Google's inexorable march towards world domination took a step forward, as Google Play's app downloads exceeded app grabs on Apple's App Store for the first time, according to USA Today.
There were 10 percent more downloads at Google Play during the second quarter of 2013 than at the App Store, according to the newspaper, citing research from App Annie.
Shares in both companies dipped in Wednesday trading, USA Today reported.
Despite the superior volume, Apple is still making more money off of apps -- 2.3 times as much as Google Play. Though the gap is narrowing -- in the previous quarter, Apple was 2.6 times ahead.
Google recently announced that there are now 900 million active Android devices around the globe, which means that the gap could be even narrower before too long.
Android is both the dominant OS for smartphones around the world -- with 74.4 percent of devices running Google's phone software, according to reports -- and is raking in money from mobile gamers. Games in Japan, for example, are a big revenue generator for Android.
Apple's iOS is now on 18.2 percent of phones, as opposed to 22.5 of mobile phones a year ago, USA Today reported.
Neither Google nor Apple commented to the newspaper.
