I've tracked 1700 iOS launches since 2021. Volume alone is misleading. A category can have fewer launches but higher engagement per product (maturation) or exploding volume with declining quality (saturation). You need both numbers.
Five years of iOS launch data. Volume, engagement, and the products that stood out.
I've tracked 1700 iOS launches since 2021. Volume alone is misleading. A category can have fewer launches but higher engagement per product (maturation) or exploding volume with declining quality (saturation). You need both numbers.
| Quarter | Launches | Avg Interest Score | Top Product |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 2026 | 47 | 139 | Mom Clock |
| Q2 2026 | 6 | 107 | Remodex |
| Q1 2025 | 43 | 182 | Fluently |
| Q2 2025 | 66 | 160 | Bubble for native mobile apps (beta) |
| Q3 2025 | 45 | 100 | Barrier |
| Q4 2025 | 46 | 204 | Welltory |
| Q1 2024 | 82 | 150 | Arc Search |
| Q2 2024 | 52 | 191 | OH, a potato! |
| Q3 2024 | 61 | 214 | Sugar Free: Food Scanner |
| Q4 2024 | 53 | 225 | Remy AI |
| Q1 2023 | 83 | 113 | Hevy |
| Q2 2023 | 67 | 114 | Oscar personal bedtime stories |
| Q3 2023 | 79 | 144 | Deepen |
| Q4 2023 | 87 | 138 | Urso |
| Q1 2022 | 83 | 124 | Othership |
| Q2 2022 | 39 | 137 | birb |
The iOS category has been cooling over the past 6 years of tracked data. Total launches went from 604 in 2021 to 53 in 2026.
Average engagement ratio across all iOS launches: 0.22. Products above that line tend to solve a specific, painful problem. Products below it often entered a crowded space without clear differentiation.
iOS peaked in 2021 with 604 launches. That was 5 years ago. The decline since then could signal market consolidation, saturation, or attention shifting to adjacent categories.
Average engagement per product has held steady around 0.22 across the full dataset. The audience for iOS tools is consistent. Engagement doesn't rise or fall with volume, which suggests a stable base of interested users.
The highest-performing quarter was Q4 2024, with an average interest score of 225 across 53 launches. Remy AI led that quarter.
855 B2B launches (50%) vs 845 B2C (50%) across the full iOS dataset. The split is close to even. iOS serves both business buyers and individual users.
2021: 604 launches. Average interest: 111. Average engagement: 0.21. Top launch: Alfread (634 interest).
2022: 279 launches (-54% vs 2021). Average interest: 123. Average engagement: 0.24. Top launch: xTiles (950 interest).
2023: 316 launches (+13% vs 2022). Average interest: 128. Average engagement: 0.21. Top launch: Deepen (839 interest).
2024: 248 launches (-22% vs 2023). Average interest: 190. Average engagement: 0.24. Top launch: Remy AI (2,183 interest).
2025: 200 launches (-19% vs 2024). Average interest: 161. Average engagement: 0.24. Top launch: Welltory (1,054 interest).
2026: 53 launches (-74% vs 2025). Average interest: 135. Average engagement: 0.21. Top launch: Mom Clock (724 interest).
Three common reasons. The market consolidated around winners. The technology matured and stopped generating new startups. Or builder attention shifted to adjacent categories. Usually it's a combination.
Volume without engagement is saturation. Engagement without volume is opportunity. Check which one you're looking at.
Sum of all interest scores in the quarter divided by number of products. Simple average. We don't weight by category or product age.
Depends on what's declining. If volume drops but engagement rises, the market is maturing. That's often good for existing players. If both drop, the category may be dying. The quarterly breakdown on each page tells you which pattern you're seeing.
At least three. Two data points is a line, not a trend. We have five years of data for most categories, which is enough to distinguish real shifts from noise.
Current year launches compared to the same period last year. Positive means more products launching. Negative means the category cooled. Neither is inherently good or bad. A mature category with fewer but better launches is often healthier than one flooding the market with clones.
Launch volume drops but engagement per product rises. Fewer builders entering, but the ones that do find a more receptive audience. That's an opportunity signal. We flag it when we see it.