Report: Non-gaming apps drove mobile spending growth in Q2 as games fell 4.5%
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.
Non-gaming apps were the primary driver of mobile spending growth in Q2 2026, while gaming revenue declined by 4.5% compared to the same period last year. According to a report by Sensor Tower, non-gaming revenue increased by 14.6% year-over-year, generating $24.4 billion in revenue and 25.5 billion downloads. In contrast, gaming revenue fell to $19.2 billion and 11.3 billion downloads, marking a 4.5% year-over-year decline.
The report revealed that the United States led global spending with $14.8 billion, while China followed at $5.98 billion, despite a 10% increase in revenue. In terms of app downloads, India topped the list with 6.67 billion installs, growing by 4% year-over-year. The United States came in second with 3.08 billion downloads, while Brazil ranked third with 2.43 billion installs, down 2% from the previous year.
When it came to the categories generating the most revenue, non-gaming genres showed strong monetization momentum. Nine out of the top 10 categories posted positive year-over-year growth. Generative AI led this expansion, with a 108% year-over-year surge in consumer spend. ChatGPT, the market leader in this category, held approximately 60% of the category's revenue share, with a remarkable 82% year-over-year growth.
Other leading Generative AI apps included Claude, Grok, and Gemini, which all experienced rapid acceleration in revenue.
Dating and Social Discovery were the only top categories to experience a decline globally, falling by 11% year-over-year, mainly due to a 34% year-over-year decline in the US market. However, Latin American markets showed significant growth potential, with Mexico leading at 41% year-over-year revenue growth, followed by Brazil (+19% YoY) and Argentina (+18% YoY).
The most downloaded app of the period was ChatGPT, followed by TikTok and Instagram. Among the top apps generating in-app purchase (IAP) revenue, TikTok, ChatGPT, and Google One were the leaders. Claude made a notable breakthrough in IAP revenue growth, jumping 34 positions to No. 10 overall, while PineDrama saw the biggest breakout in downloads, rising 237 positions to No. 20 worldwide.
Written by urgent.news from 9to5Mac's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
