Owners of iPods and iPads and iPhones around the world have downloaded 50 billion apps from the App Store, Apple announced today. And counting.
Google, meanwhile, declared it's almost neck and neck in the app count race, announcing 48 billion app downloads from its Play store at the I/O conference yesterday.
Apple makes a point of saying its 50 billion doesn't include updates or re-downloads. A Google spokesperson clarified to NBC News that the Play count does not include re-downloads or app updates either, or one app downloaded on an owner's multiple devices.
Brandon Ashmore from Mentor, Ohio, downloaded the 50 billionth app — the two-player word game "Say The Same Thing" — and got $10,000 in credit as a thank you from Apple, to buy apps, tunes, videos or books in the company's media stores.
Apple users around the globe are downloading 800 apps per second, which runs up a bill of 2 billion apps every month, Apple said.
Just last year, Apple's App Store store recorded 25 billion downloads in March, when a resident of Qindao, China, was surprised with a $10,000 iTunes gift card when she downloaded the "Where's My Water" game a month into using her new iPhone.
Nidhi Subbaraman writes about technology and science. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Google+.