--- title: These App Store hidden gems prove there’s still room for... description: New app launches on the Apple App Store and Google Play have surged 60% year-over-year in 2026, partly driven by AI-assisted development enabling more... canonical: https://daily.dev/posts/these-app-store-hidden-gems-prove-there-s-still-room-for-great-software-in-the-ai-era-jugeosoxh twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:site: @dailydotdev og:type: website og:site_name: daily.dev og:title: These App Store hidden gems prove there’s still room for great software in the AI era | daily.dev og:description: New app launches on the Apple App Store and Google Play have surged 60% year-over-year in 2026, partly driven by AI-assisted development enabling more... og:url: https://daily.dev/posts/these-app-store-hidden-gems-prove-there-s-still-room-for-great-software-in-the-ai-era-jugeosoxh og:image: https://api.daily.dev/og/posts/JuGEosOxH.png og:image:alt: These App Store hidden gems prove there’s still room for great software in the AI era og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 630 og:locale: en --- > ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://daily.dev/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # These App Store hidden gems prove there’s still room for great software in the AI era **[TechCrunch](https://daily.dev/sources/tc)** · 8 min read · 1 upvotes · 0 comments ## Summary New app launches on the Apple App Store and Google Play have surged 60% year-over-year in 2026, partly driven by AI-assisted development enabling more developers to ship software. A curated roundup of eight notable indie and small-studio apps includes Albo (smart bookmarking from social media), Coop (neighborhood marketplace for local goods), PI.FYI (friend-network recommendations), Lettre (digital pen pals), Sofa Time (TV/movie tracker), ThingsBook (personal journaling and collections), Pressed Petals (botanical photo journal), Moods Faster (two-tap mood logging for Apple Health), and Activate Fitness (screen-time tied to exercise goals). ## Full article daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: ## Questions this post answers ### Did AI coding tools cause an increase in new app launches on the App Store? New app launches rose sharply, with worldwide releases across the Apple App Store and Google Play up 60% year-over-year as of the first quarter, and iOS releases alone up 80%. This growth has been partly attributed to AI-assisted coding, which lets developers ship software faster and allows novices without traditional coding backgrounds to build and publish apps. _Developers curious how AI coding is reshaping app development trends can follow related coverage on daily.dev._ ## Similar posts on daily.dev - [These App Store hidden gems prove there’s still room for great software in the AI era](https://daily.dev/posts/these-app-store-hidden-gems-prove-there-s-still-room-for-great-software-in-the-ai-era-dhve0m6bt) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [AI finds its way into Apple's top apps of the year](https://daily.dev/posts/ai-finds-its-way-into-apple-s-top-apps-of-the-year-voivn1qtw) · TechCrunch · 0 upvotes · 0 comments - [Making sense of too much code](https://daily.dev/posts/making-sense-of-too-much-code-dl38jlw0t) · InfoWorld · 0 upvotes · 0 comments --- Tags: [#mobile](https://daily.dev/tags/mobile), [#app-store](https://daily.dev/tags/app-store), [#vibe-coding](https://daily.dev/tags/vibe-coding), [#google-play](https://daily.dev/tags/google-play) [View this post on daily.dev](https://daily.dev/posts/these-app-store-hidden-gems-prove-there-s-still-room-for-great-software-in-the-ai-era-jugeosoxh) ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180},"sameAs":["https://twitter.com/dailydotdev","https://github.com/dailydotdev","https://www.linkedin.com/company/daily-dev-ltd"]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https://daily.dev/#website","url":"https://daily.dev","name":"daily.dev","publisher":{"@id":"https://daily.dev/#organization"},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https://daily.dev/search?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"TechArticle","headline":"These App Store hidden gems prove there’s still room for great software in the AI era","url":"https://daily.dev/posts/these-app-store-hidden-gems-prove-there-s-still-room-for-great-software-in-the-ai-era-jugeosoxh","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/these-app-store-hidden-gems-prove-there-s-still-room-for-great-software-in-the-ai-era-jugeosoxh"},"datePublished":"2026-07-28T18:21:32.124Z","dateModified":"2026-09-14T08:59:09.001Z","description":"New app launches on the Apple App Store and Google Play have surged 60% year-over-year in 2026, partly driven by AI-assisted development enabling more...","image":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/f112bd9a992691493cf088e76bc78820?_a=AQAEuop","thumbnailUrl":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/posts/f112bd9a992691493cf088e76bc78820?_a=AQAEuop","isAccessibleForFree":true,"articleSection":"TechCrunch","inLanguage":"en","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"daily.dev","url":"https://daily.dev","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://daily.dev/apple-touch-icon.png","width":180,"height":180}},"author":{"@type":"Organization","name":"TechCrunch","logo":"https://media.daily.dev/image/upload/t_logo,f_auto/v1/logos/tc","url":"https://daily.dev/sources/tc"},"commentCount":0,"discussionUrl":"https://daily.dev/posts/these-app-store-hidden-gems-prove-there-s-still-room-for-great-software-in-the-ai-era-jugeosoxh","interactionStatistic":[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1},{"@type":"InteractionCounter","interactionType":{"@type":"CommentAction"},"userInteractionCount":0}],"keywords":"mobile,app-store,vibe-coding,google-play","timeRequired":"PT8M"} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https://daily.dev"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"TechCrunch","item":"https://daily.dev/sources/tc"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"These App Store hidden gems prove there’s still room for great software in the AI era"}]} {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://daily.dev/posts/these-app-store-hidden-gems-prove-there-s-still-room-for-great-software-in-the-ai-era-jugeosoxh#faq","mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Did AI coding tools cause an increase in new app launches on the App Store?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"New app launches rose sharply, with worldwide releases across the Apple App Store and Google Play up 60% year-over-year as of the first quarter, and iOS releases alone up 80%. 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