Today’s biggest finding is that three new puzzle/casual titles (Magic Sort!, Royal Smash!, and Bus Traffic Fever!) appeared simultaneously in android-game/free across all six countries on the same day. Combined with the unusually high churn in the watch-face category—39% top-10 retention and 167 new entries—games and watch faces were today’s most active areas.

1. New Entries

Same-day, multi-country launches were the main story today. Magic Sort! debuted at HR #1 / DE #2 / GB #2 / US #7 / JP #14 / KR #19; Royal Smash! - Physics Puzzle at JP #4 / US #4 / HR #6 / DE #11 / GB #11 / KR #25; and Bus Traffic Fever! at JP #5 / HR #13 / GB #24 / US #39 / DE #43 / KR #44. All three entered android-game/free in all six markets at once. Watch faces showed a similar pattern, with Minimal & Simple Watch - RE, Radar, S4U RC ONE, and WatchMaker appearing simultaneously in 4–5 markets. In paid charts, Tasker returned at #1 in android-tools/paid in GB/JP/US and #2 in KR.

2. Sharp Increases Over the Comparison Period

Note that the reference date, 2026-08-26, was only 17 days ago, so there is not yet a full month of archive data. The largest gains were Splitwise at #4 (+39) and TradingView at #1 (+36) in HR/android-finance/grossing, Pixel Tamerz at #6 (+37) in KR, and TimeCue at #3 (+33) in the US. Entries absent on the reference date that now rank highly include Polymarket (US/finance/free #1), BlinkDrama (HR/entertainment/free #1, GB #2), and Google Classroom (HR/education/free #1).

3. By Rank Tier

top(1–10) was stable, with 73% held / 11% new / |Δ|3.4. mid(11–30) recorded 57% / 21% / 5.8, while bottom(31–45) recorded 39% / 41% / 7.4, meaning 40% of lower-ranking slots turn over daily. Because developer information is missing, it is not possible to identify developers dominating the top ranks.

4. By Country

JP was the most stable market (78% top-10 held, 465 new entries), while HR was the most fluid (66%, 781). All 90 US charts were comparable, and it had the most new entries at 931. The truly global top-10 apps across all markets were Duolingo (ranked #1 in education/grossing in all six markets), ChatGPT, Google One, and PDF Reader, PDF Viewer.

5. By Category

The categories with the highest churn were watch-face (39% held), android-tools (61%), android-game (64%, 246 new entries), and personalization (65%). In contrast, social at 87%, communication at 85%, and maps-and-navigation at 81% were largely unchanged.

Key Findings

1. Three new casual games entered android-game/free in all six markets simultaneously

Magic Sort! (HR #1, DE #2, GB #2, US #7, JP #14, KR #19), Royal Smash! - Physics Puzzle (JP #4, US #4, HR #6, DE #11, GB #11, KR #25), and Bus Traffic Fever! (JP #5, HR #13, GB #24, US #39, DE #43, KR #44) entered free game charts in all six markets on the same day. Unlike a launch in a single market, this is the earliest signal of a coordinated global rollout and suggests that sorting, physics-puzzle, and traffic-management concepts are resonating right now.

Confidence: High

2. android-watch-face is the most unstable category, with 39% top-10 retention and 167 new entries

At 39%, watch-face had the lowest top-10 held rate of all 35 categories, with 167 new entries. Minimal & Simple Watch - RE (DE #2, JP #3, KR #6, GB #7, US #11), Radar (GB #2, US #3, JP #4, DE #5, KR #32), S4U RC ONE (JP #2, GB #5, DE #7, KR #9, US #13), and WatchMaker (US #2, GB #3, DE #4, KR #23) all entered multiple markets on the same day, while Facer Watch Faces reached free #1 in DE/JP. This is an area with low barriers to entry and daily turnover at the top; it offers the fastest cycle for those seeking short-term exposure.

Confidence: High

3. Tasker returned simultaneously at #1 in paid tools in GB, JP, and US, and #2 in KR

net.dinglisch.android.taskerm entered android-tools/paid in four markets simultaneously, reaching #1 in GB, JP, and US and #2 in KR. A long-running paid utility taking the lead in several markets on the same day is likely driven by a sale or update. This is consistent with paid tools being one of today’s most turbulent areas (61% category held, 193 new entries).

Confidence: High

4. The reference date, 2026-08-26, was 17 days ago. The largest gains were HR finance’s Splitwise +39 and TradingView +36

Although labeled “monthly,” the reference date of 2026-08-26 is only 17 days before today and is the earliest date in the archive, so a full month of data does not exist. On that basis, the largest rises were Splitwise at #4 (+39) and TradingView at #1 (+36) in HR/android-finance/grossing, followed by Pixel Tamerz at #6 (+37) in KR, BlinkDrama at #10 (+34) in GB grossing, and TimeCue at #3 (+33) in the US. HR’s finance-grossing chart has changed substantially over a short period.

Confidence: High

5. Absent on the reference date, now #1 — Polymarket (US/finance) and BlinkDrama (HR/entertainment)

Among apps absent on the 2026-08-26 reference date that now rank within the top 20, the leaders are Polymarket (US/android-finance/free #1), BlinkDrama - Short Dramas (HR/android-entertainment/free #1; GB #2), Google Classroom (HR/android-education/free #1), and the Hankyu Hanshin Department Stores app (JP/android-shopping/free #1). Three distinct sources of demand—prediction markets, vertical short dramas, and back-to-school education apps—are emerging at once.

Confidence: High

6. The top is solid while the bottom is fluid: top held 73% / bottom held 39%, new 41%

top(1–10) was stable, with 73% held, 11% new, and an average movement of 3.4. mid(11–30) recorded 57% held, 21% new, and |Δ|5.8. bottom(31–45) recorded 39% held, 41% new, and |Δ|7.4, with nearly half of lower-ranking slots turning over in a single day. Getting into the top 31 is relatively achievable for exposure, but staying there has little guarantee. The developer field is also extensively missing, so today’s data cannot identify developers that dominate top positions.

Confidence: High

7. By market: JP is the most stable (78% top-10 held), while HR is the most fluid (66%, 781 new entries)

Top-10 retention was JP 78% > DE 77% > GB 75% > KR 72% > US 70% > HR 66%. The US had the most new entries at 931, with all 90 charts comparable, followed by HR with 781. Despite having only 58 comparable charts out of 64, HR still had many new entries, reflecting the larger ranking swings of a smaller market. HR can be used for daily new-title testing, while JP is better for assessing retention.

Confidence: High

8. The true global top-10 apps across all six markets are Duolingo, ChatGPT, Google One, and PDF Reader

Duolingo ranked #1 in android-education/grossing across DE, GB, HR, JP, KR, and US, while also reaching the top 3 in free charts in all six markets. ChatGPT ranked #1 in productivity/free in five markets (KR #2) and was top 2 in monetization charts across all markets. Google One ranked #1 in grossing in five markets. In addition, PDF Reader, PDF Viewer ranked KR #1, DE #2, and GB #2, appearing in the top 10 across all six markets. This suggests a pattern in which general-purpose utilities are boosted simultaneously across markets through advertising and ASO.

Confidence: High

9. Categories that barely move: social 87%, communication 85%, maps-and-navigation 81%

social had the highest top-10 held rate of any category at 87%, followed by communication at 85%, maps-and-navigation at 81%, books-and-reference at 80%, and entertainment at 80%. Stable leaders such as WhatsApp at #1 in communication in DE/GB/HR/US, Microsoft Teams at #1 in business in four markets, and Uber at #1 in maps in three markets explain this pattern. New entrants are unlikely to gain rankings quickly in these areas.

Confidence: High

10. AI utilities are appearing simultaneously across countries in photography, beauty, and productivity

Shots - AI Photo & Video Maker debuted at HR #2 / DE #4 / GB #11 / US #15; Open Chat - AI bot app at DE #21, GB #29, US #31, KR #35, and JP #37; and Color Analysis - Dressika entered beauty/free in all six markets. beauty had 71% top-10 held and 122 new entries, while photography had 69% and 123, indicating high churn as AI editing and AI analysis apps continue to be produced and enter the market at scale.

Confidence: Medium

11. Simultaneous entries by hardware-linked and utility apps: JBL Headphones and Flightradar24

JBL Headphones entered music-and-audio/free at HR #5, US #6, GB #12, KR #31, and JP #33, while Flightradar24 entered travel-and-local/free at GB #8, HR #8, DE #17, US #36, and JP #42. Nintendo Today! also entered lifestyle/free in five markets, including US #11 and JP #17. Same-day, multi-country entries are occurring outside games as well, likely reflecting renewed exposure for established brands through updates or device bundles.

Confidence: Medium

Recommended Actions

• Give top priority to casual game concepts involving sorting, physics puzzles, and traffic management. Magic Sort! (HR #1–KR #19), Royal Smash! (JP/US #4), and Bus Traffic Fever! (JP #5) entered all six markets on the same day, indicating demand across regions.
• Treat watch faces as a channel for continuous releases of fast-to-produce, low-cost assets, since it has the fastest turnover with 39% top-10 retention and 167 new entries. The same-day multi-market success of Facer / WatchMaker / S4U titles is a useful reference.
• Make vertical short dramas a fixed tracking target. BlinkDrama rose from absent on the reference date to HR #1 and GB #2, while reaching #10 in GB grossing with a +34 gain. NetShort is also growing, reaching DE #10 (+35) and GB #8 (+32), indicating expansion across the category.
• Recommend a two-stage approach: test a new title’s initial traction in HR (66% top-10 held, 781 new entries), then validate retention in JP (78%). Use the US, where all 90 charts are comparable, as the most reliable benchmark.
• Lower the priority of social (87%), communication (85%), and maps-and-navigation (81%), where top ranks are entrenched. If entering, target niche paid slots, such as android-tools/paid, where Tasker reached the top in four markets.
• Arrange re-collection of over 100 degraded sources, centered on TOP_GROSSING in DE and GB, as well as 33 uncollected charts. Treat conclusions on monetization charts as provisional until the next complete collection.
• developer and ratingCount are missing in 97,202 records, preventing publisher-level concentration analysis. Prioritize fixing the metadata-enrichment pipeline so future reports can identify which developers control top slots.
• Since the reference date is only 17 days ago, the validity of “monthly” comparisons is limited. Until 30 days of archive data have accumulated, label period comparisons internally as “17-day comparisons.”

Data Quality Notes

For 2026-09-12, 441 charts / 16,455 rows were collected. The collection target was 474 charts (excluding 156 sources not yet published from the configured schedule), with 33 charts uncollected. Of the 441 charts, 419 could be compared against 2026-09-11. Rows from the 22 incomparable charts were not counted as “new entries,” because charts without a prior collection have no movement data and absence cannot be interpreted as a new entry. Of recent runs, 6 were partially completed and 34 fetches failed. There are many degraded sources centered on TOP_GROSSING and TOP_PAID—especially almost all TOP_GROSSING categories in DE, most TOP_GROSSING/TOP_PAID categories in GB, and widespread cases in KR, US, JP, and HR—so rankings and movement in monetization and paid charts may be underestimated. Field-level data is also heavily incomplete: developer is missing in 97,202 records, ratingCount in 97,202, and rating in 6,060. As a result, the hierarchy table’s “developer holding most slots” is blank for every tier, and publisher-level concentration cannot be determined from today’s data. The reference date, 2026-08-26, was 17 days ago and is the oldest collection date in the archive. Since this does not constitute a full month, the term “monthly” should be treated as provisional.