Tech
Europe’s 2025 App Market Shows Divide Between Downloads and Revenue
Europe’s app market in 2025 reveals a clear gap between what users download and what generates the most revenue. While utility, shopping, and AI apps lead in downloads, entertainment, subscription, and dating apps dominate earnings.
According to estimates from AppFigures shared with Euronews Next, the most downloaded app in the EU last year was ChatGPT, with just over 64 million downloads. It was followed by shopping platform Temu with nearly 44 million. Downloads for other top apps drop to around 27 million, including Threads (27.3 million), TikTok (26.8 million), CapCut (25.5 million), and Google Gemini (25.2 million). Rounding out the top ten were WhatsApp Messenger, Revolut, Vinted, and Lidl Plus, each exceeding 22 million downloads.
Productivity apps emerged as a major category, driven largely by artificial intelligence. ChatGPT and Google Gemini signal AI tools moving from niche use to mainstream adoption, as Europeans increasingly rely on AI for work, study, and personal tasks. Shopping apps also featured prominently, with Temu, SHEIN, Vinted, Lidl Plus, and Klarna ranking high. Photo and video apps reflect the rising importance of content creation for social media and small businesses.
Despite dominating downloads, these apps do not always generate the highest revenue. AppFigures data show that TikTok earned an estimated €740 million in Europe, making it the top-grossing app, even though it ranked fourth in downloads. ChatGPT followed with €448 million, demonstrating that AI subscriptions are converting users into paying customers.
Dating apps also ranked high by revenue despite not appearing among the top downloads. Tinder generated €429 million, while Bumble and Badoo recorded €125 million and €81 million, respectively. Streaming services such as Disney+ (€351 million), Amazon Prime Video (€323 million), Google One (€283 million), and YouTube (€243 million) highlight the continued strength of subscription-based digital content.
“The drivers behind spending in top-earning EU apps show a more diverse mix than several years ago, when most spending outside of mobile games went to entertainment and dating apps, such as Disney+, Spotify, Tinder, and Hulu,” Randy Nelson, head of market insights at AppFigures, told Euronews Next.
App rankings also vary significantly by country. In the UK, domestic finance and government services are popular, with GOV.UK ID Check and HMRC among the most downloaded apps. Local retail and finance platforms such as Monzo and Tesco also rank highly. In Turkey, state-backed digital services like e-Devlet Kapısı and e-Nabız, alongside local e-commerce platforms Trendyol and sahibinden, dominate downloads, reflecting a preference for national platforms over cross-border alternatives.
Revenue estimates focus on in-app spending, including subscriptions and digital content, and do not account for physical goods or services. These figures also exclude the roughly 30 percent platform fee taken by Apple and Google, meaning actual developer earnings are lower than the reported totals.
The data underline the evolving European app market, where popularity does not always translate into revenue, and local preferences shape user behaviour in individual countries.
Tech
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Tech
Transatlantic Tensions on Digital Rules Highlight Need for Cooperation
Discussions between Europe and the United States over digital regulation continue to be marked by miscommunication and frustration, even as competitors observe from the sidelines. Europeans and Americans talk past each other while rivals watch. The European Union can set its own standards, but in an interconnected economy, decoupling fantasies and grandstanding won’t help.
The debate often centres on “free speech” concerns voiced by U.S. tech companies and policymakers in response to the EU’s legislative framework for digital platforms. In Europe, such narratives typically prompt defensive reactions. Some Europeans respond with a blunt message: “This is our land, our Union, our laws, follow them, or leave the EU—we’ll find alternative products to use!” Public awareness of American constitutional amendments is low across Europe, just as Americans pay little attention to European digital acts and regulations.
The transatlantic dialogue is further complicated by the global nature of social media platforms. Any EU legislation affecting user experience inevitably influences the functioning of these platforms worldwide, touching on what Americans see as free speech rights. The EU also seeks to extend its influence through the “Brussels effect,” ensuring that European rules shape global standards, while the U.S. maintains a large trade surplus in services and competes technologically with China. This mix of economic, political, and regulatory factors explains why U.S. attention is sharply focused on Europe’s digital policies.
Europeans argue that their 450-million-consumer market has the right to set rules that reflect local principles and values. Attempts to adjust or simplify regulations are difficult, with efforts often met with political resistance and scrutiny. The regulatory ecosystem in Europe supports industries of lawyers, consultants, and experts whose work depends on maintaining complex rules, making reform a sensitive topic.
On the American side, anti-EU rhetoric by public figures has sometimes compounded the problem, drowning out moderates and reinforcing defensive European responses. Analysts note that both regions have seen productive voices sidelined as grandstanding and negative statements dominate public discourse.
Observers argue that long-term thinking is necessary. By evaluating the EU-U.S. tech partnership in the broader context of global alliances, including China and Russia, policymakers can better assess priorities and avoid unnecessary disruption. Blank-slate decoupling between Europe and the United States is unrealistic, and delaying constructive dialogue risks broader economic consequences.
Experts warn that continued transatlantic infighting benefits other global powers and weakens the ability of both regions to set coherent standards in emerging technologies. The message from analysts is clear: cooperation, not confrontation, will determine whether the EU and U.S. can maintain leadership in digital regulation while safeguarding economic and technological interests.
Tech
New AI System Helps “Kidnapped” Robots Find Their Way in Changing Environments
Researchers in Spain have developed an AI system that allows robots to recover their position even after being moved, powered off, or displaced, offering a solution to the long-standing “kidnapped robot” problem. The system, designed at Miguel Hernández University of Elche, could enable autonomous machines to navigate safely in environments that change over time.
Autonomous robots, used in service operations, logistics, infrastructure inspection, environmental monitoring, and self-driving vehicles, often rely on satellite navigation systems such as GPS. These signals can be unreliable near tall buildings or completely unavailable indoors, making precise localisation a persistent challenge.
The new approach, called MCL-DLF (Monte Carlo Localisation – Deep Local Feature), uses 3D LiDAR technology to scan surroundings with laser pulses, creating a detailed map-like representation of the environment. By analysing both large structures and small distinguishing details, the system helps robots determine their exact location.
“This is similar to how people first recognise a general area and then rely on small distinguishing details to determine their precise location,” said Míriam Máximo, lead author of the study and a researcher at Miguel Hernández University of Elche.
MCL-DLF uses AI to identify which environmental features are most useful for localisation. The system maintains multiple possible location estimates simultaneously and continuously updates them as new sensor data becomes available. This allows robots to maintain reliable positioning even when environments look similar or have changed, such as when vegetation shifts or lighting conditions vary.
The research team tested the system over several months on the university campus under diverse conditions, including different seasons, lighting, and natural changes in vegetation. Results showed that MCL-DLF provided stronger positioning accuracy and more consistent performance compared with conventional localisation methods.
By enabling robots to navigate without constant reliance on external infrastructure, the system could increase operational independence in real-world environments, where conditions rarely remain static. Reliable localisation is particularly important for tasks where safety and precision are critical, such as autonomous deliveries, environmental monitoring, and industrial inspections.
The development of MCL-DLF represents a significant advance in robotics, providing a practical solution to the kidnapped robot problem. Researchers say the technology could help service and industrial robots operate more effectively in complex, dynamic settings, paving the way for wider adoption of autonomous systems in both indoor and outdoor environments.
With AI-driven localisation, robots may soon be able to recover from displacements quickly and continue tasks without human intervention, making them more resilient and adaptable in everyday operations.
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