The App Store is booming again, and AI may be why

Everyone said AI would termination apps. Instead, caller app launches are soaring.

According to a caller investigation from marketplace quality supplier Appfigures, worldwide app releases successful the archetypal 4th of 2026 were up 60% year-over-year crossed some Apple’s App Store and Google Play. That percent was an adjacent higher 80% erstwhile looking astatine the iOS App Store alone. In April 2026 truthful far, the full fig of app releases is up 104% crossed some stores compared to the aforesaid clip past year, and up 89% connected iOS.

As Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Greg “Joz” Joswiak, quipped In a caller interview: rumors of the App Store’s decease successful the AI property “may person been greatly exaggerated.”

Image Credits:Appfigures

These findings travel amid concerns that the emergence of AI chatbots and agents would yet spot users turning distant from apps — a mentation that’s already being floated by those successful the industry, like Nothing CEO Carl Pei, who is focused connected gathering a smartphone for the AI era. The New York Times besides reported past twelvemonth connected the imaginable for caller computing platforms to eclipse the smartphone, similar astute glasses, ambient computing devices, oregon reimagined smartwatches with AI features.

OpenAI is adjacent working connected an AI hardware device with famed Apple decorator Jony Ive.

But there’s different possibility, too: AI volition marque it easier for anyone to make apps, driving a rebirth of the App Store. The caller app golden unreserved could beryllium led by creators who person ideas but not the method skills to plan mobile software.

Appfigures’ information indicates that definite categories of apps are seeing much caller releases than others.

Mobile games inactive relationship for astir of the caller app releases worldwide arsenic of Q1 2026, arsenic they person successful anterior years. But “productivity” apps person moved into the apical 5 this year. The “utilities” class has besides moved up to the fig 2 slot, and the “lifestyle” apps class moved up from the No. 5 slot past twelvemonth to present No. 3. Finally, “health and fitness”-style applications rounded retired the apical 5 categories.

Image Credits:Appfigures

The moving proposal present is that AI-powered tools, similar Claude Code oregon Replit, could beryllium down the surge of caller launches. It besides seems imaginable that we’re hitting immoderate benignant of tipping constituent successful presumption of AI usability, wherever it’s casual capable for radical to leverage these tools to physique their ain desired mobile apps much rapidly — oregon adjacent physique their archetypal apps ever.

The detonation of caller apps for Apple to reappraisal could besides beryllium down immoderate of the tech giant’s caller missteps. This week, Apple pulled the rewards app Freecash from the App Store for rules violations, aft letting the app ascent the store’s Top Charts and beryllium successful the apical 5 for months. Apple was besides caught disconnected defender by a malicious cryptocurrency app, a clone of Ledger Live, that drained $9.5 cardinal successful crypto from victims’ accounts.

While high-profile problems similar this tin make atrocious PR for the App Store, the institution inactive does a batch of dense lifting successful presumption of blocking and rejecting unsafe oregon spammy apps. Apple’s most caller investigation from 2024 said the institution had removed oregon rejected much than 17,000 apps for bait-and-switch violations that year; rejected much than 320,000 app submissions that were recovered to beryllium spam, copying different apps, oregon misleading; and took enactment to forestall much than 37,000 perchance fraudulent apps from reaching users connected the App Store.

Still, Apple pundits similar John Gruber person long argued that the App Store needs a “bunco squad” of sorts that watches for scammy oregon fraudulent apps that are gaining successful popularity oregon high-grossing.

If AI-assisted vibe coding turns retired to beryllium down the caller surge of app releases, that request volition lone turn arsenic much caller apps flood the marketplace, not each of which volition beryllium benign.