App Store is buzzing with new apps in 2026 and it seems AI has a hand behind it

The first-order takeaway is not “more apps,” but a re-acceleration in platform monetization intensity. If AI materially lowers app creation costs, Apple and Google benefit twice: higher gross app-count expands search/discovery traffic, while a larger long tail of small developers tends to rely more heavily on paid distribution, ads, subscriptions, and in-app purchases to break through. That is structurally favorable to the stores’ take rate, but even more important for iOS, where the tighter ecosystem should convert the supply surge into monetizable transactions faster than Android.

The second-order winner is the tooling layer around app creation and distribution. AI-assisted development, design, analytics, testing, and app store optimization vendors should see a wave of demand from “indie” builders and small teams who need to ship quickly but lack operating muscle. The likely loser is the low-end incumbent software stack: many niche point solutions will be cloned or obviated faster, compressing differentiation and increasing churn. Over months, the bigger risk for the platforms is not lower demand, but review-quality degradation—fraud, spam, and copycat apps can raise moderation costs and, if left unchecked, erode user trust and conversion.

Consensus may be underestimating that this is a quality-control story disguised as a growth story. In the next 1-3 quarters, app volume can keep accelerating even if consumer engagement per app stays flat or falls; that would still support gross platform activity, but it creates a lagged regulatory and reputational overhang. A meaningful reversal would require either app-store policy tightening, AI development tool saturation, or a rise in consumer fatigue from low-quality apps—none of which should hit immediately, but all of which matter for 2026 margins and platform take rates.