The biggest app in the whole wide world

Lead

Last August, independent developer Bria Sullivan watched a tiny habit app she built with creator Hank Green surge from obscurity to the top of app-store charts. Focus Friend climbed into the iOS top 10, reached #4, and on August 19 became the most downloaded free app across both Apple and Google stores in the U.S. The run lasted a single day before ChatGPT reclaimed the top slot, but that 24-hour peak left an outsized effect on Sullivan’s profile and opportunities. The episode raises questions about what it really takes to hit #1 and what a single day at the summit means for developers.

Key Takeaways

• Focus Friend, developed by Bria Sullivan with Hank Green, reached #1 on August 19, 2024, becoming the most downloaded free app in the U.S. for one day.
• Apple reports roughly 850 million weekly App Store users and says developers have earned over $550 billion since 2008; by 2024 there were 1,961,596 apps available on the store.
• Sensor Tower data shows only 568 distinct apps have hit #1 in the US free iOS charts since 2012; most runs are brief—478 stayed 10 days or fewer.
• Many #1 placements are driven by short-term events or promotions; developers estimate roughly 200,000 downloads in a day will typically secure the top free slot.
• Long stays are rare: Temu holds the record at 399 days at #1 (free list); on the paid side, Minecraft led for 3,289 days.
• Hitting #1 produces immediate visibility—press, investor attention, partner meetings—but often only a short-lived spike in engaged users.
• There are operational costs to virality: server scaling, customer support, copycats, and potential backlash can follow a rapid rise.

Background

App-store charts are both highly visible and opaque. Apple’s marketplaces funnel hundreds of millions of users weekly, and being #1 is a simple, almost mythic badge of success that appears on websites, pitch decks, and social profiles. That symbolic value has long made a top ranking prized even when it doesn’t guarantee long-term retention or revenue.

Historical patterns show two distinct paths to App Store dominance: persistent utilities and services that maintain steady downloads, and brief viral surges tied to cultural moments, marketing pushes, or promotions. Sensor Tower’s analysis of the free iOS chart since 2012 finds only 568 unique apps ever reached #1 in the U.S., a tiny fraction of the nearly two million apps available in 2024.

Main Event

Sullivan quietly released Focus Friend to the App Store, expecting modest traction—her target had been 100,000 total downloads. Co-creator Hank Green’s audience and subsequent media pickups produced a sudden lift in August, propelling the app first into productivity’s top 10, then into the overall top ranks. On August 18 the app sat at #2 and by the morning of August 19 had hit #1 on both iOS and Android free charts in the U.S.

The pinnacle lasted a single day. ChatGPT, which had led the free charts for 22 days prior, reclaimed the position the next day and held it for another 23 days. Despite the brevity, Sullivan and her peers treated the achievement as transformative—screenshots circulated, congratulatory messages arrived, and Focus Friend updated its website to display the #1 claim prominently.

Developers and analysts I spoke with described similar patterns: rapid climbs often follow a launch window, a creator endorsement, or a promotional incentive (free items in exchange for app installs). Sometimes the event is external—a major sports broadcast or a calendar moment such as New Year’s gives apps like 1 Second Everyday a predictable seasonal spike.

Analysis & Implications

Reaching #1 is primarily valuable for its signal power. The label attracts press coverage, investor curiosity, partner meetings, and often a short burst of downloads that can be cited when seeking resources. For small teams or indie makers, that one-day headline can open doors that months of quiet user growth might not.

But the conversion from downloads to durable users is often poor. Many who arrive during a spike are casual or opportunistic installers; retention metrics typically drop quickly after the event. Managers such as BeReal’s Ben Moore describe the phenomenon as a spike rather than a durable transformation—attention arrives fast and leaves almost as fast.

There are also real costs. Sudden traffic can strain backend infrastructure, force hiring of temporary support staff, and invite copycats or critical press. Ticket to the Moon’s experience with a quick-hit photo app showed how backlash on pricing or features can amplify negative attention, and how low-quality clones can flood the marketplace.

Strategically, the best approach for most teams is not to chase ephemeral virality but to use a spike as a catalyst. Convert the newfound visibility into better onboarding, retention-focused features, and partnerships that extend beyond the headline. The marketplace’s rewards remain real—just uneven and often temporary.

Comparison & Data

The table highlights extremes: a few apps dominate long-term spots, while the majority of #1 placements are short-lived. According to chart records, 478 of the 568 apps that have ever reached #1 on the free list lasted 10 days or fewer; 292 stayed three days or less, and 130 were #1 for a single day. These distributions underline how unusual sustained dominance is compared with the border-crossing momentary peaks.

Reactions & Quotes

Developers who’ve lived through the experience emphasize the intense, chaotic attention that comes with a top ranking and the need to treat it as an operational event as well as a marketing one.

“You see Slack messages exploding, you see your phone buzzing with messages and phone calls.”

Ben Moore, BeReal (managing director)

Moore describes the spike as intoxicating but warns that many new users churn quickly. Other product leaders stress the copycat risk and the reputational exposure that can accompany a rapid rise.

“We saw a surge in downloads, a wave of press coverage, and plenty of copycats—some so close they were removed from the store.”

Alex Chernoburov, Ticket to the Moon (CPO)

For creators like Cesar Kuriyama of 1 Second Everyday, the pattern is predictable and seasonal: a cultural moment translates into concentrated downloads that return annually around New Year’s.

“We routinely get hundreds of thousands of downloads on December 31st and January 1st, which pushes us near the top.”

Cesar Kuriyama, 1 Second Everyday (CEO)

Unconfirmed

• The precise number of downloads needed to guarantee #1 fluctuates by day and region; the frequently cited figure of ~200,000 downloads in 24 hours is an industry estimate, not an official threshold.
• Ranking algorithms are proprietary; public statements and developer experience suggest download velocity dominates, but the weight of secondary signals (engagement, retention) is not publicly verified.
• Claims about exact revenue uplift from reaching #1 vary by developer and category and lack a consistent, public data source tying a one-day #1 directly to long-term revenue gains.

Bottom Line

Being #1 on the App Store is a powerful credential that opens doors and provides a memorable marketing moment—but it is not a guarantee of lasting success. Most #1 runs are brief, driven by bursts of attention rather than sustained product-market fit.

For builders, the practical playbook is straightforward: treat a chart surge as an opportunity to convert attention into retained users and partnerships, prepare infrastructure for short-term load, and resist the temptation to chase short-lived virality at the expense of product quality. One day at the top is enough to claim the title forever—but the long game still belongs to those who turn that day into durable growth.

Sources

• The Verge (media coverage, original reporting on Focus Friend and developer interviews)
• Apple Newsroom (official Apple statements on App Store usage and developer earnings)
• Sensor Tower (mobile market intelligence and historical App Store ranking data)