KEN’S CAT LOG
▤Daily App Store Report

Daily App Store Report 2026-09-27

Brevis. debuted simultaneously in four countries today (ios-food-drink/grossing: KR #9, DE #31, JP #38, US #82), while short-form drama apps ReelShort and DramaWave both entered overall/free charts—the day’s strongest new signals. The top of the charts barely moved (84% top-10 retention), with churn concentrated in positions 51–100 (69% retained; 20% new).

1. New Entries

On 2026-09-27, all 46,693 rows across 468 charts were collected (0 missing). The leading app to debut across multiple countries on the same day was Brevis. (BAYCHEL MONOKA), ranking KR #9, DE #31, JP #38, and US #82 in ios-food-drink/grossing. It was followed by two short-form drama apps: ReelShort, newly appearing in overall/free at JP #30, KR #86, DE #87, and HR #90; and DramaWave, at GB #43, HR #48, JP #60, and DE #100. Paid photo-organizing and camera apps also saw simultaneous multi-market entries: Cully - Photo Cleaner at DE #15, GB #21, and US #43; and Spatialify at DE #25, US #54, and JP #84. In a single market, Korea’s 해병PTSD알람 entered at an immediate top-tier level: ios-lifestyle/paid #1 and overall/paid #2.

2. Sharp Rises Since the Baseline

The baseline date is 2026-08-29 (29 days ago). However, it is the oldest date available in the archive, so there is not yet a full month of data; this is not a strict month-over-month comparison. The biggest gain was AI Maker: Photo Video Filters (US/ios-graphics-design/free), reaching #1 with a +99 increase. It was followed by Harry's LapTimer Rookie (GB/ios-sports/paid), #2 with +97, and BHRT (HR/ios-magazines-newspapers/free), #2 with +97. Among major companies, Google Gemini reached JP/ios-productivity/grossing #5 with +88. Fifteen apps entered the top 20 after being absent on the baseline date; in GB, these included Roblox (games/grossing #1) and Gossip Harbor (games/free #1).

3. By Tier

top (1–10) was exceptionally stable: 84% held, 1% new, and average movement of 3.1. mid (11–50) was 80% / 6% / 7.1, while bottom (51–100) was 69% held, 20% new, and |Δ| 9.9—meaning churn was concentrated almost entirely at the tail. Google held the most slots across every tier: 114 top, 156 mid, and 71 bottom.

4. By Country

All 78 charts were comparable in each of the six markets. The US had the most stable top 10, with 88% retention; DE was the loosest at 81%. DE had the most new entries, at 1,057, while KR had the fewest, at 731. TestFlight, Replit, Duolingo (both free and grossing), and Procreate Pocket took #1 in all six countries. Strong local signals included HR’s Hooligans.cz at #3 (+96), DE’s DFB Event-App at #8 (+91), and JP’s PLUG at #1 (+88).

5. By Category

The most static category was ios-social-networking (93% top-10 retention, 118 new entries). Conversely, ios-sports, ios-reference, and ios-developer-tools were the most active at 79% retention. By new-entry count, ios-education (368), ios-utilities (340), and ios-music (327) led the way; however, ios-music had 89% retention at the top, indicating movement only in the lower ranks.

Key Findings

1. Brevis. entered ios-food-drink/grossing in four countries on the same day — the day’s broadest new signal

After not appearing on 2026-09-26, Brevis. (BAYCHEL MONOKA) simultaneously entered paid rankings across regions: KR #9, DE #31, JP #38, and US #82. Reaching the top 10 in KR points to the beginning of paid conversion, not merely increased visibility. Simultaneous uptake in Asia, Europe, and North America is unusual in the relatively less competitive food-and-drink grossing segment, making this the highest-priority app to track.

Confidence: High

2. Two short-form drama apps, ReelShort and DramaWave, entered overall/free in four countries on the same day

ReelShort (NewLeaf Publishing) entered at JP #30, KR #86, DE #87, and HR #90, while DramaWave (SKYWORK AI PTE LTD) appeared at GB #43, HR #48, JP #60, and DE #100—both as new overall/free entries. Overall charts are difficult for newcomers to enter, and two companies in the same genre appearing on the same day, especially in overlapping markets (JP, DE, and HR), signals category-level demand growth. Japan is the most appropriate immediate target for Japanese-language content planning, with ReelShort at #30.

Confidence: High

3. Paid photo-organizing and camera apps made concentrated new entries in ios-photo-video/TOP_PAID

Four apps entered the same chart family, ios-photo-video/paid, across three countries each on the same day: Cully - Photo Cleaner (DE #15, GB #21, US #43), Spatialify (DE #25, US #54, JP #84), Queryable - Photo Search App (DE #36, GB #49, US #72), and Perfect Video Pro (DE #38, JP #50, US #80). DE appears in all four, suggesting simultaneous demand in Western markets for one-time-purchase storage cleanup and photo-search tools.

Confidence: High

4. Two new apps debuted directly at paid #1 in KR — 해병PTSD알람 reached overall/paid #2

해병PTSD알람 (Dong Chul Lee) entered at ios-lifestyle/paid #1 and overall/paid #2. 노트속지 (JIHOON KIM) also debuted at ios-productivity/paid #1. KR had the fewest new entries among the six markets, with 84% top-10 retention and 731 new entries. These two chart-toppers were likely propelled by local context—meme-driven attention and demand for planner refills. Their staying power should be assessed from tomorrow’s rankings.

Confidence: Medium

5. The 2026-08-29 baseline is 29 days ago but is the archive’s oldest date — this is not truly a monthly comparison

The 2026-08-29 baseline is the earliest collection date retained in the archive, with no earlier data available; there is not yet a full month of history. The largest gains in this period were AI Maker: Photo Video Filters (US/ios-graphics-design/free) at #1 (+99), Harry's LapTimer Rookie (GB/ios-sports/paid) at #2 (+97), and BHRT (HR/ios-magazines-newspapers/free) at #2 (+97). A figure such as +99 also means the app was around #100 on the baseline date, so it is not possible to distinguish a genuine new surge from a comeback.

Confidence: High

6. Google Gemini reached #5 in JP productivity grossing (+88) — the most notable major-company movement of the period

It rose +88 from the baseline to JP/ios-productivity/grossing #5. While other major increases were concentrated among paid apps from small and mid-sized developers, a major company moving into the top of the grossing chart suggests a market-structure shift. It indicates that demand for AI subscriptions in Japan moved on an actual revenue basis, supporting JP as a priority market for AI-related initiatives.

Confidence: High

7. Churn is concentrated in positions 51–100: bottom retention 69%, new entries 20%, average movement 9.9

top (1–10) was nearly fixed, with 84% retention, just 1% new entries, and average movement of 3.1; mid (11–50) was 80% / 6% / 7.1; bottom (51–100) was 69% / 20% / 9.9. In other words, nearly all of today’s movement was churn in the tail, while established apps held the upper ranks. For finding new apps, monitor the 51–100 range; treat top-10 changes as exceptional events.

Confidence: High

8. Google held the most slots in all three tiers (top 114, mid 156, bottom 71)

A single developer occupied the largest number of slots from the top through the tail. In the top tier, Guild of Master Craftsman Publications Ltd followed with 29, Instagram, Inc. with 27, and AMZN Mobile LLC and TikTok Ltd. with 23 each. Microsoft Corporation (78) and Adobe Inc. (45) were also prominent in the mid tier, leaving limited practical openings in upper and middle rankings. The realistic landing zone for new entrants is the bottom tier, where individuals and small operators such as Piet Jonas (39) are represented.

Confidence: High

9. The US was the most stable (88% top-10 retention), while DE was the most fluid (81% and the highest number of new entries, 1,057)

All six markets had 78/78 comparable charts. New-entry counts were DE 1,057 > HR 1,043 > GB 982 > US 966 > JP 860 > KR 731. DE had both the lowest retention rate and the most new entries, making it today’s market with the greatest room for entry. In fact, DE had high-ranking newcomers including Kitpick (magazines/paid #2), App Designer (developer-tools/paid #4), and ComicShare (books/paid #5). By contrast, established apps fully protected the US top 10, making short-term visibility harder to gain.

Confidence: High

10. Four apps took #1 in all six countries — TestFlight, Replit, Duolingo, and Procreate Pocket

TestFlight (developer-tools/free), Replit (developer-tools/grossing), Duolingo (both education/free and education/grossing), and Procreate Pocket (graphics-design/paid) ranked #1 in DE, GB, HR, JP, KR, and US. LinkedIn (business/grossing) and Jump Desktop (business/paid) also ranked #1 in four to five markets. These are entrenched cross-border positions; new products in those categories should be designed around openings below #1 rather than targeting the top spot.

Confidence: High

11. ios-social-networking was the least active category (93% retention, 118 new entries)

Among 26 categories, its 93% top-10 retention was the highest, and its 118 new entries were second-lowest after ios-shopping’s 71. Virtually nothing happened in social today, so a “today’s movement” feature focused on this category would not hold up. DE’s Mango IRC (social-networking/paid #6) was one of the few high-ranking new entries.

Confidence: High

12. ios-sports, ios-reference, and ios-developer-tools saw the most turnover (79% retention each)

ios-sports had 79% retention and 285 new entries, the largest volume and quality of movement. HR’s Dinamo Plus #7 (+84), US’s Primos Hunting Calls #19 (+80), and GB’s Harry's LapTimer Rookie #2 (+75) show local sports, outdoor, and motorsport apps rising simultaneously. In ios-reference, turnover among dictionary and encyclopedia apps stood out, including Dictionnaire Le Robert Mobile (JP #4, +92) and Civilopedia (new at JP #3).

Confidence: High

13. ios-music had 327 new entries but 89% top-10 retention — a classic case of movement only in the tail

It ranked third in new-entry count, after ios-education (368) and ios-utilities (340), but the top ranks barely changed. The actual movement was in the middle and lower bands, such as InsMeloAI Music Song Generator (new on the same day at HR #25, DE #86, and GB #94) and SPL Meter (JP #27, US #59, DE #61). Looking only at new-entry counts and claiming that “music moved” would be misleading; the data must be read alongside chart tier.

Confidence: Medium

Recommended Actions

  • Add Brevis. (6812614221) to the daily monitoring list starting tomorrow. Whether its KR #9 grossing position holds and whether its DE/JP/US positions in the #30–80 range rise will reveal within one or two days whether this is a temporary spike or a genuine launch.
  • Cover the short-form drama segment (ReelShort and DramaWave) with Japan as the starting point. JP has the highest positions for both—ReelShort #30 and DramaWave #60—making a Japanese comparison of vertical short-drama apps the freshest topic available today.
  • Make the DE market this week’s priority. Its 81% top-10 retention is the lowest among the six markets, and its 1,057 new entries are the highest. The fact that all four new ios-photo-video/paid apps include DE also suggests that features on paid utility apps are especially likely to resonate when launched from DE.
  • Fix the monitoring range for discovering new apps at positions 51–100. This band has 69% retention, 20% new entries, and average movement of 9.9; monitoring the top 10, where only 1% are new, will yield almost no fresh faces.
  • Explicitly exclude ios-social-networking (93% retention) and ios-shopping (71 new entries) as having no story today. Instead, direct reporting resources toward ios-sports (79% retention, 285 new entries) and ios-reference (79% retention).
  • Recheck KR’s 해병PTSD알람 (overall/paid #2) tomorrow before covering it. Paid apps that debut at the top can drop sharply the next day, and there is currently no basis to judge durability.
  • Send the rating-data gap (274,160 missing records) back to the collection pipeline. With ratings available, it will be possible to filter for “new entries with strong ratings” and reduce ranking-only inference like that used in this report.
  • Because baseline comparisons are capped at 2026-08-29, a true month-over-month comparison will first be possible on or after 2026-09-29. Until then, standardize wording in articles as “since the archive began.”

Data Quality Notes

Collection is complete. All 468 target charts were collected (0 missing), and 46,693 rows were analyzed. The comparison with the prior day, 2026-09-26, also covers 468/468 charts, with no incomparable charts. Rows from charts that did not exist on the prior day were not counted as “new.” There are, however, two limitations. (1) The baseline date, 2026-08-29, is 29 days ago, but it is the oldest collection date in the archive and no earlier data exists. Therefore, “monthly” movement is not a strict one-month comparison, but a comparison across the longest available period. Large changes such as +99 also mean the app was around #100 at the baseline, so new surges cannot be distinguished from reappearances. (2) rating values are missing for 274,160 records, and no analysis involving ratings or review counts—such as whether a new entry is high quality—was performed. The evidence is limited to rank and rank movement. The scope covers six app-store markets—DE, GB, HR, JP, KR, and US—and 26 categories; movement in other markets is not covered by this report.