April AI Monthly Report: 365 million global downloads of native AI apps, with significant decline in downloads of Doubao, Jimeng and other apps in the Chinese mainland market
In April 2026, the growth rate of downloads of leading native AI applications in the global market showed a stratified pattern. The month-on-month growth of ChatGPT and Google Gemini was almost zero, while the mainland market experienced an overall contraction. The downloads of the top 10 applications almost all declined. The competition for the existing market became extremely intense. Qianwen still ranked first in terms of advertising investment, accounting for over 50% of the total market share.
Why did such a phenomenon occur? What other significant changes and trends are there in the entire AI application industry?
To help industry practitioners quickly understand the monthly intelligence of the AI advertising investment circle, the DataEye Research Institute regularly releases monthly observation reports on native AI products in combination with the ADX industry version and Diandian Data. The data covers downloads and advertising investment.
Overall Market Data
(I) Estimated Downloads of Native AI Apps
1. Distribution of Downloads of Native AI Apps on Both iOS and Android in the Global Market
According to Diandian Data, in April 2026, the estimated total number of downloads of native AI apps on both the Apple App Store and Google Play in the global market (including the Chinese mainland) reached 365 million times (excluding repeated downloads), a month-on-month decrease of 9.23%.
Among them, ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Dola, Claude, and Remini ranked in the top 5, accounting for 47% of the downloads of native applications on both platforms in the global market, a 3-percentage-point increase compared to March.
Specifically, among the top 5 applications, ChatGPT accounted for 21% of the downloads, a 2-percentage-point increase compared to March. It was also the only application among the top 5 with a share of over 20%. Google Gemini accounted for 11% of the downloads, the same as the previous period. Dola and Claude accounted for 7% and 6% respectively. It is worth noting that PixVerse, which ranked fifth in the previous period, dropped out of the top 5 this period, and was replaced by Remini, which ranked fifth.
2. Distribution of Downloads of Native AI Apps on the Apple Platform in the Mainland Market
According to Diandian Data, in April 2026, the estimated total number of downloads of native AI apps on the Apple platform in the mainland market reached 26.655 million times (excluding repeated downloads), a month-on-month decrease of 16.95%.
Among them, Doubao, Jimeng AI, Yuanbao, Qianwen, and Mayi Afu ranked in the top 5, accounting for 69% of the total market share.
Specifically, among the top 5 applications, Doubao accounted for 22% of the downloads, a 2-percentage-point increase compared to March. It was also the only application among the top 5 with a share of over 20%. The download shares of Jimeng AI, Yuanbao, and Qianwen were all around 15%, with little difference overall. It is worth noting that the download share of Mayi Afu decreased significantly, from 11% in the previous period to 5% in this period.
(II) Changes in Estimated Downloads of Leading Native AI Apps
1. Changes in Downloads of Leading Native AI Apps on Both Platforms in the Global Market
According to Diandian Data, from March to April 2026, among the leading native AI apps in the global market, ChatGPT ranked in the first echelon in terms of downloads, far ahead of similar products. The downloads of Google Gemini, Dola, Claude, and Remini showed a clear stratification.
Specifically, the download trends of ChatGPT and Google Gemini were relatively similar, with a significant increase in late April. The daily downloads of ChatGPT increased rapidly from around 2.3 million times to around 3 million times, and the daily downloads of Google Gemini increased rapidly from around 1.3 million times to around 1.65 million times. The trends of the other 3 products were relatively stable in April.
The DataEye Research Institute believes that: The significant increase in the downloads of ChatGPT in late April may be related to the release of the GPT-5.5 model. On April 23, OpenAI officially released the GPT-5.5 series of models, which is the first basic model to be completely retrained from scratch since GPT-4.5. It may drive a significant increase in the downloads of ChatGPT.
2. Changes in Downloads of Leading Native AI Apps on the Apple Platform in the Mainland Market
According to Diandian Data, from March to April 2026, the downloads of leading AI apps on the Apple platform in the mainland market generally declined.
Specifically, the downloads of Doubao were the most stable overall, but also showed a significant decline starting on April 19. The daily downloads decreased from around 210,000 times to a minimum of around 160,000 times. Jimeng AI still maintained a fluctuating trend, but the minimum downloads decreased significantly, from around 130,000 times to around 60,000 times. The downloads of Mayi Afu decreased the most significantly, from a high of around 140,000 times in March to around 30,000 times at the end of April, a so - called "steep drop".
(III) Distribution of Advertising Materials for Native AI (Apps + Mini - Programs) in the Mainland Market
According to data from the ADX industry version, in April 2026, the number of advertising materials for native AI products in the mainland market reached 1.324 million groups, a month-on-month increase of 8.94% compared to March.
Among them, Qianwen, Yuanbao, Doubao, Wenxin, and Mayi Afu ranked in the top 5. These 5 products accounted for 97.3% of the monthly advertising materials for native AI products in the mainland market.
Specifically, Qianwen ranked first with a share of 50.3% in terms of advertising materials. Yuanbao followed closely. In contrast, Doubao accounted for only 2.0%, and both Wenxin and Mayi Afu accounted for less than 1%.
(IV) Changes in the Number of Advertising Materials for Leading Native AI Apps in the Mainland Market
According to data from the ADX industry version, in April 2026, for the advertising materials of leading native AI apps in the mainland market, the advertising investment trend of Qianwen was relatively stable, with the daily number of advertising materials mostly around 50,000 groups. The number of advertising materials of Doubao decreased more significantly, from around 5,000 groups at the beginning of April to around 2,000 groups at the end of the month, and once dropped to only a few hundred groups in the middle.
The DataEye Research Institute believes that: The continuous decline in the number of advertising materials of Doubao is a point worthy of attention. Because while the number of advertising materials has declined significantly, its downloads still rank first among native AI apps on the Apple platform in the mainland market. And in the context of a general decline in the downloads of leading products, the decline in the downloads of Doubao is extremely limited. Considering that the number of advertising materials of Doubao dropped sharply in March but the downloads increased significantly, this means that the brand moat of Doubao has basically been formed, and it can achieve the "low - investment, high - retention" model with its high penetration rate and brand power in the C - end market.
Rankings
(I) Download Ranking of Native AI Apps
1. Download Ranking of Native AI Apps on Both Platforms in the Global Market
According to Diandian Data, in April 2026, ChatGPT continued to top the download ranking of native AI apps on both platforms in the global market, with 76.37 million downloads. Google Gemini followed closely, with 41.89 million downloads. The downloads of both products were basically the same as in March. Dola and Claude ranked third and fourth, with 26.83 million and 21.54 million downloads respectively. The downloads of the other 6 products were all around 5 million times.
It is worth noting that the downloads of the two leading products in this ranking were basically the same as in the previous period, while the downloads of Dola and Claude in the second echelon both increased to a certain extent. For example, the increase of Claude reached 8.18%. In addition, Jimeng AI, which was newly listed in the previous period, had the largest decline of 22.79% in this ranking and became the tenth on the list.
Finally, PixVerse, which ranked fifth in the March ranking, and Grok, which ranked tenth, dropped out of the April ranking. They were replaced by Refoto and Nova, which ranked seventh and eighth respectively. And Refoto had the highest month - on - month increase in downloads of 88.11% in the ranking.
2. Download Ranking of Native AI Apps on the Apple Platform in the Chinese Mainland Market
According to Diandian Data, in April 2026, Doubao continued to top the download ranking of native AI apps on the Apple platform in the mainland market, with 5.89 million downloads, a month - on - month decrease of 8.85%. Jimeng AI, Yuanbao, and Qianwen followed closely, with downloads all exceeding 3 million times. The downloads of Mayi Afu, DeepSeek, and Kimi all exceeded 1 million times. The downloads of the other 3 applications were all less than 1 million times.
It is worth noting that the downloads in this ranking generally declined. Except for DeepSeek, which had a slight increase of 0.51%, the downloads of the other 9 products all decreased month - on - month. Among them, Mayi Afu had the largest decline of 60.54% in the ranking.
The DataEye Research Institute believes that: The general decline in the downloads of native AI apps on the Apple platform in the mainland market in April may mean that the market has entered a stage of natural growth driven by users' real productivity needs and daily usage habits, and the bubble component has been further squeezed out.
(II) Ranking of Advertising Materials for Native AI in the Mainland Market
According to data from the ADX industry version, in April 2026, Qianwen ranked first in the ranking of advertising materials for native AI apps in the mainland market, with 666,000 groups of advertising materials. Together with Yuanbao, they were in the first echelon. Doubao followed closely, with 26,000 groups of advertising materials, ranking in the second echelon. The advertising materials of the other 7 products were all less than 10,000 groups, ranking in the third echelon.
In this ranking, the number of advertising materials of leading products continued to increase. The number of advertising materials of Qianwen increased by 11.21% month - on - month compared to March. The number of advertising materials of Doubao in the second echelon continued to decline, with a decline of 59.20%.
It is worth noting that AI Douyin and 360AI Zhijian, which ranked sixth and seventh in the March ranking, dropped out of the April ranking. They were replaced by Wenxin and EVE. Among them, the number of advertising materials of Wenxin increased nearly 35 times this period, and the number of advertising materials of the AI companion product EVE also increased by 340.51%.