
Produced by: FoxData Global Mobile Data Research Center
Data Period: August 1 – August 31, 2025
Data Sources: App Store and Google Play
As the global mobile app market entered an active consumption phase in late summer 2025, the newly released August revenue chart highlighted three major trends:
- Video and content platforms continue to dominate at the top;
- AI-powered productivity applications are fully entering the mainstream subscription market;
- Mid-core and casual games are showing clear divergence, with operational rhythm emerging as a key success factor.
App Store Global Revenue TOP 10 (August 2025)
Content Platforms Reinforce the “Dual Giants” Structure
- YouTube maintained its top position with $148M in revenue, sustained by dual monetization streams of subscriptions and ads.
- TikTok followed closely with $127M, leveraging short video and live-commerce features to lock in high-frequency engagement.
FoxData shows that TikTok’s user time-spent performance remains especially strong.
Together, the two generated nearly $276M, securing their absolute dominance within the content platform category.
AI Applications Accelerate Growth, Enter the Top 3
- ChatGPT climbed to #3 with $120M in revenue.
- By combining multi-modal upgrades with enterprise adoption, it has built a dual-track growth model of lightweight consumer usage + productivity in enterprise scenarios.
👉 This is the first time an AI-driven app has consistently ranked in the App Store’s Top 3, marking a significant step toward commercial maturity.
Mid-Core and Hardcore Games: Mixed Signals Across Genres
- Honor of Kings(CN server) ranked 4th ($110M). While slightly down, it remains the world’s most durable long-cycle eSports title, with Chinese players contributing the bulk of revenues.
- PUBG Mobile surged back to #6 ($58.9M, +6 ranks), boosted by seasonal updates and cross-industry collaborations.
- Last War: Survival dropped to #8 ($56.6M, -3 ranks), reflecting the SLG genre’s reliance on retention and content cadence.
- Whiteout Survival also fell to #9 ($47.5M), underscoring the intensifying summer competition among strategy games.
Steady Role of Casual and Social Apps
- Tinder rose to #5 ($64.6M, +1). This month’s highlight is not merely stability in revenue, but ongoing feature upgrades and targeted marketing campaigns. With new “interest-based matching” and limited-time premium perks, interaction has deepened. While North America remains the core paying base, traction has also begun to appear in Europe and East Asia — signaling long-term growth potential through localization.
♥️ But did one dating app encounter a major user data breach crisis?
- Royal Match remained steady at #7 ($57.3M), sustaining engagement with its “light-pressure play cycles + decorative tasks.”
- Monopoly GO! entered the Top 10 at #10 ($44.3M), validating the monetization potential of family-oriented casual gameplay.
Google Play Global Revenue TOP 10 (August 2025)
Utility Apps Maintain Long-Term Stability
- Google One remained firmly at the top with a staggering $2.57B, far surpassing all competitors. This demonstrates the enormous spending power of utility subscriptions in the Android ecosystem.
- Its revenue is mainly driven by cloud storage packages and cross-device membership perks, while its high retention and renewal rates set it apart from peers.

Source: FoxData
- From a structural perspective, Google One is evolving beyond a “standalone tool” into a long-term stable ecosystem asset through its bundling of cloud storage, member benefits, and system integration.
AI Subscription Services Go Mainstream
- ChatGPT remained in #2 position ($55M).
- Its continued strong performance on Google Play reflects AI’s growing adoption not just among professional and enterprise users but increasingly within daily-life productivity scenarios, with its user base expanding steadily.
Streaming Competition Intensifies, Driven by Blockbusters
- HBO Max surged to #4 ($34.4M), validating the role of exclusive premieres in boosting acquisition and retention.
- Disney+ ranked #7 ($18.8M), sustained by steady IP-driven content production.
- Peacock TV reached the Top 10 at #9 ($10.1M), reflecting the effectiveness of a long-tail content + multi-platform distribution strategy.
The Diverse Rise of Content and Localized Platforms
- TikTok appeared in two separate categories, ranking #3 in Social ($40.9M) and #6 in Video Players ($21.1M), showcasing the platform’s monetization strength across multiple verticals.
❓What’s the relationship and difference between these two TikTok listings?
Because Google Play categorizes apps based on functionality and monetization logic, TikTok is placed under different categories depending on the market version or distribution channel. They are both part of the same TikTok ecosystem, but with different emphases:
- Social Edition (Social) → Essentially TikTok’s “full version,” serving as the platform’s primary revenue driver through social engagement, e-commerce, and live-streaming monetization.
- Video Player Edition (Video Players) → A “lightweight variant,” with reduced social and commerce features, focusing on stable video playback, catering to users who prefer passive short-video entertainment without the heavy social layer.
- WEBTOON ranked #8 ($14.2M). Operated by Korea’s Naver, it is a mobile-native webtoon platform that monetizes through vertical-scroll comics + in-app chapter unlocks. It has now become a key player in global digital content consumption, especially popular among Gen Z and anime/manga communities.
- Duolingo closed the Top 10 at #10 ($10.0M). With its creative marketing strategies and gamified learning model, the app has firmly proven the commercial value of education-driven subscriptions.
Case Study: ChatGPT’s Dual-Platform Surge
As the only AI-powered app ranked Top 3 on the App Store and Top 2 on Google Play, ChatGPT is quickly becoming a global subscription infrastructure:
- App Store Revenue: $120M (#3)
- Google Play Revenue: $55M (#2)
- Total Revenue: nearly $175M in August 2025, putting it on par with some of the world’s leading content platforms.
Growth Dynamics:
- B2C: Lightweight use cases such as Q&A, translation, and everyday creative writing.
- B2B: Expanding across enterprise workflows like documentation, customer support, and project planning.
👉 AI apps are no longer reliant on “tech trend hype.” They are evolving into daily essentials with high retention and long-term subscription value.
Key Insights & Future Outlook
- Three Long-Term Pillars:
- Content Platforms (YouTube, TikTok)
- AI Productivity Tools (ChatGPT)
- Diversified Games (Honor of Kings, Royal Match, Monopoly GO!)
- Global Potential of Localized Content Platforms:WEBTOON and niche streaming services demonstrate that regional culture and IP can achieve global commercial success.
- Emerging Growth Channel:Education apps like Duolingo have seen rapid growth over the past year. Integrated with AI, they may unlock even larger monetization opportunities.
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