These Were the Most Popular iPhone Apps of 2024

There are a lot of apps on the App Store (Apple says it's just shy of two million). You might think with a market so varied, that the competition for the "most popular" apps of the year would be fierce. But if you look back, the apps that top the charts seem to remain about the same from year to year.

Temu is tops

On Monday, Apple dropped its list of the most popular iPhone and iPad apps of the year across a number of categories. Just like last year, Temu was the most popular free app of 2024. People still love buying cheap products, so perhaps that isn't a surprise. But it's app number two that I'm most interested in: Threads. Meta's version of "X" has had a great year, as former X users look for an alternative to the platform formerly known as Twitter. We'll have to see if Bluesky keeps its current momentum, though. If it does, it just might make it to the list in 2025.

In third place is TikTok, which also isn't all that surprising: There isn't a short-form video platform more popular. Don't expect to see it on the list in 2025, though, unless the Supreme Court steps in to save the app from being banned in the U.S.

AI apps from OpenAI and Meta

ChatGPT was the fourth most downloaded free app of 2024, and it makes sense: AI is everywhere, and people are still curious about it. But it is the only overtly AI app to make it onto the top 10 lists here. Perhaps that speaks to ChatGPT's notoriety, or that AI's hype isn't as huge as some would portray it to be. In any case, I think it was a smart move for Meta to integrate its AI services directly into apps like Instagram and WhatsApp. As much as I dislike Meta AI, these apps were the sixth and seventh most popular of the year. That's a lot of exposure, something that a dedicated Meta AI app probably wouldn't have achieved.

Top paid apps: VPNs, productivity, and creativity

The paid apps are an interesting bunch. If you're like me, you probably haven't heard of many of them. The top three apps, Shadowrocket, HotSchedules, and Procreate Pocket are the exact same as last year: Shadowrocket is like a highly-configurable VPN, which lets you channel your internet traffic through proxy servers. HotSchedules is an employee-scheduling app, while Procreate Pocket is the iPhone version of Procreate, a popular art app for iPad.

The most popular games

As far as games go, MONOPOLY GO! is still on the list, but drops to the second most popular free game. Topping the chart this year was Block Blast!, a puzzle game that was seventh on the list in 2023. Roblox and Subway Surfers were back this year, as was a Call of Duty title, but this year—Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile. The top two paid games of 2024 are exactly the same as they were last year: Minecraft and Heads Up! No surprises there.

Here's the full list of categories, including iPhone, iPad, and Apple Arcade games:

Top free iPhone apps

1. Temu: Shop Like a Billionaire

2. Threads

3. TikTok

4. ChatGPT

5. Google

6. Instagram

7. WhatsApp Messenger

8. CapCut - Video Editor

9. YouTube: Watch, Listen, Stream

10. Gmail - Email by Google

Top paid iPhone apps

1. Shadowrocket

2. HotSchedules

3. Procreate Pocket

4. 75 Hard

5. AnkiMobile Flashcards

6. AutoSleep Track Sleep on Watch

7. Paprika Recipe Manager 3

8. TonalEnergy Tuner & Metronome

9. Goblin Tools

10. Forest: Focus for Productivity

Top free iPhone games

1. Block Blast！

2. MONOPOLY GO!

3. Roblox

4. Call of Duty®: Warzone™ Mobile

5. Township

6. Last War:Survival

7. Royal Match

8. Brawl Stars

9. Subway Surfers

10. My Perfect Hotel

Top paid iPhone games

1. Minecraft: Play with Friends

2. Heads Up!

3. Geometry Dash

4. Papa's Freezeria To Go!

5. Bloons TD 6

6. Five Nights at Freddy's

7. Plague Inc.

8. MONOPOLY: The Board Game

9. Stardew Valley

10. Red's First Flight

Top free iPad apps

1. YouTube: Watch, Listen, Stream

2. Netflix

3. Max: Stream HBO, TV, & Movies

4. Calculator - Pad Edition

5. Disney+

6. Google Chrome

7. Peacock TV: Stream TV & Movies

8. Amazon Prime Video

9. TikTok

10. Goodnotes 6

Top paid iPad apps

1. Procreate

2. Procreate Dreams

3. Shadowrocket

4. forScore

5. Nomad Sculpt

6. ToonSquid

7. Bluebeam Revu for iPad

8. AnkiMobile Flashcards

9. Teach Your Monster to Read

10. Endless Paper

Top free iPad games 

1. Roblox

2. Magic Tiles 3: Piano Game

3. MONOPOLY GO!

4. Subway Surfers

5. Brawl Stars

6. Geometry Dash Lite

7. Block Blast！

8. Among Us!

9. My Perfect Hotel

10. Royal Match

Top paid iPad games

1. Minecraft: Play with Friends

2. Geometry Dash

3. Five Nights at Freddy's

4. Stardew Valley

5. Bloons TD 6

6. Papa's Paleteria To Go!

7. Five Nights at Freddy's 2

8. Poppy Playtime Chapter 1

9. MONOPOLY: The Board Game

10. Ultimate Custom Night

Top Apple Arcade games

1. NBA 2K24 Arcade Edition

2. Snake.io+

3. Hello Kitty Island Adventure

4. Sneaky Sasquatch

5. Bloons TD 6+

6. Sonic Dream Team

7. NFL Retro Bowl '25

8. Disney Dreamlight Valley

9. Cooking Mama: Cuisine!

10. Solitaire by MobilityWare+