Downloads to Top

How much traction does a chart position actually take? These thresholds cross-reference today's US top-chart positions with each app's estimated downloads and revenue — the median at each rank band is your target.
Crunching today's chart data…

Methodology

For each target rank we take the apps currently charting in a band around it, pull their worldwide last-month download/revenue estimates, convert to daily medians. Chart position is driven by short-term US velocity while estimates are worldwide monthly figures, so treat these as order-of-magnitude targets, not precise quotas. Data refreshes with the daily chart rebuild. Find beatable niches in the Opportunity Finder.

Trending apps

About this tool

How many downloads a day does a chart position take?

Chart position is the most visible number in the App Store and the least explained. This estimates the daily download volume associated with holding each position, so "get into the top 100" becomes a number you can compare against what you can actually acquire.

It is built from the same public chart data and third-party estimates as the rest of the site, and it is honest about being an estimate.

How it works
  1. 1Chart positions come from Apple’s public top-charts feeds.
  2. 2Download estimates for the apps holding those positions come from the same third-party source used everywhere on this site.
  3. 3The two are joined to describe the volume associated with each band of positions.
  4. 4Figures are shown as brackets rather than precise numbers, because that is what the inputs support.
What it cannot tell you
  • These are estimates joined to public positions — not Apple’s figures, and not anyone’s accounts. The relationship is descriptive, not a formula Apple publishes.
  • Chart mechanics differ by country and by category, and Apple documents none of it.
  • Hitting a download number does not guarantee a position. Velocity, retention and category all matter and none is publicly observable.
Questions

How many downloads to reach the top 100 on the App Store?

It depends on country and category, and Apple publishes nothing. This page estimates the range associated with each band from public chart positions and third-party download estimates, and presents it as a bracket.

Is this Apple’s data?

The chart positions are. The download figures are third-party estimates, rounded, and should be compared against each other rather than treated as exact.

Why do the numbers differ by category?

Because each chart is ranked within its own category, so the volume needed to hold a position in a crowded category is not the volume needed in a quiet one.

Written up on the blog

Market intelligence

Apps directoryBrowse the bundled App Store dataset by category, with the giants filtered out.Trending appsToday’s climbers, fallers, new entrants and drop-offs across the charts.App idea finderSearches people make that the existing apps answer badly, then a concept brief.Opportunity finderNiches with real revenue and weak competition, derived from live charts.Publisher searchAny developer’s full portfolio, with downloads and revenue aggregated.Weekly movers archiveOne issue per week of what moved in the charts, kept as a record.

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