ChatGPT App Downloads and Daily Use Are Slowing
▼ Summary
– ChatGPT’s mobile app growth has slowed, with new global downloads declining and daily active users plateauing in recent weeks.
– Despite slowing growth, the app still maintains millions of daily downloads and retains a stable core user base.
– U.S. user engagement has decreased significantly, with time spent and daily sessions dropping over 20% since July.
– Factors like increased competition from Google’s Gemini and AI model updates may have contributed to the slowdown.
– The app has transitioned from an experimentation phase to routine use, requiring new marketing or features for future growth.
Recent data suggests the explosive growth phase for the ChatGPT mobile application may be concluding. An analysis from Apptopia, a third-party app intelligence firm, reveals that the rate of new global downloads for the app has slowed significantly since April. Furthermore, the number of global daily active users has stopped increasing and appears to have reached a plateau in recent weeks.
While the total number of new installs remains impressive, with millions occurring daily, the crucial metric of download growth is stalling. This deceleration often signals that an app’s overall expansion is moderating. For ChatGPT, this could be attributed to a more crowded competitive field and notable alterations to its AI model’s behavior.
A closer examination of user engagement reveals a notable decline in the United States. Since July, the average time a daily active user spends within the app has fallen by 22.5%. Concurrently, the average number of sessions per user has also decreased by 20.7%. This indicates that American users are not only opening the app less frequently but are also spending less time with it during each visit. Interestingly, user churn in the U.S. has dropped and stabilized, suggesting the app is now holding onto a core group of dedicated users while losing those who were merely experimenting with the technology.
Several factors beyond simple market saturation are likely at play. Increased competition from rivals like Google’s Gemini is one element, but changes in user engagement following specific updates to the ChatGPT model are also significant. An April update intentionally made the AI less sycophantic, and the August release of a new model was described as less personable, which may have altered the user experience.
However, Apptopia’s data indicates that the downward trends in user time and session frequency began before Google’s Gemini saw a sharp rise in popularity. This suggests that while competition may have influenced recent metrics, it does not fully account for the broader, longer-term pattern.
The analytics firm also highlights an important distinction. If only the average time spent was declining, it could imply users were becoming more efficient. But because both time spent and the number of sessions are falling, that interpretation is unlikely. Instead, it points to a fundamental shift in how people use the app.
The initial experimentation phase with ChatGPT appears to be over. The app is now transitioning into a more utilitarian role within users’ digital toolkits. People are increasingly likely to use it only when a specific need arises, rather than engaging with it out of sheer novelty.
For OpenAI, this new reality means the company must adapt its strategy. It can no longer depend on the app’s groundbreaking nature to drive growth automatically. To re-energize its core metrics, the company will likely need to invest in targeted app marketing campaigns and consistently roll out compelling new features, a challenge familiar to all established mobile applications.
(Source: TechCrunch)
