App downloads will reach 160 billion by 2017, thanks in part to the rise of social and multiplayer functions such as Google's recently announced Google Play Game Services.

That's the take of Juniper Research, which – in its latest report – suggests 80 billion apps will be downloaded onto phones and tablets in 2013.

That's a rate, however, that will double within the next four years, and not just because smartphone adoption itself will be on the up and up.

Connectivity is king

Juniper claims the sheer number of consumers upgrading to smartphone devices between now and 2017, coupled with an increasing number of apps being available without any upfront charge, will cause app downloads to surge.

Interestingly, however, the report also states that new social functions in the gaming sector - which currently makes up 40 percent of all app downloads - will have a huge impact on the number of global downloads.

Juniper predicts that both app stores and the developers operating within them will "seek to improve stickiness" by refining, and implementing new social functions into gameplay.

Pointing to the recently announced Google Play Game Services as an example, we're told that these social innovations, coupled with the rise of the free-to-play model, will lead to a mass increase in the total number of apps downloaded.

[source: Juniper Research]