Analysis reveals slowing growth in ChatGPT app downloads and daily active users
ChatGPT, OpenAI's chat AI, is seeing a gradual slowdown in growth in mobile app downloads and daily active users, according to a new study from
ChatGPT's mobile app is seeing slowing download growth and daily use, analysis shows | TechCrunch
https://techcrunch.com/2025/10/17/chatgpts-mobile-app-is-seeing-slowing-download-growth-and-daily-use-analysis-shows/
According to Apptopia, ChatGPT's mobile app's new user growth (the rate of change in new app downloads worldwide) has been slowing since April 2025.
Furthermore, the data below shows the number of daily active users of the ChatGPT app worldwide. It can be seen that the number of daily active users stopped increasing and stabilized after September 2025.
Apptopia also predicts that the growth rate of ChatGPT app downloads worldwide will decline by approximately 8.1% month-on-month in October 2025. However, this is only the 'download growth rate,' and new downloads are still strong, with millions of downloads per day.
Still, 'the slowing download growth suggests that the overall app growth base is slowing. In ChatGPT's case, increased competition and changing AI model characteristics may be to blame,' TechCrunch noted.
A more detailed analysis revealed that the average time spent in the app per daily active user in the US has decreased by 22.5% since July 2025. Additionally, the average number of sessions (number of times the ChatGPT app was used) per daily active user in the US has also decreased by 20.7%.
The graph below summarizes the trend in average app usage time per daily active user in the United States. We can see that average app usage time has been gradually decreasing since the beginning of August 2025.
This indicates that the amount of time US users spend using the ChatGPT app and the number of times they launch it per day are declining. The US user churn rate also decreased and stabilized over this period, highlighting the app's success in retaining its core users while failing to prevent those who simply stopped by to try it out from abandoning.
This isn't just a case of ChatGPT app usage reaching a peak, but there may be other contributing factors. In addition to competition with Google's Gemini, some users have expressed dissatisfaction with ChatGPT since the April 2025 update, when GPT-4o began to display unpleasantly user-flattering behavior . Furthermore, OpenAI's release of GPT-5 in August 2025 also sparked complaints from some users, who said it felt less human .
OpenAI is flooded with requests to 'return the warmth of GPT-4o' and is changing the character of GPT-5 - GIGAZINE
However, Apptopia points out that ChatGPT's average usage time and average number of sessions per daily active user had been on a downward trend even before the sudden rise of its rival, Google Gemini, which gained popularity after the release of its new AI image model, Nano Banana (Gemini 2.5 Flash Image), and rocketed to the top of the charts in September 2025.
Google releases free, ultra-high-quality image editing AI 'Gemini 2.5 Flash Image,' which can be instructed in Japanese and can also convert live-action images into anime characters - GIGAZINE
Therefore, Apptopia points out that 'Gemini's growth may have influenced the decline in ChatGPT's key metrics, but it does not explain the overall trend.'
The graph below summarizes the trend in the average number of sessions per daily active user in the U.S. Starting in August 2025, we can clearly see a gradual decline in the average number of sessions.
Furthermore, Apptopia pointed out that, 'If the average usage time per daily active user were to decrease but the average number of sessions were not, it might suggest that users were becoming more efficient at using ChatGPT queries. However, this is unlikely, as both the average usage time and the average number of sessions are actually decreasing.'
Apptopia points out, 'The ChatGPT app's experimental phase is over and it may now be becoming a part of users' daily lives. Compared to the initial increase in usage after its release, people are likely only using the app when they need or want to use it.' 'For OpenAI, this means that the company, like other existing mobile apps, will need to invest in app marketing and release new features to improve some of these core metrics again. It can no longer rely on novelty alone to grow.'
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in AI, Smartphone, Posted by logu_ii