There are a lot of apps on the App Store (Apple says it’s just shy of two million). You might think with a market so varied, that the competition for the “most popular” apps of the year would be fierce. But if you look back, the apps that top the charts seem to remain about the same from year to year.
Temu is tops
On Monday, Apple dropped its list of the most popular iPhone and iPad apps of the year across a number of categories. Just like last year, Temu was the most popular free app of 2024. People still love buying cheap products, so perhaps that isn’t a surprise. But it’s app number two that I’m most interested in: Threads. Meta’s version of “X” has had a great year, as former X users look for an alternative to the platform formerly known as Twitter. We’ll have to see if Bluesky keeps its current momentum, though. If it does, it just might make it to the list in 2025.
In third place is TikTok, which also isn’t all that surprising: There isn’t a short-form video platform more popular. Don’t expect to see it on the list in 2025, though, unless the Supreme Court steps in to save the app from being banned in the U.S.
AI apps from OpenAI and Meta
ChatGPT was the fourth most downloaded free app of 2024, and it makes sense: AI is everywhere, and people are still curious about it. But it is the only overtly AI app to make it onto the top 10 lists here. Perhaps that speaks to ChatGPT’s notoriety, or that AI’s hype isn’t as huge as some would portray it to be. In any case, I think it was a smart move for Meta to integrate its AI services directly into apps like Instagram and WhatsApp. As much as I dislike Meta AI, these apps were the sixth and seventh most popular of the year. That’s a lot of exposure, something that a dedicated Meta AI app probably wouldn’t have achieved.
Top paid apps: VPNs, productivity, and creativity
The paid apps are an interesting bunch. If you’re like me, you probably haven’t heard of many of them. The top three apps, Shadowrocket, HotSchedules, and Procreate Pocket are the exact same as last year: Shadowrocket is like a highly-configurable VPN, which lets you channel your internet traffic through proxy servers. HotSchedules is an employee-scheduling app, while Procreate Pocket is the iPhone version of Procreate, a popular art app for iPad.
The most popular games
As far as games go, MONOPOLY GO! is still on the list, but drops to the second most popular free game. Topping the chart this year was Block Blast!, a puzzle game that was seventh on the list in 2023. Roblox and Subway Surfers were back this year, as was a Call of Duty title, but this year—Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile. The top two paid games of 2024 are exactly the same as they were last year: Minecraft and Heads Up! No surprises there.
Here’s the full list of categories, including iPhone, iPad, and Apple Arcade games:
Top free iPhone apps
Temu: Shop Like a Billionaire
Threads
TikTok
ChatGPT
WhatsApp Messenger
CapCut – Video Editor
YouTube: Watch, Listen, Stream
Gmail – Email by Google
Top paid iPhone apps
Shadowrocket
HotSchedules
Procreate Pocket
75 Hard
AnkiMobile Flashcards
AutoSleep Track Sleep on Watch
Paprika Recipe Manager 3
TonalEnergy Tuner & Metronome
Goblin Tools
Forest: Focus for Productivity
Top free iPhone games
Block Blast！
MONOPOLY GO!
Roblox
Call of Duty®: Warzone™ Mobile
Township
Last War:Survival
Royal Match
Brawl Stars
Subway Surfers
My Perfect Hotel
Top paid iPhone games
Minecraft: Play with Friends
Heads Up!
Geometry Dash
Papa’s Freezeria To Go!
Bloons TD 6
Five Nights at Freddy’s
Plague Inc.
MONOPOLY: The Board Game
Stardew Valley
Red’s First Flight
Top free iPad apps
YouTube: Watch, Listen, Stream
Netflix
Max: Stream HBO, TV, & Movies
Calculator – Pad Edition
Disney+
Google Chrome
Peacock TV: Stream TV & Movies
Amazon Prime Video
TikTok
Goodnotes 6
Top paid iPad apps
Procreate
Procreate Dreams
Shadowrocket
forScore
Nomad Sculpt
ToonSquid
Bluebeam Revu for iPad
AnkiMobile Flashcards
Teach Your Monster to Read
Endless Paper
Top free iPad games
Roblox
Magic Tiles 3: Piano Game
MONOPOLY GO!
Subway Surfers
Brawl Stars
Geometry Dash Lite
Block Blast！
Among Us!
My Perfect Hotel
Royal Match
Top paid iPad games
Minecraft: Play with Friends
Geometry Dash
Five Nights at Freddy’s
Stardew Valley
Bloons TD 6
Papa’s Paleteria To Go!
Five Nights at Freddy’s 2
Poppy Playtime Chapter 1
MONOPOLY: The Board Game
Ultimate Custom Night
Top Apple Arcade games
NBA 2K24 Arcade Edition
Snake.io+
Hello Kitty Island Adventure
Sneaky Sasquatch
Bloons TD 6+
Sonic Dream Team
NFL Retro Bowl ’25
Disney Dreamlight Valley
Cooking Mama: Cuisine!
Solitaire by MobilityWare+
