn to code’.

Trends in keyword search volume in the Apple App Store in the US.

4. Go stargazing

Learning something new does not have to be complicated or time consuming. Step out into your backyard or balcony tonight and have a look at the sky. Use one of the popular stargazing apps like Sky View or Star Tracker to stars, constellations, satellites and more.

Looking at the category rankings, it looks like some of these apps lost some momentum mid-March but today these apps again occupy a spot in the top 50 in the Education category.

Category rankings for Skyview Lite, Star Walk 2 and Star Tracker in the US.

Trends in search volume vary. Volume for ‘star gazer’ or ‘star planet’ increased a lot mid-March. Volume for ‘star app’ or ‘star gaze’ grew slower whereas volume for ‘astrology’ actually declined.

Trends in keyword search volume in the Apple App Store in the US.

5. Gardening 101

Spring has started! People are looking to brush up their knowledge on plants and gardening. As a result apps like PictureThis have occupied a prime spot in the top 10 in the Education category in the past few days. Category rankings for competitor PlantSnap have soared from 150 in early February to top 30 early April.

Category rankings for PictureThis and Plantsnap in the US.

A variety of keywords have surged in popularity over the past few weeks, supporting the growth of these apps. Are you looking to upgrade your backyard or looking to make your nature walks a little more fun, download these apps and learn to identify plants!

Trends in keyword search volume in the Apple App Store in the US.

So which new skill are you learning this month? Have a look at our Top Charts features to find out which apps are occupying the top charts today. To learn more about search behavior and trends in your category, sign up for a 7-day free trial.