The cost to market an app soared throughout 2015 reaching all-time highs for both iOS and Android. App makers were granted a slight reprieve for both Android and iOS in November, according to the most recent indexes from Fiksu. Though the downturn was slight, it’s the first month since August in which costs dropped for both mobile platforms.

• The advertising cost associated with getting a user to download an app was $1.54 for iOS in November 2015, down 10% from the month prior, but 40% higher than the $1.10 it cost in November 2014.
• For Android, app install advertising costs came in at $2.27 in November, down 6% from October, but up a steep 101% from the $1.13 it cost in November 2014.
• Android costs grew the most rapidly. The growth of app cost seen throughout 2015 for both iOS and Android was high in the second half of the year, particularly so for the cost of installing Android apps, which spiked and grew ahead of iOS around March 2015.
• These growing costs are a byproduct of crowding app stores that make organic app discovery challenging if not impossible for many apps.
• It’s unlikely costs will deflate to 2014 standards any time soon. Although Apple and Google have been attempting to make app discovery easier, there’s been no substantial solution to this issue.