The Dip Continues - The Most Downloaded Apps in the World in September
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Looking at last month's estimates for new app installs, we see a contrasting trend from app revenue continue. Let's go over the top apps using our App Intelligence and explain what we mean.
Instagram ranked #1 globally for first-time downloads, but its 54M total was 10M fewer than in July, which had shown some month-over-month growth.
TikTok, again at #2, also saw a decline, with 45M downloads—down 4M from the previous month. Facebook and WhatsApp maintained their #3 and #4 spots with 39M and 35 downloads, respectively, both down from August's totals of 43M (-9%) and 42M (-17%).
Notably, #5 changed hands, with Meta's Threads moving up to the spot, becoming the #1 free app on iOS and gaining traction on Google Play.
In an encouraging turn, ChatGPT broke into the top 10 at #10 in August and climbed to #8 in September, experiencing month-over-month growth from 19M to 24M downloads — a 5M increase.
Overall, September marked another month of declining new app downloads, with total non-game installs estimated at 334M, down about a 5% from August.
While it's not the growth month we hoped for, the launch of iOS 18, iPhone 16, and Google's compelling hardware may turn the tide soon.
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All figures included in this report are estimated. Unless specified otherwise, estimated revenue is always net, meaning it's the amount the developer earned after Apple and Google took their fee.
