Massive growth in emerging markets has pushed Google Play worldwide downloads approximately 60 per cent higher than those of the iOS App Store for Q3 2014.

While the lead is roughly the same as in the previous quarter, it represents considerable growth year-on-year, with Google only 25 per cent higher that Apple in Q3 2013.

iOS retained its lead in app store revenue for the quarter, however, with a 60 per cent advantage over Google Play. Strong growth in Japan, iOSs second largest market after the US, was the main driver of revenue growth in Q3 2014.

The figures come from App Annies App Market Index report for Q3 2014, which also showed impressive growth across both operating systems for communication and social networking apps. Facebook Messenger led downloads on both stores, largely thanks to its decision to move messaging functionality off the Facebook app.

Unbundling is a growing trend, with Foursquare taking a similar action with Swarm, and Skype with Qik. It enables publishers to provide users with a streamlined, focused app, and also gives them the chance to place multiple apps in high positions in charts.

Emerging markets continued to be the key to Androids strong download figures, with Brazil, India and Indonesia seeing the largest growth in downloads. In fact, Indonesia has seen double-digit quarter-on-quarter growth for Google Play downloads for the last nine consecutive quarters, demonstrating its transformation into a key smartphone market. The country, which has a largely young population and swiftly growing middle class, is expected to see its smartphone penetration rate double over the next four years, passing 40 per cent.