Summary: ChatGPT has overtaken Instagram and TikTok to become the most downloaded app in March. It managed 46 million installs worldwide. This growth is thanks to new tools like upgraded image generation and looser content restrictions. ChatGPT’s surge shows no signs of slowing down.
AI is here to stay, and more people are using it every day. In fact, according to the latest figures by AppFigures, ChatGPT was the world’s most downloaded app for the month of March. The app dethroned other apps like Instagram and TikTok, both of which normally occupy the top spot.
Dethroning Instagram and TikTok
According to the report, March saw a massive ChatGPT app download surge. The increase allowed it to race past both Instagram and TikTok. ChatGPT pulled in 46 million downloads from the App Store and Google Play. That’s a jump of 28% from February and more than double year-over-year.
For context, TikTok landed in third place with 45 million downloads. It’s a million less than last March but still higher than February. Instagram, usually the champion, clocked in second with 46 million downloads. Both apps are still holding strong, but now, with AI sneaking its way into our daily lives, we can’t say we’re too surprised by this change.
The ChatGPT app download surge isn’t just a fad, either. It feels like a genuine trend, not some random spike.
New ChatGPT tools
Q1 downloads for ChatGPT are already up 148% compared to the same period last year. The reason? OpenAI finally gave users something new to play with. We’re sure that by now, everyone is familiar with ChatGPT’s upgraded image-generation capabilities. You’ve probably seen social media pages flooded with Studio Ghibli–style art and viral memes.
OpenAI also loosened image content restrictions and upgraded the AI voice features. Combined, these changes gave people new reasons to play with the app, share results, and keep it installed.
According to Appfigures founder and CEO Ariel Michaeli, “It’s starting to feel like ChatGPT is becoming a verb, a lot like how Google did in the 2000s, to the point where many don’t think ‘AI’ but rather ‘ChatGPT.’ So when there’s excitement about AI — even about competition like Grok, Manus AI, or DeepSeek — many who are not swimming in this topic come for AI but really download ChatGPT.”
