Changing Channels is a Multi-Million Dollar Business on the App Store
This is a single insight from This Week in Apps - Boring but Big. Check out the full article for more insights.
When app makers think about what to build, they tend to associate big ideas with big money. I've shown you over the last few months that's not always the case, and that there are "boring" niches that make a lot of money.
This week I bring you another such niche: TV Remove Controls. Apparently, channel changers for your smart TV are a BIG business.
Let me show you.
I was browsing Appfigures Explorer and noticed a few high-earning remote control apps. We're talking a million or more in consumer spending per month. So, I had to dive in.
According to Explorer, there are 1,705 apps with the words "TV" and "remote" on the App Store and Google Play. Most, a little over 60%, are available on Google Play with a little under 500 available on the App Store.
Considering all feel and look fairly similar, I imagine Apple isn't making it easy to enter this niche. Yet, 500 still managed to get approved, so I wouldn't say it's "closed".
We estimate that the entire group saw $11M in consumer spending and 22M downloads in the last month. Those numbers balloon to $117M in consumer spending and 276M downloads when looking back to the beginning of 2024.
That's a lot of millions from people who forgot where their remote is...
And it's not a single-winner industry.
According to Appfigures Inbtelligence, 21 apps grossed more than a million dollars in the last 12 months. Two from Google Play and the rest through the App Store.
So, if you're thinking about building a remote control app, you should focus on iOS - but don't do that just yet.
How TV Remotes Get Users?
One of the main challenges of apps in niches like this - somewhat boring but high-earning - is that branding doesn't play much value. Instead, it's all about whoever the user finds first.
On the App Store, visibility for TV remotes comes in two forms: App Store Optimization (aka organic) and Apple Ads. Both are substantial challenges on their own, and unless you're ready to dive in with both feet, this may not be the niche for you.
But I did find some opportunities.
Most TV remote apps use the same keywords, don't have a real name, and have a very similar icon. The majority even use the same colors: black and purple.
But while exploring the top results I noticed quite a lot of keyword duplication. It doesn't hurt these apps as much as you'd expect because most apps are doing it and on the lower end, results have hundreds of new ratings, making it hard for the algorithm to ignore them.
If you're in this niche and get hundreds or more new ratings, try removing the duplication and see how your ranks rise within a few days.
According to our Apple Ads Intelligence, of all the apps making $1M or more a year, only 2 aren't running Apple Ads. And those that do are responsible for campaigns spanning nearly 6K keywords.
That might discourage you from building a TV remote app, but it shouldn't discourage you from finding a similar "boring" niche that's raking in cash.
How To Find Your Next Million-Dollar Idea?
The best way to identify high-earning categories is not to look for the highest-earning categories but rather look for apps making a few hundred thousand every month, then isolate ones where multiple apps are making the same amount, and then narrow down your search just to this niche.
I do that with Appfigures Explorer by first setting the month revenue filter to $100K - $250K and look for apps that do the same thing. I then zero in using the name filter to find all apps that are similar and rank them by their monthly revenue.
When I find a group that has multiple apps making substantial money, even if there's a long tail, I consider it an opportunity. It means there's competition and yet enough apps are still making good money.
Soon we'll be making it even easier to identify these niches automatically. Stay tuned!
App Intelligence for Everyone!
The insights in this report come right out of our App Intelligence platform, which offers access to download and revenue estimates, installed SDKs, and more! Learn more about the tools or schedule a demo with our team to get started.
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All figures included in this report are estimated. Unless specified otherwise, estimated revenue is always net, meaning it's the amount the developer earned after Apple and Google took their fee.
