This Week in Apps - Apple's Latest Sherlock

This Week in Apps is a short, no-fluff, round-up of interesting things that happened in the mobile industry. Here are our top highlights.

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U.S. Revenue Index (vs 30 days ago)

Insights

1. Apple Has a New App and People Care (For a Change)

A few days ago, Apple shipped a brand new app to the App Store called Apple Invites. This app comes almost a year after Apple released Apple Sports, another Apple app that doesn't come built into the iPhone and is available for download just like every other app.

Unlike Apple Sports, which had a lackluster release and very few downloads now, users do seem to care about Apple Invites.

Our App Intelligence show that in its first five days in the App Store, Apple Invites was downloaded 1.3M times, and for a few hours, even become the #1 app in the US (where it's now #8).

Like its name, Apple Invites lets users create invitations to events and collect RSVPs. Services like Eventbrite already do that, but those tend to feel a bit less hip and a bit more business.

I thought Apple Invites was a novel idea, but folks on 𝕏 were quick to say it isn't. Partiful does (and looks) pretty much the same.

Both Apple Invites and Partiful offer a way to create events with background and colors and music, send invites, and collect RSVPs.

Partiful launched in the summer of 2023 on the App Store and then in mid 2024 on Android. Since its release, our App Intelligence shows Partiful was downloaded by 1.5M people worldwide. Apple Invites will likely surpass that in a few days - but there's good news there which I'll get to in a moment.

It pains me to see apps that need the social graph starting on a single platform because it could seriously stunt growth, and that may have been the case here. Partiful's Android version launched almost a year after its iOS app and while it managed to get some traction, it's barely getting downloads.

According to our estimates, the majority of downloads are coming from the App Store. And by majority I mean 92%. Only 8% are coming from Google Play, and the trend isn't all that wonderful.

If you're developing an app that relies on user-sharing, make sure you consider people have friends on other platforms.

Partiful's downloads peaked in November, the first (and only) month with more than 200K downloads, but has subsided a bit after.

It can still win. Being sherlocked by Apple might seem like its the end for Partiful, but it really doesn't have to be. In fact, Apple Invites can be the catalyst Partiful needed. Looking at the downloads, most people didn't know Partiful even existed. Be it lack of promotion, bad timing, or that people didn't see the immediate need, Apple Invites will, in a way, force people to know of the existence of this category of apps.

Aaaaand, when you compare the experience, Apple Invites feels very plain while Partiful feels more comprehensive and easier to use. For example, Partiful makes it very easy to not just create an event but to spice it up with graphics and music suggestions, and even an AI assistant to put things together for you. Apple Invites doesn't. You get a form and it's up to you to use it.

To win, Partiful needs to focus on promoting the app as the "better" alternative to Apple Invites that's also cross-platform.

2. This Is What Users Really Think About DeepSeek, China’s ChatGPT Rival

DeepSeek stunned the AI and app worlds with its recent U.S. launch, racking up 2M downloads (and counting) within days. To go beyond the download numbers, we wanted to know what those who’ve installed the unexpected contender for the core model crown have to say about their experience. So, we took a deep dive into their reviews to find out and compared them with ChatGPT, the segment leader, to see how the newcomer stacks up.

So far, sentiment is overwhelmingly positive for both apps. 83% of DeepSeek’s reviews express a good experience, while ChatGPT edges past it at 89%. That’s a solid start for DeepSeek and reinforces it being a real contender.

DeepSeek also gets high marks for ease of use and speed, with 29% of its positive reviews mentioning usability, compared to 23% for ChatGPT. Performance is another highlight; 21% of users praise its speed, versus 15% for OpenAI’s app.

ChatGPT, meanwhile, leads in helpfulness (36% vs. 31%) and creativity (17% vs. 10%). Accuracy is evenly matched, with 9% of positive reviews praising both apps in this area.

What’s not working? For DeepSeek, censorship and privacy concerns are the biggest drawbacks, called out in 37% of its negative reviews. Many users report frustration over restricted content, likely due to the app’s Chinese origins, and some are wary of privacy risks tied to its China-based servers.

For ChatGPT, the top complaint is pricing. At $20/month for Plus and $200/month for Pro, many users feel it’s too expensive. In contrast, DeepSeek’s free access is a huge draw. 14% of its positive reviews actually mention switching from ChatGPT to save money.

Pricing-related frustration with ChatGPT is only growing. In January 2024, cost was a concern in 9% of all ChatGPT reviews and 21% of negative ones. By January 2025, that jumped to 14% of all reviews and 30% of negative ones, equating to 1 in 7 ChatGPT reviews mentioning pricing as an issue.

Other standout issues for DeepSeek users include login troubles — reported by 20% of its negative reviews, compared to 12% for ChatGPT — and speed complaints, which show up twice as often for DeepSeek (20% vs. 10%).

Despite its cost concerns, ChatGPT remains the dominant player, but DeepSeek’s rapid rise as a free alternative signals real competition ahead.

Check out Rise of AI Apps: Key Trends to Watch in 2025 for more about insights about the AI app market.

3. ChatGPT's Revenue Thrives in the Face of Free Opposition from DeepSeek

The last few weeks have been pretty weird in the AI world. DeepSeek, a Chinese company, released a model that goes head-to-head with OpenAI's, and made it open source.

Then, DeepSeek released a consumer app that's free and demand exploded almost entirely overnight. With users raving about the quality and (lack of) price, it felt like ChatGPT's soaring success might face opposition.

But.. it didn't.

Between controversies and server instability, DeepSeek's control of the market faded quickly and the introduction of o3-mini combined with ChatGPT's $200 tier drove the app's revenue higher than ever before.

If you've been following me for the last few months or read our latest AI Industry report, you know that ChatGPT's revenue has been growing at a very fast pace since the introduction of 4o last year.

According to our App Intelligence, ChatGPT's net revenue rose a whopping 22% in January to $67M - that's what Sam gets to keep after giving Apple and Google their share.

DeepSeek came in mid-January which some may think means February will not be as positive. Data from the first week of the month puts these concerns to rest.

According to Appfigures estimates, ChatGPT hit a new all-time high for daily revenue in mid-January and then broke that record with an even higher day last week.

The first two weeks of the year were big for ChatGPT's revenue, a direct result of the Pro tier which costs 10x the standard tier. That resulted in an all-time high of $2.59M of net revenue on January 17th.

Actually, almost every single day during the first two weeks was a record breaker.

News about DeepSeek certainly hurt though. The second half of January wasn't nearly as high, though, still higher than the average for December.

Between subscription renewals, new subscribers, and o3-mini, ChatGPT returned the recording-busting performance we expect in February, with its latest all-time high at $2.63M last Friday.

In terms of apps, AI feels now like streaming apps felt in 2020. This race is just starting.

4. A Big Month for Streaming? These are the Highest Earning Apps in the World in January

January was one of the most hectic months in the App Store I remember. TikTok was actually banned, xAI released Grok, and then DeepSeek took over by storm. But the real winners, when it comes to money, were none of those...

I ranked every app in the App Store and Google Play and here are the highest earners:

Even though it was banned in the US, TikTok managed to retain its top spot as the highest-earning app in the world. However, TikTok's net revenue took a MAJOR tumble, dropping $474M (22%) to end January at $262M, according to our App Intelligence. Remember, that's net revenue which means what Bytedance gets to keep after Apple and Google take their share.

Question: Which countries bring the most revenue for TikTok? Answer below.

And while TikTok's revenue dropped, almost every single app on our top 10 list saw an increase in January!

YouTube retained its second spot in January with $153M of net revenue, growing 13% month-over-month. Disney+ came in third, just like January, but it too grew 9% to $142M in net revenue, according to our estimates.

If you're thinking "how is Disney+ growing if it's no longer offering subscriptions in the App Store???", the likely answer is annual subscription of existing members renewing. So this isn't an increase in MRR but rather in total revenue.

Tinder and Max saw revenue rise with the latter joining the nine-digit revenue club with $100M of net revenue, up from $81M in December, according to our estimates.

The only app that didn't grow its revenue in January is Tencent Video. Its revenue dropped a whopping 21%, losing it its 6th spot and dropping it to the last spot on our list.

Together, the highest earners brought in $1.1B of net revenue - what the publishers get to keep after fees - from the App Store and Google Play in January, according to Appfigures estimates. That's as much as December's total and the second consecutive month of revenue having a capital B next to it.

Answer: China, Japan, and the UK.

5. Should TikTok Even Care About the US? The Most Downloaded Apps in the World in January

I crunched the numbers and ranked the most downloaded apps in the world in January, and didn't expect these results!

Instagram was not the most downloaded app in the world in January. No no! Instagram was dethroned after more than a year of being #1 by... TikTok!

TikTok was the most downloaded app in January with 49M downloads, according to our App Intelligence, beating rival Instagram by just a smidge. As the saying goes, "no news is bad news".

While the US is a major revenue source for TikTok it isn't for downloads. the US ranked 5th in terms of new downloads in December, adding 5% to TikTok's total. Indonesia is TikTok's biggest source of new downloads, adding 10% to its total in December.

Both TikTok and Instagram saw downloads increase in January. In fact, every single app in our top 10 list saw higher downloads in January vs December - except for one.

Facebook, WhatsApp, and ChatGPT round out the top five most downloaded apps in the world in January. The exact same list as in December but with Facebook and WhatsApp flipped.

Threads is the only app in the list that saw fewer downloads in January vs December. I compared it against Bluesky and X to see if it's a market trend or not and it isn't, Threads is the only one that declined while the other two grew. But Threads continues to get more downloads in absolute terms.

Which do you use?

Together, the top 10 most downloaded apps in the world drew 337M downloads from the App Store and Google Play in January, according to our App Intelligence. A small but noticeable increase from December, and a good sign that 2024's big trend may be challenged in 2025.

App Intelligence for Everyone!

The insights in this report come right out of our App Intelligence platform, which offers access to download and revenue estimates, installed SDKs, and more! Learn more about the tools or schedule a demo with our team to get started.

Are you a Journalist? You can get access to our app and market intelligence for free through the Appfigures for Journalists program. Contact us for more details.

All figures included in this report are estimated. Unless specified otherwise, estimated revenue is always net, meaning it's the amount the developer earned after Apple and Google took their fee.