Answer · data from 744,874 iOS apps
What is the average app size on iOS?
The median iPhone app download is 49.7 MB — smaller than most people guess. Across all 744,874 iOS App Store apps we track (July 7, 2026), half of all apps download in under 50 MB, three quarters fit under 88.8 MB, and only 1 in 10 exceeds 155.7 MB. The perception that "apps are huge now" comes almost entirely from one category: Games, whose median alone is 122.6 MB and whose 90th percentile clears half a gigabyte. This page gives the full distribution, then per-category medians so you can benchmark a specific app against its actual peers.
Unlike download or revenue figures, sizes on this page are exact, not estimates: they are the listed download sizes published in public App Store metadata for every app we track. Two honest caveats: the listed size is the download (the compressed binary), and the installed on-disk size is typically larger; and because of App Thinning, the size the store lists is for a reference device — the actual download varies slightly per device. Data snapshot: July 7, 2026; dataset updated daily.
The distribution
How iPhone app download sizes are spread
A single "average" hides how skewed app sizes are. The mean would be dragged upward by a small number of multi-gigabyte games, so the honest headline number is the median — and the percentiles around it tell you where any given app really sits among all 744,874 apps:
| Percentile | Listed download size | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 25th percentile (p25) | 25.6 MB | A quarter of apps are this small or smaller |
| Median (p50) | 49.7 MB | The typical iPhone app download |
| 75th percentile (p75) | 88.8 MB | Three in four apps fit under this |
| 90th percentile (p90) | 155.7 MB | Only 1 in 10 apps is bigger |
| 99th percentile (p99) | ≈519 MB | The heavyweight 1% — mostly games |
Source: GetAppNiche analysis of 744,874 iOS App Store apps, July 7, 2026 snapshot (dataset updated daily). Sizes are the download sizes listed in public App Store metadata — exact figures, not estimates. Installed size on a device is typically larger than the listed download.
By category
Median and top-10% listed download size, per category
26 App Store categories, all 744,874 tracked apps included. "Average for a game" and "average for a utility" are numbers 3.5× apart — benchmark an app against its own category, not the store-wide median.
| Category | Median size (MB) | p90 size (MB) |
|---|---|---|
| Games | 122.6 | 515.6 |
| Food & Drink | 64.2 | 136.9 |
| Travel | 60.6 | 155.5 |
| Social Networking | 60.0 | 154.8 |
| Finance | 57.8 | 168.2 |
| Graphics & Design | 57.4 | 202.0 |
| Shopping | 56.8 | 126.9 |
| Health & Fitness | 56.5 | 164.6 |
| Reference | 53.2 | 179.6 |
| Education | 52.2 | 179.4 |
| Sports | 50.9 | 136.8 |
| Lifestyle | 49.5 | 141.6 |
| Book | 48.7 | 176.0 |
| Navigation | 48.1 | 149.2 |
| Medical | 47.4 | 150.8 |
| Business | 46.9 | 128.6 |
| Photo & Video | 44.7 | 176.1 |
| Entertainment | 44.5 | 165.1 |
| Weather | 44.0 | 241.0 |
| News | 41.6 | 129.7 |
| Productivity | 40.5 | 138.7 |
| Music | 36.7 | 128.4 |
| Utilities | 35.2 | 121.7 |
| Magazines & Newspapers | 34.3 | 110.2 |
| Developer Tools | 18.9 | 88.0 |
| Stickers | 5.9 | 24.6 |
Source: GetAppNiche analysis of 744,874 iOS App Store apps, July 7, 2026 snapshot (dataset updated daily). Listed download sizes from public App Store metadata; median = typical app in the category, p90 = the threshold only 1 in 10 apps in that category exceeds.
Median listed download size per category, largest to smallest — Games' 122.6 MB is roughly 2.5× the store-wide median and dwarfs every other category. These are exact App Store listed download sizes (public metadata), not estimates; the per-category p90 sizes stay in the table above. 744,874 iOS apps, July 7, 2026 snapshot.
How to read this table
Four things the category spread reveals
- Games are a different universe. A median of 122.6 MB — nearly double the runner-up — and a p90 of 515.6 MB, over half a gigabyte. The store-wide 99th percentile (≈519 MB) is essentially where the top 10% of games begins. Every intuition about "apps getting huge" is really an intuition about games.
- Weather is secretly two categories. Its median is a modest 44.0 MB — below the store-wide 49.7 — but its p90 of 241 MB is the second fattest in the entire table. Radar imagery and offline map data split the category into lite widget-style apps and heavy data platforms, with little in between.
- The featherweights are Stickers and Developer Tools. Stickers' median is 5.9 MB (90% under 24.6 MB) and Developer Tools' is 18.9 MB — single-purpose software that ships only what it needs. Utilities (35.2) and Magazines & Newspapers (34.3) round out the light end.
- Everyday consumer apps outweigh "serious" tools. Food & Drink (64.2), Travel (60.6), and Social Networking (60.0) carry the biggest non-game medians — heavier than Finance (57.8), Business (46.9), or Productivity (40.5). Branded imagery, maps, and media pipelines weigh more than spreadsheets and forms.
The counterintuitive part
Apps that earn are 2.7× bigger
The classic advice says keep your app tiny or users won't download it. Our data says the store's earners never got that memo: apps clearing an estimated $1,000+/month in revenue have a median listed download size of 128.7 MB, versus 48.4 MB for everything else — 2.7× bigger. This is correlation, not causation: earners are feature-rich products, disproportionately games, and padding an app with megabytes will not make it money. But it does debunk the idea that users only tolerate small apps — the apps people actually pay for are, overwhelmingly, the big ones. (Revenue thresholds are estimates modeled from public signals; the odds of reaching them are in how many apps actually make money, and the per-category dollar figures in average app revenue by category.)
The practical size question is friction, not taste. Apple removed its hard cap on App Store downloads over cellular in 2019; very large downloads may still trigger an over-cellular confirmation prompt depending on the user's settings. At the store's actual median of ~50 MB, and even at the p90 of ~156 MB, size is rarely the thing standing between an app and its downloads. You can check any specific app's estimated downloads and revenue free with the app revenue checker.
FAQ
App size on iOS — quick answers
What is the average app size on iOS?
The median iPhone app download is 49.7 MB, across all 744,874 iOS App Store apps in our July 7, 2026 snapshot. We quote the median rather than the mean because a small number of multi-gigabyte games would drag a mean far above what a typical app actually weighs. The middle half of the store runs from 25.6 MB (p25) to 88.8 MB (p75), and only 1 in 10 apps exceeds 155.7 MB. These are App Store listed download sizes — exact public metadata, not estimates — though the installed size on your device is typically larger than the download.
How big are iPhone games?
Much bigger than everything else. Across the 744,874 iOS apps in our July 7, 2026 snapshot, games have a median listed download size of 122.6 MB — roughly 2.5× the store-wide median of 49.7 MB — and their 90th percentile is 515.6 MB, over half a gigabyte. No other category's p90 comes close (Weather is a distant second at 241 MB). The store-wide 99th percentile of ≈519 MB is essentially game territory: the heaviest 1% of the App Store is dominated by games.
Which categories have the smallest apps?
Stickers, by a mile: a median listed download of just 5.9 MB, with 90% under 24.6 MB. Developer Tools is next at a median of 18.9 MB, then Magazines & Newspapers (34.3 MB) and Utilities (35.2 MB). At the other end, Games' median is 122.6 MB and the biggest non-game medians are Food & Drink (64.2 MB), Travel (60.6 MB), and Social Networking (60.0 MB). All figures are exact App Store listed download sizes from our July 7, 2026 snapshot of 744,874 iOS apps.
Does app size affect success?
The correlation runs the opposite way from what most people assume. In our July 7, 2026 snapshot of 744,874 iOS apps, apps earning an estimated $1,000+/month have a median listed download size of 128.7 MB, versus 48.4 MB for everything else — 2.7× bigger. That is correlation, not causation: successful apps tend to be feature-rich products (and disproportionately games), and bloating an app will not make it earn more. But it does debunk the myth that users only tolerate tiny apps. Sizes are exact store metadata; the revenue thresholds are estimates modeled from public signals.
Is 100 MB too big for an app?
No — 100 MB is unremarkable in 2026. In our July 7, 2026 snapshot of 744,874 iOS apps, 100 MB sits above the 75th percentile (88.8 MB) but comfortably below the 90th (155.7 MB), which makes it normal for a feature-rich app and modest for a game (games' median is 122.6 MB). Apple removed its hard cap on cellular downloads back in 2019; very large downloads over cellular may still trigger a confirmation prompt depending on the user's settings, but 100 MB is nowhere near the sizes where download friction becomes a real concern.