The mobile app landscape has witnessed a remarkable surge in consumer spending, with AI-powered apps leading the charge. According to Sensor Tower's annual State of Mobile report for 2026, global consumer spending on in-app purchases and subscriptions reached $150 billion in 2024, marking a 13% year-over-year (YoY) increase.

Consumers are more connected than ever, with total hours spent on mobile worldwide reaching 4.2 trillion (+5.8% YoY). Although app downloads fell slightly to 136 billion (-1.0% YoY), non-gaming apps continued to thrive, with spend increasing by nearly $14 billion (25% YoY growth) for the fourth consecutive year.

One of the most significant trends in 2024 was the rise of AI chatbots. Consumer spending on these apps surged by 200% YoY, reaching nearly $1.1 billion. Time spent in AI-powered apps like Character AI and ChatGPT nearly eclipsed 7.7 billion hours, emphasizing the growing appetite among consumers for AI features at their fingertips.

"As consumers spend more time on mobile, they're becoming far more comfortable making purchases on their devices," said Oliver Yeh, Chief Executive Officer and Cofounder of Sensor Tower. "Apps have shifted their monetization strategies to capitalize on this increased attention, finding innovative ways to streamline and improve consumers' digital experience."

Interestingly, while some top app categories like streaming experienced a slight pullback in engagement, others continued to thrive. Food & Drink app downloads (+8.5% YoY) and session count (+9.2% YoY) saw accelerated growth as more companies integrated the app into the customer buying process.

Other key findings from the report include:

  • Four games and one app (Last War, Whiteout Survival, Dungeon & Fighter, Brawl Stars, and WeTV) joined the billion-dollar club, surpassing $1 billion in consumer spend for a calendar year.
  • ChatGPT has reached 50 million (+500% YoY) Monthly Active Users faster than Temu, Disney+, and YouTube Music.
  • Finance apps maintained double-digit growth YoY for time spent and approached 7.5 billion downloads (+8% YoY).
  • Cryptocurrency apps like Binance (6th) and Tonkeeper (9th) rank among the top 10 finance apps by downloads in 2024.
  • Chinese e-tailers Temu and SHEIN continued their expansion into Europe, Latin America, and Asia, ranking first and second respectively for top app downloads in the retail subgenre.

Sensor Tower's State of Mobile Report delves deep into regional and category-level market trends. For more information on sector and specific app performance, read the full report here: [link].

About Sensor Tower

Sensor Tower is the leading source of mobile app, digital advertising, retail media, and audience insights for the largest brands and app publishers across the globe. With a mission to measure the world's digital economy, Sensor Tower's award-winning platform delivers unmatched visibility into the mobile app and digital ecosystem, empowering organizations to stay ahead of changing market dynamics and make informed, strategic decisions.