It’s the Apple of their AI.
Apple recently released its list of the most downloaded apps of the year, finding that ChatGPT boasted the most installs of any free app (not including games) in the US in 2025.
Following on the heels of OpenAI’s ubiquitous chatbot were Threads, Google, TikTok, WhatsApp, Instagram, YouTube, Google Maps, Gmail, and Google’s Gemini.
This marks a massive turnaround for ChatGPT, which ranked fourth last year while Chinese app Temu snagged the top spot, TechCrunch reported. The language learning model didn’t even crack the top ten in 2023 — the year of its release.
That wasn’t the only category included in the Apple announcement.
Block Blast, Fortnite and Roblox topped the list of free iPhone games, while Minecraft, Balatro, and Heads Up ranked among the top paid iPhone games.
As for free iPad apps, YouTube was the number one most popular, followed by ChatGPT, Netflix, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video. Procreate, Procreate Dreams, forScore, ToonSquid, and Nomad Sculpt swept the top six in the category of paid apps.
Top Free iPhone Apps
- ChatGPT
- Threads
- TikTok – Videos, Shop & LIVE
- WhatsApp Messenger
- YouTube
- Google Maps
- Gmail – Email by Google
- Google Gemini
ChatGPT’s meteoric rise is perhaps unsurprising given its ubiquity in every sector from law to academia.
Although some would argue that its omnipresence is disconcerting, given the app’s apparent propensity to facilitate harm.
In August, the chatbot allegedly provided a 16-year-old California boy, Adam Raine, a detailed tutorial on how to kill himself before he did so earlier this year, prompting the boy’s parents to file a lawsuit.
In response, OpenAI — headed by CEO Sam Altman — blamed Raine’s “misuse, unauthorized use, unintended use, unforeseeable use, and/or improper use of ChatGPT” for his death.
Meanwhile, in August, the bot reportedly became complicit in its first ever murder.
It was reportedly blamed for feeding a Connecticut boy’s paranoid delusions, coercing him into killing his mother, before he committed suicide, in an incident lawyers called “scarier than the Terminator.”
AI experts attribute this unfortunate phenomenon to the fact that while ChatGPT boasts built-in guardrails preventing it from disseminating harmful info, they have limited mileage.
As a result, the longer the conversation, the greater the chance of the bot going rogue.
“ChatGPT includes safeguards such as directing people to crisis helplines,” said an OpenAI spokesperson in a statement following Adam Raine’s death. “While these safeguards work best in common, short exchanges, we’ve learned over time that they can sometimes become less reliable in long interactions where parts of the model’s safety training may degrade.”
This glitch is particularly alarming given the prevalence of ChatGPT use among youths.
Some 72% of American teens use AI as a companion, while one in eight of them are turning to the technology for mental health support, according to a Common Sense Media poll.
Meanwhile, a study from the fall found that AI chatbots like ChatGPT struggle to distinguish between belief and fact, fueling concerns about their propensity to spread misinformation.
