ChatGPT is Apple’s most downloaded app of 2025 in the US
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Apple on Wednesday released its annual list of the most downloaded apps and games for the year. For the U.S. market, OpenAI’s ChatGPT topped the ranks of free iPhone apps (not including games) with the most installs in 2025. The AI app was followed by Threads, Google, TikTok, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Google Maps, Gmail and then Google’s Gemini. ChatGPT made it to No. 4 last year, but the top spot was taken by Chinese shopping app Temu. In 2023, the AI app didn’t make the top-ten list despite being released on the iPhone in May 2023 to a strong debut. The fact that ChatGPT is outpacing social networking standbys, and much-needed utilities like Google Maps indicates how deeply AI has penetrated people’s everyday lives here in the U.S. It also demonstrates the potential for OpenAI to disrupt Google’s tight hold on the search market on mobile devices, as more people turn to a chatbot for answers first. There were signs that ChatGPT was on its way to No. 1 earlier in the year — it became the most-downloaded app globally in March, outpacing other top apps like TikTok and Instagram. Apple also released its list of the top paid apps, the top free and paid games for iPhone and iPad, as well as the top Apple Arcade games. Block Blast! was the top free game this year, while Minecraft took the crown as the top paid game. On iPad, YouTube was the No. 1 free app, and users downloaded the creativity app Procreate as the top paid game on iPad. Roblox was the top free iPad game. Techcrunch event Join the Disrupt 2026 Waitlist Add yourself to the Disrupt 2026 waitlist to be first in line when Early Bird tickets drop. Past Disrupts have brought Google Cloud, Netflix, Microsoft, Box, Phia, a16z, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Hugging Face, Elad Gil, and Vinod Khosla to the stages — part of 250+ industry leaders driving 200+ sessions built to fuel your growth and sharpen your edge. Plus, meet the hundreds of startups innovating across every sector. Join the Disrupt 2026 Waitlist Add yourself to the Disrupt 2026 waitlist to be first in line when Early Bird tickets drop. Past Disrupts have brought Google Cloud, Netflix, Microsoft, Box, Phia, a16z, ElevenLabs, Wayve, Hugging Face, Elad Gil, and Vinod Khosla to the stages — part of 250+ industry leaders driving 200+ sessions built to fuel your growth and sharpen your edge. Plus, meet the hundreds of startups innovating across every sector. San Francisco | October 13-15, 2026 WAITLIST NOW The full list of top apps and games is below: Top Free iPhone Apps ChatGPT Threads Google TikTok – Videos, Shop & LIVE WhatsApp Messenger Instagram YouTube Google Maps Gmail – Email by Google Google Gemini Top Paid iPhone Apps HotSchedules Shadowrocket Procreate Pocket AnkiMobile Flashcards Paprika Recipe Manager 3 SkyView® TonalEnergy Tuner & Metronome AutoSleep Track Sleep on Watch Forest: Focus for Productivity RadarScope Top Free iPhone Games Block Blast!
Fortnite Roblox Township Pokémon TCG Pocket Royal Kingdom Clash Royale Vita Mahjong Whiteout Survival Last War: Survival Top Paid iPhone Games Minecraft: Dream it, Build it!
Balatro Heads Up! Plague Inc.
Geometry Dash Bloons TD 6 Stardew Valley Papa’s Freezeria To Go! Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp C Red’s First Flight Top Free iPad Apps YouTube ChatGPT Netflix Disney+ Amazon Prime Video TikTok – Videos, Shop & LIVE Google Chrome Goodnotes: AI Notes, Docs, PDF Canva: AI Photo & Video Editor HBO Max: Stream Movies & TV Top Paid iPad Apps Procreate Procreate Dreams forScore ToonSquid Nomad Sculpt Shadowrocket AnkiMobile Flashcards Bluebeam Revu for iPad Teach Your Monster to Read Feather: Draw in 3D Top Free iPad Games Roblox Block Blast!
Fortnite Perfect Tidy Magic Tiles 3: Piano Game Mini Games: Calm & Chill Goods Puzzle: Sort Challenge hole.io Subway Surfers Township Top Paid iPad Games Minecraft: Dream it, Build it!
Geometry Dash Stardew Valley Balatro Bloons TD 6 Plague Inc. Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp C Poppy Playtime Chapter 3 Purple Place – Classic Games Papa’s Sushiria To Go!
Top Apple Arcade Games NFL Retro Bowl ’26 NBA 2K25 Arcade Edition Balatro+ Snake.io+ Sneaky Sasquatch Hello Kitty Island Adventure Fruit Ninja Classic+ Bloons TD 6+ PGA TOUR Pro Golf Solitaire by MobilityWare+ Topics AI, app store, Apple, Apps, Apps, ChatGPT Sarah Perez Consumer News Editor Sarah has worked as a reporter for TechCrunch since August 2011. She joined the company after having previously spent over three years at ReadWriteWeb. Prior to her work as a reporter, Sarah worked in I.T. across a number of industries, including banking, retail and software. You can contact or verify outreach from Sarah by emailing sarahp@techcrunch.com or via encrypted message at sarahperez.01 on Signal.
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