State of AI in Mobile Apps 2026

In 2025 generative AI apps drew more than 3.8 billion downloads and topped $5 billion in in-app purchase revenue, according to Sensor Tower. That surge helped consumers spend more on non-game apps than on games for the first time, with global in-app purchase revenue reaching $167 billion and ChatGPT ranking as the third-highest-grossing app of the year.

Downloads doubled, revenue tripled

The headline numbers from Sensor Tower's State of Mobile 2026 are stark: generative AI app downloads doubled to over 3.8 billion in 2025, while in-app purchase revenue more than tripled to exceed $5 billion. This is the kind of growth curve usually reserved for a brand-new platform rather than a software category. The doubling of downloads matters because it signals mainstream reach, not just enthusiast spending. When a category grows on both the free-acquisition and paid-conversion axes simultaneously, it suggests durable demand rather than a one-time novelty spike.

A historic shift away from games

For the first time, consumers spent more money in non-game apps than in games during 2025, a milestone Sensor Tower attributes largely to generative AI alongside social, streaming, and productivity gains. Games dominated mobile monetization for over a decade, so this inversion is structurally significant for developers and investors alike. AI assistants and content tools have created a willingness to pay for utility that the app economy long struggled to unlock outside of gaming. The result is a broader, healthier base of paying users across categories.

Engagement deepened, not just widened

Time spent in generative AI apps reached 48 billion hours in 2025, roughly 3.6 times the 2024 total and nearly ten times the 2023 level, per Sensor Tower. That trajectory shows users are not merely sampling AI apps once and leaving; they are returning and embedding these tools into daily routines. Sustained time-spent growth is the strongest leading indicator of retention and long-term monetization. It also explains why incumbents across other verticals are racing to bolt AI features onto existing apps rather than cede attention.

A concentrated leaderboard

Adoption is broad but spending is concentrated at the top. Sensor Tower reports the most-downloaded AI app was OpenAI's ChatGPT, followed by Google Gemini, DeepSeek, ByteDance's Doubao, and Perplexity. ChatGPT alone became the third-highest-grossing app of 2025 behind TikTok and Google One, and was one of three apps to newly cross $1 billion in in-app purchase revenue. This concentration means the category's economics still hinge on a handful of foundation-model assistants, even as thousands of smaller AI utilities chase the long tail.

Veelgestelde vragen

More reports

Compiled by ToolGlance from publicly reported data; figures link to their sources. Updated 2026-05-30.