App Downloads Slow as Users Become Pickier

The global mobile app market delivered a mixed message in 2025. While the number of apps being downloaded continued to grow, the pace of that growth slowed considerably compared to previous years. At the same time, the money flowing into app makers hit a new record, crossing the $150 billion mark for consumer spending.

This disconnect reveals something important about how the app market is changing. Users are becoming more selective. They're downloading fewer apps overall, but they're willing to spend more on the ones they actually use.

Background

For years, the app market grew in almost every direction at once. More downloads, more apps available, more revenue. The industry seemed to have unlimited growth potential. But 2025 showed signs that this pattern is shifting.

Global app downloads reached 218 billion in 2024, marking a 7% increase from the previous year. That growth continued into 2025, with projections showing somewhere between 300 billion downloads for the year, but the trajectory shows a market that is maturing rather than exploding.

The app landscape has become crowded. The Google Play Store offers around 2.87 million apps. Apple's App Store has 1.96 million. For users, this abundance creates a problem: too many choices, and most apps simply don't deserve space on a phone.

The reality is brutal for app makers. Half of all downloaded apps get deleted within 30 days. One in five users open an app just once and never return. App retention drops to just 3-4% by day 30. These numbers have not improved much over time, suggesting that the core challenge facing the industry remains unchanged: getting people to actually use what they download.

Key Details

The Spending Surge

Despite the slowdown in downloads, consumer spending on apps reached $150 billion in 2025. This represents a significant jump from previous years and signals that users who do commit to apps are opening their wallets. The money comes from three main sources: in-app purchases, subscriptions, and advertising revenue.

Mobile commerce tells a similar story. Shopping apps and mobile websites accounted for 59% of all retail e-commerce in 2025, representing roughly $4 trillion in sales. About 1.65 billion people made purchases through mobile devices last year, showing that when users find an app they trust, they use it for real transactions.

Why Downloads Are Slowing

Several factors explain the slowdown in new downloads. The app market has become saturated. Users are more selective about what they install. Quality control has tightened, with Apple and Google enforcing stricter policies. Google Play saw a 47% decline in app listings due to tighter policy enforcement, meaning fewer low-quality apps are available to download.

Users are also becoming less tolerant of poor experiences. Sessions abandoned due to bugs or technical errors jumped 254% year over year. Bounce rates increased 54%, meaning people are leaving apps faster when they encounter problems. This suggests that while fewer apps are being downloaded, the ones that are installed face higher expectations.

"Half of apps get deleted in 30 days, and over 1 in 5 users abandon an app after just one use. The window for apps to prove their usefulness is extremely short." – Industry analysis

Where the Growth Is Happening

The most downloaded apps in 2025 tell a story about what users actually want. ChatGPT led globally in April 2025 with 52 million downloads, reflecting growing interest in artificial intelligence tools. Social media and communication apps continue to dominate, with Facebook, Tinder, and similar apps maintaining strong positions. Gaming apps like Subway Surfers recorded 218 million downloads in 2024.

Emerging markets show significant growth potential. Rapid smartphone adoption in these regions is driving app downloads upward, even as growth slows in mature markets like the United States and Europe. Young, tech-savvy populations and increasing disposable incomes in developing countries are creating new opportunities for app makers.

What This Means

The 2025 app market reveals an industry in transition. The days of explosive growth in download numbers appear to be ending. Users have access to more apps than they could ever use, and most new downloads fail to stick around.

For app makers, the message is clear: quantity no longer matters. The focus must shift entirely to quality and retention. Building an app that people actually want to use, and that keeps them engaged beyond the first week, has become the central challenge.

The money is still flowing into the app economy, but it's concentrating among winners. Apps that solve real problems, deliver smooth experiences, and provide ongoing value are seeing success. Apps that don't meet these standards are being discarded at record rates.

The $150 billion in consumer spending shows that users are willing to pay for good apps. But they're no longer willing to download mediocre ones just to try them out. The app market has matured from a growth story into a quality story. For the industry, that means the easy days of growth are over. What comes next requires building better products and keeping users engaged for the long term.