New app launches in the App Store are soaring, with worldwide app releases up 60% year-over-year in Q1 2026, according to a new analysis from market intelligence provider Appfigures. The total number of app releases is up 104% across both Apple’s App Store and Google Play compared to the same time last year, and up 89% on iOS. This follows concerns that the rise of AI chatbots and agents could lead to users turning away from apps, a theory already being floated by industry insiders like Nothing CEO Carl Pei. However, Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Greg “Joz” Joswiak, believes these concerns may have been exaggerated due to the increasing popularity of AI-assisted software. The data indicates that certain categories of apps are seeing more new releases than others, with mobile games accounting for most of the new releases. The surge of new apps for Apple could also be behind some of the tech giant's recent missteps, including pulling the rewards app Freecash from its App Store for rules violations and a malicious cryptocurrency app that drained $9.5 million in crypto from victims' accounts.