Meta AI app climbs to No. 5 on U.S. App Store after Muse Spark launch

Meta’s launch of its Muse Spark AI model on Wednesday, April 8, 2026, has triggered a significant spike in consumer interest. According to data from market intelligence provider Appfigures, the Meta AI app jumped from No. 57 right before the launch to No. 5 on the U.S. App Store on Thursday. Muse Spark is the first model release under Alexandr Wang, the head of Meta’s Superintelligence Labs, who was recruited from Scale AI. The release represents Meta’s latest attempt to compete with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, following billions of dollars in talent recruitment and a $14.3 billion investment in Scale AI.

The Muse Spark model accepts multimodal input—defined as the AI capability to process voice, text, and images—and is designed to perform tasks such as health education and complex reasoning in science and mathematics. It also supports visual coding, allowing users to build websites and mini-games from text prompts. Additionally, Meta AI can launch multiple subagents, which are specialized AI agents launched to handle specific questions. While currently available on web and mobile, Meta plans to roll the model out to other platforms, including WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, Messenger, and its AI glasses, in the coming weeks.

The launch has driven a surge in both mobile downloads and web traffic, with a clear distinction between U.S. rankings and worldwide performance:

• U.S. App Store Rank: The Meta AI app rose from No. 57 to No. 5 following the launch.
• Daily Downloads: On April 8, 2026, the app saw around 46,000 U.S. iOS downloads, representing an 87% day-over-day increase. U.S. Android downloads rose 3% day-over-day on the same date.
• Worldwide Installs: The app has been installed 60.5 million times worldwide across the App Store and Google Play, with 25 million of those downloads occurring this year.
• Five-Month Growth: Downloads of the Meta AI app increased by 138% over the past five months compared to its first five months of availability.
• Geographic Scope: Appfigures tracks downloads across worldwide markets, including India, the U.S., Brazil, Pakistan, and Mexico.
• Web Traffic: Daily web visitors for Meta AI in the U.S. rose more than 450% day-over-day on April 8, 2026, reaching an all-time high that was more than 570% higher than the average of the previous 30 days.

Despite this sudden momentum, the Meta AI app still lags behind competitors, trailing OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, and Google’s Gemini. However, Wang addressed the app’s climb in a post on X, noting that the platform is “still growing.”

Why it matters

Meta’s launch of the Muse Spark AI model is the company’s latest attempt to catch up to rivals like OpenAI and Anthropic, an effort that has cost Meta billions in recruiting and investment.