Produced by: FoxData Global Mobile Data Research Center

Data Period: July 1, 2025, to July 31, 2025

Data Sources: App Store and Google Play platforms

July 2025: Generative AI continues to dominate, with an increasingly evident trend of short videos merging with tool functionalities

Entering the second half of 2025, three major new trends are emerging in the global app market:

1. AI tools are gradually becoming platformized: ChatGPT maintains dual-platform dominance, transitioning from a single assistant to a multi-scenario operational layer;
2. The ecosystem of content, relationships, and e-commerce is becoming more integrated: Temu, Threads, and CapCut are consolidating traffic and conversion loops;
3. Lightweight games and localized content are expanding further: short dramas like Hongguo and games like Snake.io target high-frequency, fragmented usage scenarios.

Top 10 Global App Store Downloads in July 2025

FoxData Analysis:

- ChatGPT has once again topped the App Store charts with over 27 million downloads, demonstrating its central role within the "AI as Operating System" framework and increasingly becoming the hub for mobile user productivity and interaction.

- E-commerce platform Temu has surged to second place with over 16 million monthly downloads. Its "AI-driven recommendations combined with price subsidies" model continues to prove effective in Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia, driving organic growth in App Store downloads.

What is "AI as OS"?

Artificial intelligence will no longer be merely an application or tool but will become a foundational capability at the operating system level, leading and structuring all interactions between us and our devices.

You can also understand it this way:

Traditional operating systems (OS), such as Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android, are the core that enables devices to operate, managing various applications, services, and human-computer interactions.

"AI as OS" means:

• When using devices, tasks are not completed through isolated apps,
• but through a unified AI interface/assistant, akin to using an operating system, enabling natural language communication (dialogues, image queries, task commands, etc.). AI becomes a resident central assistant, orchestrating message management, scheduling, content summarization, search, shopping, creation, code generation, and more—eliminating the need to switch between multiple applications.

Top 10 Global Google Play Download Rankings (July 2025)

FoxData Analysis:

- Instagram remains at the top with nearly 47 million downloads, continuing to dominate the short-form content sector.

- Seeke AI makes its debut on the chart at second place with over 35 million downloads. Its core design philosophy of "minimalist experience + multilingual support" is driving rapid adoption in emerging markets for lightweight AI assistants.

- ChatGPT maintains a stable position in the top three with approximately 30 million monthly downloads. Its optimized compatibility for mid- to low-end devices is particularly favored by users in India and Indonesia.

- The dual-version strategy of TikTok is proving effective: the full version and Lite version are jointly driving growth, with 27.42 million and 28.92 million downloads respectively, ranking in the top five and sixth place, thereby accelerating overall market penetration in the traffic dividend market.

TikTok Lite's download volume has surpassed that of the full version for the first time, reflecting its strong adaptability advantages in markets with low bandwidth and high-cost devices. As user growth in emerging markets such as Southeast Asia and South Asia continues to unfold, the lightweight version, with its smaller installation package and low resource consumption, is becoming the main driver of expansion.

- From India, PhonePe has risen to eighth place with a total of 25 million downloads. Leveraging its "payment-as-a-service" platform, it has become a key entry point for new financial services within the Android ecosystem.

App Store vs. Google Play: Platform Ecosystem Comparison and User Trends

Common Trend: AI + Content as Dual Main Axes

• AI Platformization: ChatGPT and Seekee lead on their respective platforms, indicating that AI applications are now capable of shaping cross-platform universal experiences.
• Content Ecosystem Layering and Integration: Meta’s entire suite (Instagram, Threads, Facebook) and TikTok (full version + Lite) are forming two major camps in content consumption.

Key Differences:

App Store = Preferred Stage for Tool-Based Product Monetization

More suitable for iterative, high-value content products with strong AI interactions

👉 Ideal for subscription monetization, creator tools, and knowledge delivery platform development

Google Play = Explosive Growth and Experimental Battlefield

Suitable for broad user distribution, early-stage product-market fit experiments, and bandwidth-optimized experience packages (such as Lite installation files)

Future Trends: Four Key Areas to Watch

1. AI Applications Moving Toward Niche Verticalization

Following the wave of general large models, a surge of small models and "assistants" tailored to specific scenarios is expected. AI assistants will penetrate various vertical tools and daily tasks, driving mobile applications to evolve from mere "functional tools" to "intelligent companions."

2. Content Platforms Shifting from Recommendation Algorithms to "Scenario Integration"

Platform competition is shifting from algorithmic recommendations to the ability to integrate across devices and scenarios. Those capable of constructing a full-cycle experience from discovery to usage, from browsing to conversion, will hold the next growth high ground.

3. Accelerated Evolution of Financial Services and Light E-Commerce Integration

PhonePe and Temu exemplify two platform paths: "payment as a platform" and "consumption as entertainment," respectively. This suggests that the high-level integration of e-commerce, finance, and content will be a long-term trend.

4. Pan-Entertainment Content Urgently Needs AI-Enhanced Distribution and Cost-Effective Adaptation

Lightweight content applications like Hongguo short dramas and Snake.io exemplify the "high-frequency reach + ultra-low content cost" logic, gradually becoming a new paradigm in emerging markets.

Data Insights Recommendations: Which strategies are worth considering in the next phase?

For those focused on growth, attention is drawn to—

• How to leverage keyword trend analysis and regional heatmap shifts to precisely identify potential inflection points within emerging markets;
• Extracting creative rhythms from high-performing ad models to optimize content assets and multi-platform distribution effectiveness;
• Examining the layered user segmentation behind multiple product versions (such as TikTok and TikTok Lite), and dissecting differences in reach and retention across various user pathways.

For those concerned with product evolution, considerations include—

• Which platform is most suitable for testing AI/Subscription features, and which metrics best evaluate conversion efficiency;
• How to utilize ecosystem advantages to rapidly validate new features, iterate user experiences, and achieve cold start or regional penetration at lower costs;
• Extracting actionable insights from recent growth cases, such as Supercell’s “Strategic Revival,” and assessing their transferability and reusability.

Whether you are in the early exploration stage or approaching optimization thresholds, asking the right questions in the right context is the beginning of every growth journey.

📌 Whether you are involved in product design, growth experiments, campaign execution, or cross-regional expansion, FoxData offers a comprehensive closed-loop analysis system covering keyword insights, ranking changes, user behavior chains, and creative opportunities, empowering you to make faster, more accurate, and forward-looking growth decisions.

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