Submissions to the App Store have jumped by 84% year-over-year, with the growth of vibe coding believed to be behind the surge.

The continuing growth of AI services like ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude has helped fuel productivity in many fields, including coding. While developers have been assisted by automated tools before, AI has led to even novice coders to create bigger things beyond their capabilities.

It now seems that the increased use of AI in development has resulted in more work for the App Store.

In data from research firm Sensor Tower reported by The Information, Apple has seen a surge in the number of apps being submitted to the App Store. Since Q1 2025, there has been a steady growth in submissions, followed by a massive increase in Q1 2026.

For the full year of 2025, App Store submissions grew by 30% versus 2024, nearly hitting 600,000 in total. This was a momentum that was increased each quarter, and into 2026.

For the first quarter of 2026, the number of apps submitted to the App Store hit 235,800. This is a year-over-year increase of 84% compared to Q1 2025.

Good Vibes

Vibe coding tools are cited as the probable reason for the surge in submissions. This refers to tools that can create code on behalf of the user, even if the user isn't proficient in programming.

At its most extreme, it results in apps that are entirely coded by AI, based on the user's prompts. For existing developers, the tools can be used to create much more code than they would do without assistance.

To Sensor Tower senior insights analyst Abraham Yousef, the rise aligns with the introduction of agentic coding tools, such as Claude Code and ChatGPT Codex. Apple can also count Xcode among them, with its 26.3 release adding agentic coding to the development tool.

Though the figures don't directly explain how the new extra apps are coded, it is expected that many use vibe coding tools. But the quick adoption certainly points the analyst towards that assumption.

Longer wait times

The higher number of apps entering the App Store review process has led to Apple needing to process even more submissions. However, while developers have complained about lengthening review times, Apple insists the review process isn't getting bogged down.

In fact, the review team process 90% of submissions within 48 hours, an Apple spokesperson claims. Over the last 12 weeks, more than 200,000 app submissions were processed each week, with an average review time of 1.5 days.

The capacity to review the apps has improved thanks to the use of AI tools assisting human reviewers. Human eyes still review each submission, however.

There is another byproduct of the vibe coding wave: Quality control. Just because it's easier to make an app doesn't mean it will actually be good.

Developers and consumers alike have complained about the lower-quality apps hitting the App Store. While it means more potential sales for Apple, the quantity is thought to make it harder for users to find the higher-quality apps in the first place.

Despite the sheer number of apps hitting the App Store review process, Apple is still making sure that apps actually use it.

The company has been cracking down on AI vibe coding apps that are being listed in the App Store. Some of the tools are having their updates blocked, because Apple doesn't want apps to be developed on an iPhone and then used or sold without it being reviewed under the App Store review process.

This makes sense from a security standpoint, as it reduces the chance of malicious apps being produced on an iPhone after the tool making it has been approved by Apple.

While Apple has a lot of work to do thanks to vibe coding tools, it still wants to make sure that whatever is made isn't going to harm end users.