"The '全民编程' era: The number of new apps in Apple's App Store soared by 84% in one quarter."

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The long-silent Apple App Store is undergoing a new burst of applications driven by AI.

According to market research firm Sensor Tower, in Q1 2026, the number of new apps launched globally on the Apple App Store surged by 84% year-over-year, reaching 235,800, continuing the strong rebound trend seen since 2025.

This growth rate marks a complete reversal of nearly a decade of decline—the number of new apps had cumulatively dropped 48% from 2016 to 2024.

The main driving force behind this surge points to AI-assisted "vibe coding" tools, represented by Anthropic's Claude Code and OpenAI's Codex. These tools enable non-professional programmers to generate usable apps simply via text prompts, while substantially boosting coding efficiency for professional developers.

Meanwhile, Apple has taken control measures on some native vibe coding apps and prevented them from updating features after launch.

A Sudden Reversal of a Decade-long Decline

The sharp rebound in the number of new apps stands in stark contrast to the previous long period of stagnation.

According to Sensor Tower data, for a considerable period, the number of new apps launched annually on the Apple App Store continuously shrank. From 2016 to 2024, the cumulative drop reached 48%.

However, since 2025, this trend fundamentally changed: In 2025, the number of new apps launched grew by 30% year-over-year, nearing 600,000; in 2026, the growth further accelerated, with a year-over-year increase of 84% in the first quarter.

Sensor Tower senior analyst Abraham Yousef said: "In the past year, we've witnessed explosive growth in new apps, which closely aligns with the widespread adoption of intelligent programming tools that eliminate the barriers to app development."

AI Programming Tools Open the Floodgates for Developers

The current surge in new apps is driven by the rapid spread of vibe coding tools.

Vibe coding refers to programming by using AI models to automatically generate code via natural language prompts.

Among them, Anthropic's Claude Code was released in limited preview in February 2025 and was opened to a wider user base in May the same year; OpenAI's Codex launched a limited preview in May 2025 and expanded access in October.

The core value of these tools lies in lowering the development threshold: Non-programmers can directly generate runnable apps via textual descriptions, while developers with programming experience can produce code at speeds far exceeding manual writing.

Although it is currently difficult to accurately count the proportion of apps developed using AI tools, considering their rapid adoption, mainstream opinion believes that most new apps rely on AI assistance.

Apple Steps in to Control and Restrict Vibe Coding

The influx of new apps also brings new challenges to Apple's ecosystem management.

As first reported by The Information, Apple has begun restricting native apps that allow users to directly perform vibe coding on iOS devices: Replit's vibe coding app has been prevented from updating, and another app called Anything was directly removed from the store.

In response, Apple stated that these actions were not specifically targeted at vibe coding apps, but were in line with existing review rules—the rules prohibit apps from rewriting code in ways that substantially alter their functions without approval from the review team.

Apple's control measures have not fundamentally curbed the emergence of new apps—vibe coding tools can still be run on personal computers.

According to a Replit spokesperson, in the past few months, Replit users have built and published nearly 5,000 App Store apps via the platform; Anything CEO Dhruv Amin also stated that thousands of apps have been published to the App Store using their tool since its launch.

Behind the Surge in Numbers: Quality Concerns Emerge

The rapid expansion in app numbers does not necessarily bring a simultaneous improvement in overall quality.

Developers and consumers are increasingly worried about a flood of low-quality apps entering the App Store. The accumulation of a large amount of low-quality content makes it harder for users to discover high-quality apps.

Matthew Cassinelli, an advisor focused on helping developers integrate Apple AI tools, pointed out: "The number of apps has increased significantly, but the time users can spend each day does not increase. Most people actually only use a fixed few apps."

The dramatic surge in new apps stands out especially against the historical backdrop. Analysts note that the previous years of stagnation were due to rising costs of developing high-quality apps before vibe coding tools appeared, as well as the expulsion pressure on small and medium developers caused by monopolistic effects of major platforms like Meta and ByteDance.

Now, AI tools have leveled the competitive playing field again, but how to balance explosive growth in numbers with quality assurance will become the core issue facing the next stage of the Apple ecosystem.

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