Apple Reveals the Top App Store App and Game Downloads of 2024

Apple’s App Store has published its year-end list of the top free and paid apps and games, along with its top Apple Arcade games.

The top free apps are about what you’d expect. There are social networks, shopping apps, a few streaming music and video apps, Google, Gmail, McDonald’s, and ChatGPT. Among the top paid apps are several we’ve covered here and on Club MacStories, including AutoSleep, Paprika, Procreate Pocket, Forest, RadarScope, µBrowser, and long-time favorite Streaks. Strangely, the paid app list also includes a game – Suika Game clone called ‘Merge Watermelon for watch’ for the Apple Watch.

Among the free and paid games, highlights include Subway Surfers, NYT Games, Minecraft, Geometry Dash, Stardew Valley, and Balatro. If you’re an Arcade subscriber, top games include NBA 2K24, Sneaky Sasquatch, Sonic Dream Team, NFL Retro Bowl ‘25, Angry Birds Reloaded, Retro Bowl+, Stardew Valley+, stitch, and Tomb of the Mask.

Each of the three lists includes 40 free and paid apps or games for 120 total. The vast majority of apps are the sort of everyday apps people download to shop, search the web, browse social media, and entertain themselves. There is more variety among the paid apps, with categories like health, self-improvement, productivity, and creative apps leading the apps for which users are willing to pay.

On the games lists, what struck me more than anything else is how many games on the lists aren’t new. That’s less true of Arcade, but it seems as though the hits of the past continue to rule the regular App Store game list. I’d like to see more variety in 2025, but it’s also good to see some truly great apps among the more everyday apps that will undoubtedly continue to get lots of downloads.