Report: Non-gaming apps drove mobile spending growth in Q2 as games fell 4.5%

Sensor Tower's Q2 2026 Digital Market Index report found that non-gaming app revenue rose 14.6% year over year to $24.4 billion, while gaming revenue declined 4.5% to $19.2 billion. Generative AI apps led growth with a 108% surge in consumer spend, with ChatGPT holding roughly 60% category revenue share and growing 82% year over year. U.S. in-app purchase revenue fell 3% to $14.8 billion, while China grew 10% to $5.98 billion.

A new report from Sensor Tower shows that non-gaming apps continued to drive global mobile spending growth in Q2 2026 across iOS and Android, while gaming revenue declined 4.5% year over year. Here are the details. AI apps lead non-gaming growth as mobile game spending declines Last month, during Apple’s fiscal Q3 2026 earnings call, the company attributed https://9to5mac.com/2026/07/30/apple-says-app-store-regulatory-changes-are-beginning-to-affect-services-growth/ part of its Services revenue slowdown to weaker mobile gaming performance and regulatory changes affecting the App Store business model. Today, Sensor Tower published its Q2 2026 Digital Market Index https://sensortower.com/report/q2-2026-digital-market-index report, offering a closer look at how mobile app spending and downloads changed during the quarter. According to the report, non-gaming revenue rose 14.6% year over year in Q2 2026, while gaming revenue declined 4.5% over the same period. In absolute terms, non-gaming apps generated $24.4 billion in revenue and 25.5 billion downloads, compared with $19.2 billion in revenue and 11.3 billion downloads for games. The report also noted that U.S. IAP revenue declined 3% year over year, but the country still led the world in spending at $14.8 billion. China came in a distant second at $5.98 billion, despite seeing revenue grow 10% over the same period. When it came to the top markets by app downloads, India remained in first place with 6.67 billion installs, up 4% year over year. The U.S. followed with 3.08 billion downloads, down 0.2%, while Brazil ranked third with 2.43 billion, down 2%. As for which app categories generated the most revenue, here’s what Sensor Tower said: Non-gaming genres maintained strong monetization momentum in Q2 2026, with nine of the top 10 categories posting positive YoY growth. Generative AI led this expansion, doubling consumer spend with a 108% YoY surge. Market leader ChatGPT held roughly 60% category revenue share with 82% YoY growth, while competitors like Claude, Grok, and Gemini also saw rapid acceleration. Claude particularly stood out, climbing from No. 7 ranked Generative AI app in Q2 2025 to No. 2 globally in Q2 2026. Dating & Social Discovery was the only top category to experience a decline globally, falling 11% YoY primarily due to softness in the US market, which contracted 34% YoY. However, Latin American markets showed strong growth momentum, led by Mexico with a 41% YoY revenue gain, alongside double-digit expansion in Brazil +19% YoY and Argentina +18% YoY . Sensor Tower says the world’s most downloaded app for the period was ChatGPT, followed by TikTok and Instagram, while the top IAP revenue apps were TikTok, ChatGPT, and Google One. Claude took the top spot among breakout apps by IAP revenue growth, jumping 34 places to No. 10 overall, while PineDrama saw the biggest breakout in downloads, climbing 237 places to No. 20 worldwide. For Sensor Tower’s full Q2 2026 Digital Market Index report, follow this link https://sensortower.com/report/q2-2026-digital-market-index . Worth checking out on Amazon Geoffrey Cain – ‘Steve Jobs in Exile’ https://amzn.to/4v3CS5Q David Pogue – ’Apple: The First 50 Years’ https://amzn.to/46Y3nQj MacBook Neo https://amzn.to/47vJmkn Logitech MX Master 4 https://amzn.to/3KmIQN7 AirPods Pro 3 https://www.amazon.com/Apple-Cancellation-Translation-Headphones-High-Fidelity/dp/B0FQFB8FMG?tag=marcmendes-20 AirTag 2nd Generation – 4 Pack https://amzn.to/4sewc3a Apple Watch Series 11 https://amzn.to/46VomDB Wireless CarPlay adapter https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0F6T6N2B1?tag=marcmendes-20 FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More. https://9to5mac.com/about/ affiliate our homepage http://9to5mac.com/ for all the latest news, and follow 9to5Mac on exclusive stories https://9to5mac.com/feature/exclusive/ , reviews https://9to5mac.com/guides/review/ , how-tos https://9to5mac.com/guides/how-to/ , and subscribe to our YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/9to5mac