We're downloading fewer apps than ever - but spending way more money on them

This marks the fifth year in a row that downloads have fallen, following a peak of around 135 billion installs during the pandemic boom in 2020. What’s keeping the industry growing despite that slowdown is subscriptions, which have become deeply baked into the app economy.

Not all categories were affected the same way. Mobile games saw the steepest decline, with downloads dropping 8.6% year over year to 39.4 billion, following a 6.6% drop the year before. Non-game apps, on the other hand, actually grew slightly, climbing 1.1% to 67.4 billion downloads after declining by the same amount the previous year.

Spending trends tell an even clearer story. In 2025, users spent $72.2 billion on mobile games, making up about 46% of total app spending. That figure is up 10% year over year. At the same time, spending on non-game apps surged even more, rising 33.9% to reach $82.6 billion.

Taken together, the data shows that developers and publishers have gotten very good at turning existing users into paying customers through subscriptions and in-app purchases, even as fewer people download new apps overall.

Subscriptions are propping up the app economy

Even though many users are tired of seeing subscriptions and paywalls everywhere, this model has clearly created a more stable business environment for app developers. I mean, the numbers make that hard to argue with.

The report also reinforces just how much we already live in a subscription-based world. Companies are leaning into it harder than ever, and the momentum doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Apple is a good example here, recently rolling out its new Creative Studio subscription bundle and reporting record-breaking performance for its services business overall.

And it’s not just Apple, you know. Across the industry, recurring revenue is becoming the backbone that keeps companies growing – largely because users are already locked into multiple subscriptions and rarely cancel them all at once.

Subscription fatigue might finally be changing user behavior

Personally, I’m not a fan of the subscription model, but I’m very much part of it. I pay for Spotify – which is going up in price again – along with Apple TV+, HBO Max, Google Drive, and several other services just to stream content, listen to music, or store files I’ll never truly own. Hopefully, the internet never lets us down, right?

At the same time, the ongoing drop in downloads might actually be connected to subscription fatigue. With so many apps asking for monthly payments, people are likely becoming more selective about what they install in the first place. Too many subscriptions can get overwhelming, especially when it comes to costs.

After all, a dollar here and a dollar there adds up fast – and more users seem to be noticing that now.