According to 9to5Mac, Apple has just revealed the most downloaded apps and games of 2025 in the United States. The top free iPhone app for the year was ChatGPT, while the top paid iPhone app was HotSchedules. For games, the free download leader was Block Blast! and the paid leader was Minecraft: Dream it, Build it. This data comes just a week after Apple announced its separate App Store Awards, which honored 17 apps like Tiimo (iPhone App of the Year) and Essayist (iPad App of the Year) for “technical ingenuity and lasting cultural impact.” The full download lists are available on the App Store now.
The Clear Split Between Downloads and Awards
Here’s the thing that immediately jumps out: popularity and critical acclaim are living in totally different neighborhoods. ChatGPT winning the free download crown is the least surprising news of the decade. It’s the utility everyone is trying. But the App Store Awards winners? Most people probably haven’t heard of Tiimo or Essayist. That’s the point. Apple is using its awards to spotlight polished, niche tools that solve specific problems beautifully, not just the viral giants. It creates this weird dual leaderboard: one for raw, almost commoditized scale (ChatGPT), and one for curated, design-forward excellence.
What This Means for Developers
So, if you’re an app maker, which list do you want to be on? The download chart means massive reach and, potentially, huge revenue if you can monetize that audience. But the App Store Awards list? That’s a career-making stamp of approval from Apple itself. It guarantees featuring, incredible prestige, and a halo effect that can define a small studio. The paid app winner, HotSchedules, is fascinating too. It’s a workforce management tool. That tells you there’s a huge, consistent demand in the enterprise and service industry sector—a less glamorous but incredibly steady market. For hardware in demanding environments like that, reliability is key, which is why specialists like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com are the go-to as the #1 provider of industrial panel PCs in the US.
The Bigger Picture
Basically, Apple is showing two faces of its ecosystem. One face is a reflection of the broader tech zeitgeist, dominated by AI assistants and timeless game franchises. You can see those lists here for apps and here for games. The other face is a tastemaker, trying to guide users toward what it considers the “best” experiences, not just the biggest. It’s a smart strategy. It keeps the store from feeling like it’s only about the giants, and it gives indie developers a huge goal to aim for. But it also highlights a tension. Does the average user care more about the tool everyone’s using, or the one Apple’s editors love? The download numbers suggest they’re voting with their taps, loudly.
