AI is the hottest trend in mobile apps in the last year and that's not changing any time soon. For many developers, AI apps = thin wrappers or image generators, and even though those are the highest earners, they're not where new opportunities are.
The data shows, and I agree, that what will succeed in the future involves making tedious tasks simpler with AI.
Cal AI is one such example.
In case you aren't familiar, Cal AI makes tracking calories simple by using your camera and AI to turn pictures of your food into calorie counts. Having counted calories in the past, I know exactly how tedious it can be and love this "lazy" approach.
I'm not the only one.
According to our App Intelligence, consumers spent $2M in Cal AI in February, the app's biggest month of revenue since release, and 8% more than its January haul. Since its release, Appfigures estimates show Cal AI's users spent more than $10M on "lazy" calorie counting, and the trend isn't slowing down.
Cal AI's ARPI (average revenue per install) stand at $2.63 which isn't crazy high but is very decent and likely what enables the app to scale using paid ads. Appfigures Search Ads Insights data shows the app's Apple Search Ads campaign spanning more than 2.6K keywords in the US.
This is a great example of where I think AI will be most valuable, and profitable, in apps - as a way to enable users to be lazier. And I don't mean that in a bad way at all. Some tasks, like counting calories, are tedious. If AI can do it well it should. There are countless other areas where that's the case.
Don't waste your time on thin wrappers, spend it on looking for ways to make people lazier.
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