App Store Releases Surge 60% YoY — AI Coding Tools May Be Driving a Mobile Dev Boom
TechCrunch·high signal
Appfigures data shows worldwide app releases in Q1 2026 jumped 60% year-over-year across both stores, with iOS alone up 80%. April is tracking even higher at +104% YoY across both platforms. The working hypothesis is that AI coding tools like Claude Code and Replit have hit a tipping point where building mobile apps is fast enough to trigger a new wave of launches — productivity and utilities categories have surged into the top five.