Answer · data from 1,037,841 iOS apps
What percentage of apps get updated?
About 65% of iOS apps on the App Store shipped an update in the past year — but only ~23% in the past month. Across the 1,037,841 live App Store apps we track, the median app was last updated 185 days ago, roughly a quarter of the store (23.2%) hasn't been touched in 2+ years, and 1 in 7 apps (15.3%) hasn't been updated in 3+ years — effectively abandoned but still listed.
"Last updated" = the app's most recent version release date per App Store metadata. iOS App Store only. Snapshot: July 16, 2026; our dataset is updated daily. For how big the store is overall, see how many apps are in the App Store.
The headline numbers
Share of iOS apps updated within the last…
| Updated within | Share of all iOS apps |
|---|---|
| Last 30 days | 22.58% |
| Last 90 days | 37.46% |
| Last 180 days | 49.52% |
| Last 1 year | 64.60% |
| Last 2 years | 76.82% |
Source: GetAppNiche analysis of 1,037,841 live iOS App Store apps, July 16, 2026 snapshot. Median time since last update: 185 days (25th percentile: 36 days · 75th percentile: 663 days). Not updated in 3+ years: 15.30%.
Cumulative — each bar counts every app updated within that window, so it includes the ones before it. Bars run against a full 100% track: even at two years only ~77% have shipped an update, leaving ~23% of the store untouched. Computed from App Store 'last updated' dates, July 16, 2026 snapshot.
Maintenance vs money
Apps that earn are updated far more often
The gap between earning and non-earning apps is stark. Among the 23,712 apps we estimate earn $1,000+/month, the median time since the last update is 28 days. For the other 1,014,129 apps it's 191 days. (Revenue figures are labeled proprietary-model estimates — see how many apps make money for the full earnings breakdown.)
| Group | Updated in last 90 days | Updated in last year | Median days since update |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apps earning est. $1k+/mo (23,712) | 71.9% | 89.9% | 28 |
| Everyone else (1,014,129) | 36.7% | 64.0% | 191 |
Read the other direction, the contrast holds: of the 388,738 apps updated in the last 90 days, 9.35% show any estimated revenue and 4.38% clear an estimated $1k/month. Of the 240,543 apps not updated in 2+ years, just 2.17% show any estimated revenue and 0.51% clear $1k/month.
This is correlation, not causation. Abandoned apps stop earning, and apps that earn get maintained — the data can't say which comes first, and shipping updates alone won't create revenue.
By category
Update freshness by App Store category
Categories with at least 3,000 live apps, ranked by the share updated within the last year.
| Category | Apps tracked | Updated within 1 year | Updated within 90 days |
|---|---|---|---|
| Finance | 48,585 | 79.5% | 53.4% |
| Health & Fitness | 70,657 | 73.4% | 42.9% |
| Sports | 31,059 | 71.6% | 44.7% |
| Weather | 4,169 | 71.1% | 48.0% |
| Social Networking | 22,113 | 69.5% | 45.4% |
| Productivity | 62,770 | 69.1% | 41.4% |
| Developer Tools | 3,635 | 68.8% | 37.4% |
| Graphics & Design | 7,506 | 68.5% | 35.5% |
| Lifestyle | 77,716 | 68.2% | 39.0% |
| Travel | 38,373 | 66.6% | 40.4% |
| Food & Drink | 52,763 | 66.2% | 36.8% |
| Business | 111,983 | 65.0% | 38.2% |
| Shopping | 38,001 | 64.0% | 38.3% |
| Navigation | 11,861 | 63.9% | 37.3% |
| News | 12,409 | 63.5% | 41.7% |
| Education | 110,531 | 63.2% | 33.6% |
| Medical | 20,833 | 62.9% | 36.3% |
| Utilities | 102,370 | 61.7% | 34.3% |
| Reference | 19,049 | 58.2% | 28.9% |
| Photo & Video | 24,119 | 57.8% | 33.5% |
| Entertainment | 42,726 | 56.5% | 31.5% |
| Music | 23,753 | 56.4% | 30.8% |
| Book | 10,920 | 56.1% | 32.9% |
| Games | 83,173 | 53.1% | 30.8% |
| Stickers | 5,087 | 46.5% | 11.6% |
Source: GetAppNiche analysis of 1,037,841 iOS App Store apps, July 16, 2026 snapshot. Notable: Finance is the best-maintained category (regulation plus active businesses behind the apps). Games are among the stalest large categories — the hit-driven economics mean losers get abandoned fast. Stickers are essentially fire-and-forget.
What this means
Three takeaways for indie developers
- Staleness is opportunity. A category where a quarter to half of incumbents haven't shipped in a year is easier to out-execute than one where everyone is iterating weekly. Find those pockets with the app niche finder or in the State of iOS App Niches 2026.
- The store is smaller than it looks. Of ~1.04M listed apps, only ~389k (37.5%) showed any development activity in the last 90 days. Your real competition is that active slice — not the total — and even fewer ever reach users (see how many new apps get users).
- Plan for maintenance, not just launch. Nearly 90% of apps clearing an estimated $1k/month updated within the past year, with a 28-day median cadence. Correlation, not causation — but a no-maintenance app matching the earning cohort would be the exception. Pricing decisions compound the same way; see the iOS app pricing study.
FAQ
App updates and abandonment — quick answers
What percentage of apps get updated?
Across the 1,037,841 iOS apps on the App Store we analyzed (snapshot July 16, 2026), about 64.6% shipped an update within the past year, 37.5% within the past 90 days, and 22.6% within the past 30 days. The median iOS app was last updated 185 days ago.
What percentage of apps are abandoned?
It depends where you draw the line. About 23.2% of iOS apps haven't been updated in 2+ years, and 15.3% — roughly 1 in 7 apps on the store — haven't been touched in 3+ years. Those 3+ year apps are effectively abandoned but still listed. 'Abandoned' isn't an official App Store status, so these are staleness measures based on each app's last version release date.
How often are iOS apps updated?
The median iOS app was last updated 185 days (~6 months) ago. The spread is wide: the freshest quarter of the store updated within the last 36 days, while the stalest quarter hasn't shipped in 663+ days. So there is no typical cadence — the store splits into actively maintained apps and a long tail that rarely or never updates.
How often do successful apps update?
Much more often than the rest of the store. Among the 23,712 iOS apps we estimate earn $1,000+/month, 71.9% updated within the last 90 days and 89.9% within the last year, with a median of just 28 days since the last update. For everyone else the median is 191 days. All revenue figures are modeled estimates, not audited numbers.
Do app updates increase revenue?
The data shows a strong correlation, not proven causation. Apps updated in the last 90 days are far more likely to show estimated revenue (9.35% show any, 4.38% clear an estimated $1k/month) than apps untouched for 2+ years (2.17% and 0.51%). But the arrow likely points both ways: abandoned apps stop earning, and apps that earn get maintained. Shipping an update will not, by itself, make an app earn money.