India’s app downloads rebounded to 25.5 billion in 2025, fueled by AI assistants and microdrama boom

India is a country of extremes when it comes to app usage. The country continues to top global app downloads, but doesn’t feature in the top 20 markets in terms of consumer spending, according to a new report by market intelligence firm Sensor Tower. India was one of the only markets in the top 10 to see downloads grow year-on-year in 2025, besides Pakistan, the report found.

After downloads declined in 2024 to 24.6 billion from 2023’s 25.9 billion, India bounced back in 2025 with 25.5 billion app downloads.

People were also more engaged, thanks to AI and microdrama apps, as time spent in apps rose from 1.13 trillion hours in 2024 to 1.23 trillion last year, according to the report.

When it comes to category growth, social media, social messenger, and security apps dipped. Meanwhile, AI assistants, microdrama apps, video editing apps, social discovery, and food and delivery apps rose (largely because of the rise of ultra-fast grocery delivery services).

Short drama app downloads grew by over 350 million in the country, and AI assistants grew by 346 million downloads, which is also reflective of the global trend.

Users in India downloaded generative AI apps 198 million times in 2024. Unsurprisingly, that figure jumped to 602 million in 2025. First, companies like OpenAI and Google launched new image models that saw the demand for AI assistants grow exponentially in India.

Second, multiple AI companies started offering their premium plans for free to Indian users to gain market share.

ChatGPT was the top generative AI app in terms of downloads, followed by Google Gemini, Perplexity, and Grok. OpenAI’s assistant also gained rankings in overall downloads and was just behind Instagram in terms of downloads.

Microdrama was another category that rose in 2025, both globally and in India. Kuku TV, Story TV, QuickTV (by the makers of social network ShareChat and short video app Moj), and DashReels were first, third, fifth, and eighth in the video streaming category.

Kuku TV, whose parent company raised $85 million in a Series C round last fall led by Granite Asia, also got the fourth ranking in the category globally. In November, ShareChat co-founder Manohar Charan told CNBC that over 40 million users were watching microdrama content on its Quick TV platform. Industry experts have already predicted that India’s microdrama market could reach tens of billions of dollars by 2030.

A key indicator for the category’s rise was that after the third quarter of last year, users in India downloaded more short drama apps than OTT streaming apps like Netflix and JioHotstar.

In India, the domestic app industry seems to be rising as the share of downloads from local players rose from 33.91% to 36.52%. However, this rise could be due to people downloading more apps related to quick commerce, government services, and finance rather than entertainment and other digital products, as the share of revenue from in-app purchases for domestic publishers remained flat.