Global Mobile Apps in September | Gemini’s “Nano Banana” Goes Viral to Take the Top Spot, While FlareFlow’s Emotional Dramas Climb the Charts

The overall performance of global mobile apps in September included several notable changes:

• FlareFlow ramped up its ad investment once again.
• NetShort maintained a strong presence in the Top 5.
• Peacock TV saw revenue growth driven by multiple hit dramas.
• Gemini's “Nano Banana” went viral across social media, debuting straight at No. 1.

September Global Mobile App Advertising Rankings

As the year-end approaches, competition among major micro-drama platforms has intensified. NetShort maintained strong spending, ranking No. 4 on both iOS and Android. FlareFlow saw a significant jump, rising to No. 10 on iOS and No. 11 on Android — up 6–7 places from August.

RocNovel, a web novel platform, remained steady as the iOS advertising champion and Android runner-up. Outside the Top 20, several apps showed quiet but strong momentum. AI karaoke and social app StarMaker increased its Android ad creatives by about 50%.

NetShort Maintains Strong Advertising Investment

This year, NetShort has consistently increased its ad spending, rarely dropping out of the Top 5. According to SocialPeta, its detailed September advertising performance was as follows:

• Approximately 270,000 deduplicated creatives across iOS and Android, up 3.8% month-over-month, showing stable investment.
• Ads ran in 81 countries and regions, with the U.S. accounting for over 47% of total impressions.
• New creatives accounted for 78.6%.
• Around 1,400 micro-dramas were actively promoted, with 600 new titles launched in September.
• The top-performing series was Camino de Gloria Celestial, a Spanish-dubbed fantasy drama about male rebirth and ascension, notable for its exaggerated visual effects and dramatic acting. Its estimated impressions had reached 150 million.

FlareFlow Expands Its Micro-Drama Advertising

Since its launch, FlareFlow has continuously expanded its ad investment and produced multiple breakout hits. Its detailed September performance was as follows:

• Approximately 193,000 deduplicated creatives across iOS and Android.
• Ads ran in 79 countries and regions, led by the U.S., U.K., Germany, and France.
• More than 600 micro-dramas were promoted, with new titles accounting for 67.7%.

The top-promoted title was Goodbye after 99 Forgiveness, telling the story of Blair and her husband Alex. Every time he hurts or disappoints her, she asks for a pearl; when the number reaches 99, she leaves.

Rise Health AI Quietly Gains Momentum

Outside the main rankings, Rise — an AI-powered health management app — was also gaining traction as more users prioritized wellness. Launched in November 2019, the app had produced more than 130,000 deduplicated creatives in total. Its September performance included:

• Around 20,000 deduplicated creatives across iOS and Android, slightly down month-over-month.
• Ads ran in 77 countries and regions, led by the U.S., Germany, and Canada.
• Video creatives dominated, accounting for more than 80%.
• Popular creatives featured short lifestyle interviews or conceptual videos emphasizing how Rise helps users wake up early, stay productive, and improve sleep quality.

Apps With Outstanding App Store Download Performance

• In September, Google Gemini launched its Nano Banana image generation model, which went viral across social media and triggered a massive surge in traffic. The tool had already surpassed 200 million image edits shortly after release, propelling the app straight to the top of the App Store download chart for September. The AI-generated figurine images that went viral on RedBook were also created using this model.
• Zoom rolled out AI Companion 3.0, focusing on improving meeting efficiency and content handling. The update introduced three key capabilities: a proactive meeting assistant, advanced research and writing support, and an enhanced AI Notes tool. These changes contributed to a notable rise in downloads during September.

Apps With Outstanding Google Play Download Performance

• In September, WhatsApp rolled out several feature updates, most notably introducing a message translation function. Android users could enable automatic translation for entire chat conversations. The update also included features such as real-time photos and AI-powered chat themes and backgrounds, helping boost user growth.
• According to a September 11 report cited by the original article, emerging AI company Perplexity secured a $200 million funding commitment from investors, raising its valuation from $18 billion to $20 billion in two months.

Apps With Surging App Store Revenue

• In September, multiple shows were released or promoted on Peacock TV, including the comedy The Paper, the Emmy Award-winning series The Office, and the popular reality show Love Island Games. The article attributed Peacock TV's sharp rise in revenue across both iOS and Android to strong content performance.
• Paramount+ also premiered several films and TV series in September, including the highly anticipated new season of Tulsa King and the comedy The Wedding Banquet, which the original article cited as additional content supporting the platform's performance.

Apps With Surging Google Play Revenue

The 2025 Black Friday and Cyber Monday holiday shopping season was approaching, and many sellers had already begun preparing for the year's major shopping events. Against this backdrop, Amazon Shopping saw its position in the Google Play revenue rankings rise significantly.

September's rankings reflected several concurrent trends across the global mobile app market: sustained advertising competition among micro-drama platforms, rapid user acquisition around generative AI products, feature-driven growth among communication and productivity apps, and content-led monetization among streaming services.

The above are SocialPeta's insights into global mobile app advertising, revenue, and download performance in September 2025 across the App Store and Google Play.