We’ve launched the 42matters SDK Explorer! Now, you’ll be able to browse the mobile software development kit (SDK) landscape, gaining insight into SDK developers, app category market share, and a variety of other metrics.
Last week, we kicked things off by announcing the Explorer’s new app export history feature. This was the latest in a series of eight(!) product updates dating back to the beginning of 2021. These include: iOS Content Advisories, Google Play Content Descriptors, Age Approved by Teachers, iOS In-App Purchases, Android Interactive Elements, Precision App Exports, and Required Capabilities for iOS Apps.
This week, however, we’re pleased to announce our most exciting new offering yet: The 42matters SDK Explorer. With this new platform, you’ll have access to mobile software development kit (SDK) intelligence for nearly 1,000 iOS SDKs and nearly 1,200 Android SDKs. This includes basic SDK details (such as SDK ID, website, category, and platform availability), a list of all apps integrating each SDK, SDK category information (including app category market share), similar SDKs, and more!
In this article, we’ll walk you through the platform, focusing on the following:
- What Is an SDK?
- How to Access the 42matters SDK Explorer
- How to Search SDKs by Name
- How to Filter SDKs by Category
- How to Generate SDK Insights
So, with that, let’s get started!
What Is an SDK?
If you’re reading this post, there’s a good chance you’re already intimately familiar with SDKs. Nevertheless, to make sure we’re all on the same page, let’s quickly go over the basics. A software development kit (SDK), is a set of software development tools available in a single, downloadable package used by developers to create applications and games.
Moreover, SDKs tend to be designed for specific platforms and programming languages. This means, if you want to build an Android app, you’ll need an Android SDK; if you want to build an iOS app, you’ll need an iOS SDK; and so on.
Now for the sake of clarity, when we refer to SDKs in this article, we’re referring specifically to mobile SDKs. The only relevant distinction here is that a mobile SDK is one designed specifically for mobile platforms development — smartphones, tablets, smart watches, connected TV (CTV) devices, etc.
How to Access the 42matters SDK Explorer
To access SDK insights via the SDK Explorer, you’ll need to become a 42matters subscriber. You can get started by registering for a free 14-day trial or by setting up a meeting with one of our experts. Beyond the SDK Explorer, you’ll also have access to our flagship app market Explorer platform and our suite of file dumps and APIs. Please note, however, to access the complete benefits of the SDK Explorer, you’ll need to have a Professional or Enterprise Explorer package.
To get started with the SDK Explorer, do the following:
- Register for a 14-day trial.
- Select either “Android Apps” or “iOS Apps” from the Explorer section of the launchpad.
- Then click on the SDK Explorer button, which is titled “SDK,” in the side menu on the left-hand side of the dashboard.
Here’s the SDK Explorer button:
How to Search SDKs by Name
Okay, time to show off the platform a bit! Let’s take a look at how the SDK Explorer can help you find specific iOS and Android SDKs. It’s super easy. Just enter the name of the SDK in the search bar titled “Search by SDK name.” You can find that here:
When you begin typing the name of an SDK, the list of SDKs will automatically begin to filter based on your search. Here’s what happens when you search for “AdMob” among Android SDKs:
As you can see, searching for AdMob will yield three SDKs: Google Ads AdMob, Google Ads AdMob Mediation Adapters, and Google Mobile Ads Consent AdMob SDK.
How to Filter SDKs by Category
You can also use the SDK Explorer to filter all Android and iOS SDKs based on category. Again, this is super simple to do. Just tick the box next to any categories of interest in the left-hand toolbar:
When you tick the boxes the SDK list will filter instantly, leaving only SDKs that match any of the selected categories. Here’s what happens when you filter iOS SDKs for all “Analytics,” “Backend,” and “Commerce” SDKs:
See! Simple.
How to Generate SDK Insights
Next up, let’s take a look at how the SDK Explorer can be used to generate three important SDK insights: top apps, market share, and similar SDKs.
Top Apps
First, what do we mean by “Top Apps?” In this case, top apps refers to the most popular apps that use a particular SDK based on downloads. Here’s how to find this data. First click on the SDK of interest. We’ll use Amazon AWS to demonstrate:
This will open the SDK’s insights:
To expand this, click the expand icon at the top right of the SDK profile (next to the cancel ‘x’ icon). Like so:
From here, to find the top apps that integrate Amazon AWS, simply go to the “Apps Integrating This SDK” section. The apps listed will be the “Top Apps.” For Amazon AWS, these are:
As you can see, you can toggle between the top iOS and Android apps that use each SDK by clicking the bubble next to either “Apps on Google Play” or “Apps on Apple App Store.” This feature will also show you how many iOS and Android apps use the SDK.
Market Share
Next up, market share. We’ve calculated what percentage of the market share each SDK represents per app category. Put another way, you can use the SDK Explorer to determine the percentage of “Lifestyle” apps that use the Amazon AWS SDK.
To do this, you’ll need to open the Amazon AWS profile on the SDK Explorer (same as we did for “Top Apps”). Then go to the section titled “Categories”:
Here, you’ll find a list of all relevant app categories, along with the percentage of apps from each category that leverage the SDK. For example, currently 4.32% of “Lifestyle” apps have integrated the Amazon AWS SDK.
Similar SDKs
Finally, “Similar SDKs.” This refers to SDKs that offer services similar to the one you’re investigating. For instance, perhaps you’re interested in doing competitive analysis for Amazon AWS and its rivals. You can use the SDK Explorer to generate a list of all SDKs that compete with Amazon AWS.
To do this, once again open up the Amazon AWS SDK profile. Then scroll to the section titled “Similar SDKs.” Here, you’ll find a list of SDKs that offer similar services to Amazon AWS. Check it out:
And that’s that! Again, please note that for the full SDK Explorer experience, you’ll need either a Professional or Enterprise Explorer package.
To see all the SDKs we detect, please visit the Supported SDKs page on our website.
Get Started With 42matters!
At 42matters, we provide app insights, data, and analytics via a host of useful APIs, file dumps, the 42matters Explorer, and the 42matters SDK Explorer.
These tools, which you can try free for 14-days, offer a comprehensive look at app market trends and statistics. This includes in-depth, visual insights into downloads, categories, top charts, rating and review analyses, and more. This data can be downloaded as a CSV file and leveraged however you like — in your own algorithms, analyses, products, studies, etc.
If you would like to learn more about our recent updates, or any other mobile app analytics from 42matters, schedule a free demo with one of our experts!
