This Week in Apps - Outrunning the OG
This Week in Apps is a short, no-fluff, round-up of interesting things that happened in the mobile industry. Here are our top highlights.
U.S. Revenue Index (vs. 30 days ago)
Insights
1. Subway Surfers City Just Launched and It's Already Outrunning the Competition
SYBO launched a sequel to one of the biggest mobile games on the planet, and two weeks in, it's already outpacing nearly every action game on the market.
Subway Surfers City hit an estimated 5M downloads across the App Store and Google Play in its first 10 days, peaking at 667K in a single day. But this isn't just a clone with new paint. City has three game modes, new mechanics like bumpers and upgradeable hoverboards, and deeper progression systems that make it feel like what the original might look like if it launched today.
What makes this launch remarkable is what it didn't do. The original Subway Surfers, which pulls in an estimated 16M downloads a month, didn't flinch. It averaged 540K downloads per day after City launched, up slightly from 530K before.
Combined, the franchise was pulling in over a million downloads a day with zero cannibalization.
The revenue story is where the two diverge. The original earned an estimated $88K in net revenue over those 10 days, not because it doesn't make money, but because it monetizes primarily through ads. City brought in $502K thanks to deeper IAP hooks built in from day one.
According to Appfigures Intelligence, City outdownloaded Free Fire, PUBG Mobile, Brawl Stars, and Call of Duty Mobile in its first 10 days. The only game that beat it was its own older brother.
It's still early, but the pattern looks a lot like Temple Run's sequel playbook, where both games coexist and grow the franchise. The difference is City launched with a real monetization rethink, and players are already spending.
2. The Most Downloaded Apps in February Barely Moved
February's download chart looked almost identical to January's. The same seven apps held the same seven spots in the same order.
ChatGPT led with an estimated 51M downloads, followed by TikTok at 40M in its first full month under new US ownership, and Instagram at 38M. Facebook and Gemini rounded out the top five with 31M and 27M, respectively.
The one newcomer was FreeReels, a short-drama app from Singapore-based SKYWORK AI, which entered the combined chart at #8 with 21M downloads. All of those came from Google Play. The app is available on the App Store under a different name but with a tiny fraction of the downloads.
The App Store had more shuffling than the combined chart suggests. TikTok climbed to #4 while WhatsApp and Gmail re-entered the App Store top 10. Google Play was a near-mirror of January.
Together, the 10 most downloaded apps made their way into an estimated 297M devices, according to Appfigures Intelligence. That's down 12% from January, but February is a short month and daily download rates were similar.
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3. TikTok's Revenue Machine Didn't Slow Down
While most top earners saw their numbers dip in February, TikTok went the other direction. It earned an estimated $286M in net revenue, up from $284M in January. That's what TikTok USDS, the new US joint venture, keeps after Apple and Google take their cut.
A small increase for a money machine like TikTok, but considering the ownership transition caused technical issues and backlash from its terms update, growth wasn't exactly the expectation.
ChatGPT came in second at an estimated $194M, a touch lower than January but still earning at an incredible rate. YouTube held third at $142M. Google One and Tinder rounded out the top five with $99M and $90M, respectively.
The bottom half of the chart belonged to streamers. Disney+ at #6, HBO Max at #8, and Peacock at #10, boosted by Winter Olympics subscribers. The three combined for an estimated $231M in net revenue, nearly a fifth of the entire top 10.
All in, the 10 highest earners brought in just under $1.2B in estimated net revenue, according to Appfigures Intelligence. Downloads were frozen, but spending wasn't.
4. Winter Storm Fern Sent Weather App Downloads Sky High
When Winter Storm Fern tore across 20+ states in late January, putting 180 million people under weather warnings, downloads for The Weather Channel surged from roughly 9K per day to 50K, nearly 6x its baseline.
The ramp started three days before the storm officially hit, as forecasts circulated and people prepared. By peak day, The Weather Channel was the weather app everyone wanted.
Not every weather app got the same boost. AccuWeather saw a 3x spike to 27K downloads, and Windy.com surged to 83K with a delayed peak. But WeatherBug, CARROT Weather, and MyRadar barely moved, staying in the 2K-4K range like the storm wasn't happening.
When people need weather information fast, they go to the brands they already know.
The biggest surprise was WeatherWise, the app that powers YouTube streamer Ryan Hall's live coverage. It went from an estimated 150 downloads per day to 31K, a 200x spike, driven entirely by Hall featuring it during his live storm stream.
Creator-driven distribution at its most dramatic.
The Weather Channel's revenue doubled to $124K a day about a week after the storm, as free trial downloads converted to paid subscriptions, according to Appfigures Intelligence. The spike faded by February, making it clear this was entirely the storm's doing.
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5. Baseball's Having Its Biggest Pre-Season on Mobile
Every February, baseball fans start downloading apps ahead of the new season. But this year the surge is noticeably bigger.
The MLB app pulled in an estimated 221K downloads this February, up from 155K last year and 119K in 2024. That's a clear upward trend where each February is bigger than the last. Revenue hit an estimated $3.5M, a strong number that matches 2024 after dipping to $2.3M last year.
Downloads are setting records, and revenue is recovering.
MLB Ballpark, the companion app for mobile tickets and stadium experiences, hit its best pre-season yet at an estimated 220K downloads. That's nearly double last year's 116K. With spring training underway and the season opener on March 27, more fans are buying tickets and getting set up earlier than ever.
It's not just the pros. GameChanger is a youth sports app that lets parents live-stream their kids' games and track stats. It hit an estimated 441K downloads and $7M in net revenue this February, both up roughly 50% year over year.
February is when parents sign kids up for spring leagues and start paying for premium features, and GameChanger has figured out how to monetize that seasonal window. Baseball at every level is having a strong pre-season on mobile, according to Appfigures Intelligence.
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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.
