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MATR 2026

Habit keeps apps installed. Understanding users is what keeps apps loved.

What 13,750 users reveal about the products they value, and where the next investment pays the most.

Mobile App Trends Report 2026

Why the report exists

What users value has not changed. How much of it they expect has

Most apps are used. Few are loved. 85 percent of the apps in this study carry a negative recommendation score, even as users open them every day. Habit and default keep them installed. Preference does not.

What separates the products users would actually miss from the rest comes down to four things:

Whether the product finishes the job the user came for

Whether it feels good to use

Whether it works without breaking

Whether the user trusts it

Together, these explain 77 percent of how users rate a product.

The strongest single predictor is the simplest: does the product finish the job the user came for? An app that completes the job scores higher than an app that starts ten.

AI did not change what users value. It raised how much of it they expect. ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude hold a working memory of the user. Each reply is shaped for who is asking. Personalization arrived in the assistant tier first. Apps have promised it for fifteen years and rarely delivered. In this study, 47 percent of apps do not personalize the experience. A returning user notices when the product opens as if for the first time.

Every product now sits in two comparisons: the rest of its category, and the assistant the user already has open in another tab. The products that hold their ground solve a problem an assistant cannot reach. The products most at risk are those whose value sits within reach of a single prompt.

Apps are not going away. Users spend 3.6 hours a day in them. 149 billion apps were downloaded in 2025. The average user engages with 34 apps per month. Downloads, revenue, and time spent all hit all-time highs. The question is which apps users will still want on their phone in twelve months, and which they will let an assistant replace.

MATR 2026 measures where each product stands on the four things users value, and where the next investment earns the user’s loyalty.
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Introduction

CEO Joacim Jeppesen
Five findings that change the conversation

The full report defends each of these with this data. The summaries here are the part teams quote in roadmap discussions.

Function before polish

0

apps in the study score high on visual appeal but low on ease of use. Earn the polish.

Mindset over age

2.5x

wider spread in design preference across mindset groups than across age groups. Group users by attitude.

Demand you cannot see yet

2%

of users know personalization is missing. The rest will learn from the first product that ships it. Be that product.

Innovation lands, trust decides

4/5

ChatGPT scores in the top tier on satisfaction and below market on trust. Four of five AI products share that gap. Trust is the next AI race.

Trust does not travel

28/30

of the highest-trust apps are local. Global brands fill the bottom of the trust ranking. Earn trust market by market.

Each chapter answers one question

Read top to bottom for the full argument, or jump to the chapter that matches the question your team is asking.