Nearly one in ten applications appearing in Apple's App Store charts now refers to artificial intelligence or related terms in its listing, according to a new analysis by Obelisk Club. The research examined 178,637 apps that reached top charts in 173 countries and regions from October 9, 2026, and is intended to be refreshed every quarter.
The study identified 17,456 apps, or 9.8% of the sample, whose names or opening descriptions mentioned AI, GPT, machine learning, generative technology or chatbots. Such language was most common in the Graphics & Design, Photo & Video and Developer Tools categories.
Ratings showed little separation between the two groups. Among apps with at least 50 ratings, listings using AI-related language averaged 4.49 stars, compared with 4.4 stars for the rest. The result describes correlation in public listings and ratings; it does not assess whether an app's AI functions are substantial or whether those functions improve quality.
Obelisk also examined monetization language. Of 164,056 apps that were free to download, 26.7% said in their descriptions that they offered an in-app purchase, subscription, trial or paid Pro unlock. The shares were highest in Graphics & Design and Photo & Video, while Shopping and News were lowest. The researchers noted that many apps in the latter categories support businesses earning revenue outside the App Store.
Independent developers accounted for 67.3% of charting apps under the study's definition. Their average rating among apps with at least 50 ratings was 4.41 stars, identical to the figure for larger publishers. Independent representation was greatest in Developer Tools, Sports and Navigation and lowest in Games.
Update history revealed a split between actively maintained and apparently neglected products. About 70.9% of the apps had received an update within six months. At the same time, 20.3% had not been updated for at least a year and 9.8% had gone more than three years without one. Books, Reference and News contained the largest shares of long-unupdated listings, while Finance had the lowest share at 10.9%.
A separate review analysis covered 165,735 US App Store reviews for 3,912 apps. Within one- and two-star reviews, 12.7% mentioned subscription or pricing concerns, 10.9% referred to bugs or broken features and 10% cited login or account problems. Reviews could be assigned to more than one topic, so those percentages are not mutually exclusive.
The project has released its charts and data under a Creative Commons Attribution license. Future quarterly editions are expected to track changes such as subscription adoption, growth in AI terminology and whether apps classified as abandoned return to active maintenance. Because the sample consists of apps reaching top charts rather than the entire store, its findings describe visible charting software and should not automatically be generalized to every App Store listing.
