The AI Race Rages On! The Most Downloaded Apps in September

Google's Gemini was almost the most downloaded app in the world in September, turning the slow back-to-school month into a stage for its new generative AI capabilities.

But it wasn't. The crown went to ChatGPT.

ChatGPT was the most downloaded app in the world in September, making its way into 45M devices across the App Store and Google Play, according to Appfigures Intelligence.

Although a touch lower than August's haul, ChatGPT's growth continues to skyrocket in a way few apps have grown, leading the AI race but also paving the way for more mass-market adoption.

Gemini was close, with 40M estimated downloads in September coming mainly from Google Play. For context, Gemini saw 9M combined downloads in August, which wasn't enough to make the chart. We're only a few days into October and it's already at 7M downloads, so I suspect we'll see it again this month.

TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook round out the top five, and for the first time in a long time, the Meta trio (Insta, Facebook, and WhatsApp) didn't make the top 5. Gemini might lose steam, but if it doesn't, the trio's run might be over for good.

CapCut scored a small win in September, rising into the #7 spot, albeit with fewer downloads. But then again, its target demographic is a bit busier now, so that's understandable.

And lastly, Temu. Actually. Temu dropped four spots into the last spot in our list in September, shedding 23% of downloads likely due to reduced ad spend now that its margins have been forever slashed due to tariffs.

The top 10 most downloaded apps in the world saw 273M combined downloads in September, according to our estimates. Just as many as August, but with some of those shifting away from the big names.