It will come as no surprise to anyone when I say that the app industry is a very dynamic one, with things changing by the week or even day, and 2025 was no different with the developments it brought.
In April, the Epic Games v. Apple ruling permanently barred Apple from forcing developers to use its in-app purchase system. The decision essentially blew open the App Store, paving the way for web-to-app purchase flows.
A similar fate would befall Google just a few months later. While the Epic Games v. Google ruling rejected calls to break up Google or Android, it still forced the Mountain View giant to implement sweeping changes, including allowing third-party app stores and giving them access to the full catalogue of Google Play apps as well as letting developers link to alternative ways to download their apps outside the Play Store.
The two landmark rulings consolidated web stores into an essential part of the growth funnel, opening new horizons for the subscription industry.
AI, as expected and already predicted at the end of 2024, continued to dominate the headlines in 2025, with the usual suspects (OpenAI, Claude, etc.) launching feature after feature and, in the case of OpenAI, even a new app, Sora AI. More interestingly, 2025 saw the rise of custom-built AI agents (e.g., SplitMetrics’s Iris) trained on relevant data in order to complete very specific tasks (to return to Iris, it specialises in Apple Ads).
All of this made 2025 a watershed year for the app industry and laid the groundwork for the opportunities and challenges the industry will face in 2026.
To help you prepare for the year ahead, we’ve invited eleven seasoned app professionals to reflect on the changes that 2025 brought and share their advice for what’s next for the app industry in 2026.
Freya Fine, Founder at &Fine
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