Meta’s Muse outpaces ChatGPT’s early mobile launch

The numbers behind the launch

According to data published by intelligence firm Apptopia, Meta’s Muse app recorded more downloads in its first 12 days on the market than ChatGPT did in the same period after its launch. The comparison focuses on the U.S. and Canada only, and also covers daily active users, where the gap is even wider: 642 thousand daily users in the U.S. for Muse versus 231 thousand for ChatGPT at the equivalent point.

Methodological alignment

To neutralize differences in launch strategy — ChatGPT launched globally but only on iOS, while Muse is available on iOS and Android but only in North America — Apptopia compared iOS data in the U.S. and Canada only. Here, too, Muse leads with 1.8 million downloads against ChatGPT’s 1.3 million. In total, Muse reached 2.8 million global installs in its first 12 days.

App Store momentum

The pace hasn’t let up: according to a Business Insider report on Friday, Muse climbed from second place to first place in the U.S. App Store, overtaking ChatGPT. Another analytics firm, Appfigures, confirmed that at that point Muse had already crossed the one million download mark. Important to note: all data are third-party estimates, and Meta has not yet published official data of its own.

Threads’ playbook

Meta’s real advantage is not just in the product, but in the distribution mechanism. The company already proved with Threads, which reached 500 million-plus users, how to exploit the Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp ecosystem for aggressive cross-promotion. Muse is hooked into all three platforms, and Apptopia data show that 95% of Muse users are also Facebook users, and 63% are Instagram users.

The bottom line

Even if the numbers are accurate only at a “general direction” level, they signal that Meta has a genuine shot at turning Muse into its next flagship app. The interesting question now is not how many will download the app in the first month, but how many will stick around when the marketing push fades, and whether the product itself justifies the volume Meta knows how to generate.