Guides
Start here: how the charts work
- How App Store Top Charts Rankings WorkWhat decides an app's position on Apple's Top Free, Top Paid and Top Grossing charts, how often they update, and why ranks differ by country.
- How Google Play Top Charts Rankings WorkWhat drives an app's place on Google Play's Top Free, Top Paid and Top Grossing charts, how categories and countries differ, and how often the charts refresh.
- Top Grossing vs Top Free vs Top Paid: What They MeanThe three app store chart types explained: what each one counts, which apps lead them, and which chart matters for your goals.
- How to Check Your App's Ranking in Every CountryA free way to see where your iOS or Android app ranks on the top charts in every country and category, and how that changed since yesterday.
- Why Did My App's Rank Drop? Common CausesThe usual reasons an app falls on the App Store or Google Play charts overnight, how to tell them apart, and what you can do about each.
- App Store vs Google Play Charts: 7 DifferencesHow Apple's and Google's top charts differ: depth, apps vs games, categories, update cadence, ranking signals, countries and prices, and what that means when you compare them.
Apps Winning in 2026: 9 Breakouts and What They Did Right
The apps that broke out or kept growing in 2025–2026 — ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Threads, Cal AI, Temu, Kalshi — and the one move each got right.
Calm vs Headspace Onboarding Teardown: Quiz, Trial, Paywall
Screen-by-screen teardown of Calm and Headspace onboarding: the goals quiz, where the free-trial paywall sits, and how annual pricing is anchored.
Calm vs Headspace: How Two Meditation Apps Diverged
Case study of Calm and Headspace: revenue, pricing history, the B2B pivot, layoffs, the 2026 Sword Health deal and what their chart positions say.
How ChatGPT Became a Top-Chart Fixture on the App Store
ChatGPT's app went from a US-only iOS launch in May 2023 to $3B in consumer spending and a permanent top-chart slot. Dates, ranks, revenue and rivals.
Duolingo Onboarding Teardown: Lesson Before Sign-Up
Step-by-step teardown of Duolingo's onboarding: questions first, a goal, a placement test, a full lesson before any account, then soft sign-up and paywall.
How a Mobile Game Reaches #1: Four Launch Playbooks
Monopoly GO!, Royal Match, Pokémon TCG Pocket and Bridge Race: UA spend, soft launch, launch-week mechanics and how long each top-10 run lasted.
How Duolingo Grew to 100M+ Monthly Users
Streaks, leagues, bandit-tuned reminders, a meme-able owl and a retention-first growth model: how Duolingo hit 128M MAU and what indies can copy.
How Indie Apps Reach $1M ARR: Real Numbers
Documented indie subscription apps that reached $1M ARR (Slopes, Cal AI, Visible, Hevy): models, time to $1M and what the revenue ramp looks like.
Notion, Todoist and Things Onboarding Teardown
How three productivity apps handle the blank page: templates, empty-state design, and whether to ask for an account first or later.
TikTok Onboarding Teardown: Content Before Signup
How TikTok gets a new user to a playing video in seconds, what the interest picker does, and when it finally asks for an account.
Viral Apps: Why Some Spike and Fade While Others Stick
BeReal, Clubhouse, Threads, Lensa, Lapse, Yik Yak and NGL all hit the top of the App Store. Here is what the spike looked like and what retention decided.