Mobile app downloads remain one of the clearest signals of how consumer behavior is evolving. Each year, shifts in the most-installed apps and fastest-growing categories reveal where users are spending more time, where habits are solidifying, and where interest is starting to fade. Using year-to-date 2025 Start.io’s data along with data from Sensor Tower, this snapshot looks at the apps and categories that defined the mobile landscape this year, as well as the areas showing signs of slowdown.
A Big Year for ChatGPT
ChatGPT is the most-downloaded app in 2025 across the Apple App Store and Google Play, with more than 80 million installs. That figure represents a year-over-year increase of more than 100%, up from roughly 40 million downloads in 2024, signaling how quickly generative AI has moved from curiosity to daily habit.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Google Gemini had a big year as well, with more than 25million downloads. That figure represents an impressive increase over 2024’s nearly 9 million downloads.
Social Stabilizes, Tool Apps Wane
Social platforms continue to dominate overall volume when it comes to app downloads, but growth has slowed. TikTok remained one of the most downloaded apps in 2025 with approximately 50 million installs, though that figure was down about 5% year over year. Threads followed a similar pattern, declining roughly 17% from its 2024 peak. These shifts suggest saturation rather than disengagement. Users still rely on these platforms daily, but fewer feel compelled to download or re-download them.
With the sharp increase in AI apps, there is a parallel declining trend in other tools and utilities like Google Translate, which experienced year-over-year download declines, reflecting a category that has largely changed.
Steady Growth for Entertainment and Games
Where growth is accelerating is entertainment. CapCut, one of the year’s standout performers, generated nearly 37 million downloads in 2025, maintaining massive scale even as overall video editing competition intensified. The entertainment category as a whole was the fastest-growing category (up 13%), fueled by creator-driven formats and short-form video consumption.
Gaming continues to show steady momentum as well, particularly in lighter formats. While blockbuster launches were limited, casual (+10%) and puzzle (+13%) games consistently ranked among the top-growing categories, pointing to habitual, low-friction engagement rather than spikes driven by single titles.
Taken together, 2025’s app download data points to a mobile ecosystem that is stabilizing but not slowing. Growth is increasingly earned through relevance and repeat value, not novelty alone. For app developers and marketers, the message is clear: Winning in mobile now means becoming essential, not just interesting.
Methodology
Our findings are based on year-to-date 2025 U.S. mobile download data aggregated from Start.io’s anonymized device panel and Sensor Tower’s intelligence platform. Start.io’s dataset captures category-level engagement signals from millions of active devices. Together, these datasets provide a comprehensive view of the apps and categories shaping the mobile landscape in 2025.
