App Stores are Booming again apparently

[CMPunk_Fan]

The App Store is booming again, and AI may be why | TechCrunch

https://techcrunch.com/2026/04/18/the-app-store-is-booming-again-and-ai-may-be-why/

 
Everyone said AI would kill the app economy. Turns out it may be doing the opposite. New data from market intelligence firm Appfigures shows that worldwide app releases in Q1 2026 were up 60% year-on-year across both the App Store and Google Play. On iOS alone that figure jumps to 80%. And so far in April 2026, total releases are up over 100% compared to the same period last year.
 
The theory doing the rounds for a while was that AI chatbots and agents would replace apps entirely. Nothing CEO Carl Pei has been saying exactly that, and OpenAI is reportedly working on an AI hardware device with Jony Ive designed to sidestep smartphones altogether. But the data tells a different story right now.
 
What seems to be happening instead is that AI is lowering the barrier to building apps. People who have ideas but no coding skills can now ship something. The result is a new wave of creators entering the space, and certain app categories are seeing notably higher release rates than others because of it.
 
Apple's own Greg "Joz" Joswiak quipped in a recent interview that rumours of the App Store's death in the AI age may have been greatly exaggerated. Hard to argue with a 60% spike.

[Brett42]

I've seen this first hand. A mate of mine built and shipped his first iOS app last month using AI coding tools. Six months ago he couldn't have done it. The floodgates are open.

[DQ Eric]

The quality question is going to be interesting though. More apps does not automatically mean better apps. Discovery is already a nightmare on both stores.

[Amy96]

It makes sense when you think about it. AI removes the bottleneck that stopped ideas becoming products. The app stores are not going anywhere. If anything they are going to get noisier.

[Slay40]

Interesting really. one click from request to app store. going to be lower quality.

[Undertaker92]

That is the sensible approach. Worth doing even if the saving is small.

[BretHart]

There is something else going on in it I think. The gap between what something says and what it means is often where the most interesting stuff lives.

Curious what others make of it.

Windows gets slower over time not because of hardware but because of accumulated junk.