Global apps in September | New AI dating app storms the market, veteran AI photo edit app resurges with 5X revenue growth

Based on data from SocialPeta and other modules, it has summarized the TOP 20 global non-game app advertising, revenue, and download rankings for September 2023. This helps more mobile app professionals understand changing trends in the global market.

Overview of global apps in September:

• New AI dating app 【Talkie】 stormed the market with up to 1000% advertising growth;
• 【CGTN】 increased advertising for Asian Games, bringing Chinese news to the world;
• Health, navigation, education, and entertainment apps saw revenue growth; education app【ClassDojo】increased most;
• AI photo editor 【Photo Lab Picture Editor & Art】 surged with 5X download growth.

Top 20 by Advertising

【CGTN】 is a global news app from CCTV, formerly known as CCTV's all-English channel. It provides exclusive coverage of Chinese and world news, original TV programming and special reports in 5 languages: English, Spanish, French, Arabic and Russian. In late September, the 19th Asian Games were held in Hangzhou. As a major event to boost international influence, 【CGTN】 increased related promotion. iOS advertising volume grew by 246% in September.

According to SocialPeta, 【CGTN】's September advertising details:

• Mainly targeted the US, Australia, Canada and UK, with the US having the highest share around 22%; some coverage in Southeast Asia including India;
• Top media was casual, desktop and entertainment at 29%, 16% and 15% share;
• AdMob dominated ad channels at over 98% share;
• Creative was mostly images at 78%, video at around 21%;

Most popular recent ad was a product promotional video released on September 14, emphasizing "hot tech news" and "investigative in-depth reports".

AI app【ChatBot】 is a chatbot developed using ChatGPT technology. Launched in April this year, it provides users with news, weather, entertainment and food information, supports conversational exchanges around topics, and aims to help users gain more knowledge and fun in their leisure time. Different from 【Chatgptt】, 【ChatBot】offers multiple persona designs for choosing from. Just from its Google Play promotion, there are options like doctor, coach, foodie, AI girlfriend. Perhaps to counter the downward trend in AI app hype, 【ChatBot】 has had steadily increasing advertising over the past 3 months, peaking in September at 125% growth.

According to SocialPeta, 【ChatBot】's September advertising details:

• Advertising placed globally; India and Indonesia had the highest share at 3.99% and 3.20% respectively, no other region exceeded 3%;
• Advertising spanned over 10 categories, with health/beauty apps having the highest share around 27%, followed by efficiency and tools at around 14% each;
• For ad channels, FB News Feed had slightly higher share around 30%, Instagram, Messenger and Audience Network were around 23% each;
• Creative was mainly video at over 82% share, image at around 18%;
• In the top 100 high frequency words in recent ad copy, "free" appeared the most, highlighting free usage to attract users;
• The most popular recent ad was a video showing a chat interface with the caption "make friends", hinting that the app can be used for socializing.

【Share Any】is a file transfer tool touting key features like offline sharing, QR code transfers, no file size limits, and support for all file types. Compared to August, the app's advertising in September was 332% higher, a huge increase driving continual download growth.

According to SocialPeta advertiser analysis, 【Share Any】's September advertising details:

• Advertising placed globally; India had the highest share around 5%; followed by Saudi Arabia and Egypt around 3% each;
• Top media types were news at 20%, home improvement at 16%, tools at 9.4%;
• For ad channels, FB News Feed had slightly higher share than others around 28%;
• Creative was mainly video at over 84% share, image at around 16%;
• The best performing new ad was one with "edit photos to get perfect figure" to drive installs. Copy emphasized free use and user friendliness without mentioning file transfer.

Beyond the TOP 20, a new AI dating app called 【Talkie】that launched in June this year is worth noting. Its Android advertising increased over 1000% in September, ranking #33. On Google Play, 【Talkie】's subtitle is Soulful AI, with the key message of "create your ideal AI companion for immersive roleplay" - in other words, an AI designed specifically for romantic relationships. Compared to famous AI dating apps, 【Talkie】's character designs are more anime-like.

According to SocialPeta, 【Talkie】's September advertising details:

• Advertising placed across developed countries, primarily targeting North America - US at around 20% share and Canada 11%;
• Advertising choice was relatively concentrated in just 5 categories; Health/beauty had the highest share around 36%, education, news, and photography were around 18% each, sports had the lowest share at 8%;
• For ad channels, AdMob dominated at over 67% share, followed by FB News Feed at just 6%;
• The most popular new ad was a video showing chat with an anime AI character. It used the classic pitch "I have a friend who really likes a certain character, I recommended they use【Talkie】to chat with that character", clearly explaining the use case.

Additionally, newly launched web fiction apps【 NovelHut】 and 【DeerFiction】entered user awareness with advertising growth of over 100%, worth paying attention to. 【 NovelHut】 launched in June 2023, primarily targeting the US and Australia; 【DeerFiction】 launched in July 2023, primarily targeting the US and UK.

Top 20 by Revenue

App Store

Period tracking app 【Flo Period & Pregnancy Tracker】 had a 1.6% month-over-month revenue increase in September. The top 3 revenue contributing countries were the US at 38% share, Brazil at 9%, and Russia at 8%.

• Navigation app 【onX Hunt】had a 25.6% month-over-month revenue increase in September, with all revenue coming from US users.

Google Play

• Online movie rental/purchase app 【Vudu】 had a 9.5% month-over-month revenue increase in September, with all revenue coming from US users.

• Education app 【ClassDojo】 had an 82.4% month-over-month revenue increase in September. Its main revenue sources were the US at 66% share and the UK at around 10% share.

Top 20 by Downloads

App Store

Widget tool app 【Top Widgets+】 had a 36.4% month-over-month increase in downloads in September. Its main download sources were China at around 93% share and Vietnam at 3% share.

• Education tool app【Google Classroom】 had a 47.1% month-over-month increase in downloads in September. The top 3 countries contributing downloads were the US at 44% share, India at 9%, and Spain at 7%.

Google Play

AI photo editing app【Photo Lab Picture Editor & Art】 had a 481.3% month-over-month increase in downloads in September. The top 3 countries contributing downloads were India at 19% share, Nigeria at 16%, and Indonesia at 4%.

• Phone cleaner app【Clean Master Ultra】 had a 212.1% month-over-month increase in downloads in September. The top 3 countries contributing downloads were India at 43% share, Nigeria at 13%, and Mexico at 8%.

This summarizes the advertising & revenue on App Store and Google Play globally for non-game apps, as well as insights into non-game app downloads globally in September 2023. For more mobile marketing data, please visit: https://www.socialpeta.com/