Sensor Tower's annual “State of Mobile” report said punters have been splashing out on AI apps like ChatGPT, Gemini, ByteDance’s Doubao, and others, seeing an over 200 per cent year-over-year increase, bringing the total spent in this category to nearly $1.1 billion in 2024.

The firm's analysis suggests that if this growth rate continues, AI apps could enter the top 10 categories by consumer spending within a year.

The release of new AI models, such as OpenAI’s GPT-4o last summer, contributed to record-breaking revenue at certain times. However, consumer demand for AI apps remained consistently high throughout the year, not just during the peak surges driven by new model releases.

In 2024, consumers spent nearly 7.7 billion hours using AI apps, while apps mentioning “AI” were downloaded 17 billion times. ChatGPT reached 50 million monthly active users faster than other high-profile apps like Temu, Disney+, or YouTube Music, underscoring the increased appetite for AI applications and features.

Other notable categories experienced significant movements in 2024. Despite an increase in in-app revenue and downloads, streaming apps saw a slight decline in user engagement.

With Binance and Tonkeeper ranking sixth and ninth among finance app downloads, Crypto apps became the top 10 finance apps list. E-commerce giants Temu and Shein secured the first and second spots in the retail subgenre, bolstered by their continued expansion in Europe, Latin America, and Asia.

Finance apps maintained robust double-digit year-over-year growth in time spent, nearing 7.5 billion downloads in 2024, an eight per cent rise from 2023.

Sensor Tower revealed that four games and one app, Last War, Whiteout Survival, Dungeon & Fighter, Brawl Stars, and WeTV, crossed the milestone of $1 billion in consumer spending last year.