Meta’s Muse Beats ChatGPT’s Early Mobile Downloads in Apptopia Estimates

Meta’s Muse has outpaced ChatGPT’s early mobile download pace in a matched U.S.-and-Canada iOS comparison, according to new estimates from app-intelligence firm Apptopia. The result gives Meta an unusually strong opening signal for an AI agent built to take actions on a user’s behalf—but it is not a clean verdict on lasting demand, because the two apps launched under different platform and geographic conditions.

A lead built on a matched slice

Apptopia estimates that Muse collected 1.8 million iOS downloads in the U.S. and Canada during its first 12 days, against 1.3 million for ChatGPT over the equivalent post-launch period. That is a meaningful early advantage in the selected markets, rather than a worldwide comparison of the two products.

The usage estimate points in the same direction. Apptopia put Muse at 642,000 daily active mobile users in the U.S., compared with 231,000 for ChatGPT at the comparable point after launch. Muse also remained ahead when Apptopia narrowed the daily-user view to iOS, estimating 359,000 active users there. The firm did not provide a matching iOS figure for ChatGPT in the published account.

Different launches, different advantages

The caveat is central to interpreting the numbers. ChatGPT’s mobile debut was global but initially limited to iOS. Muse, by contrast, is available on iOS and Android in the U.S. and Canada. Apptopia therefore isolated iOS downloads in those two countries to make the download comparison more comparable, but that adjustment cannot make the overall launch strategies identical.

What the early data does and does not show

• Muse logged an estimated 2.8 million total global installs in its first 12 days.
• The figures are third-party estimates, not Meta’s internal counts; Meta has not publicly released early Muse usage figures.
• Downloads and daily active users measure an early audience, not whether people will keep delegating important tasks to the agent.

An agent, not just a chat app

Muse’s early audience is arriving for a product Meta presents as more than a conversational assistant. Meta says the agent can carry out tasks such as sending email, booking travel and filling out forms, while seeking approval before sensitive actions. It launched on September 8 and is available in the United States on iOS, Android and the web.

Meta says Muse runs in a dedicated secure virtual machine, a cloud-based environment intended to hold the agent and a user’s connected-service data. That design matters because a personal agent asks for a different level of trust than a standalone chatbot: it may reach email, forms and payments rather than merely generate a response.

A familiar audience is the next clue

Apptopia estimated that more than 95% of Muse users also use Facebook, while 63% also use Instagram. That overlap is consistent with an early audience drawn from Meta’s existing consumer footprint, but it does not reveal why those users downloaded Muse or whether they will return. The next meaningful measure is whether the early install lead becomes sustained active use for an agent that asks people to connect more of their digital lives.