Apps built with ARkit have been installed more than three million times since iOS 11 launched last month, according to Sensor Tower. That’s an average of roughly one million app downloads per week.

This shows strong traction for mobile AR, but isn’t surprising, given 434 million ARkit- compatible iPhones. Drilling down on app categories and performance, the most downloaded ARkit apps were games (35 percent), utilities (19 percent) and entertainment (11 percent).

Taking games out of the equation, which apps are getting the most traction? In the free category, the well-publicized Ikea Place app is the top download, showing there will be a strong use case for AR as practical way to preview in-home furniture placement.

Speaking of practical use cases, TapMeasure was the most downloaded paid app (and AR MeasureKit was the second most downloaded free app). This shows that there could likewise be a strong use case for AR as a utility, in addition to fun and games.

It should also be acknowledged that ARkit’s first month of existence may contain some “false positives,” in terms of inferring success factors. In other words, some of these apps’ appeal could be driven by a novelty factor, as opposed to sustainable traction.

The coming months will be telling of the app types that have true staying power. And lots of other native use cases will develop which no one has thought of yet. Meanwhile, the first month of activity is a good indication for what AR use cases are landing with consumers.

We’ll be watching closely as this continues to unfold. Meanwhile, a few more breakdowns of the data can be seen below.

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Disclosure: ARtillry has no financial stake in the companies mentioned in this post, nor received payment for its production. Disclosure and ethics policy can be seen here.

Header Image Credit: Houzz