Muse Tops 3.4 Million Downloads as Meta Throws Its Weight Behind the AI App

Muse has passed 3.4 million downloads, up from 2.5 million at the start of the week, according to the most recent estimates from market intelligence firm Sensor Tower. The surge coincides with Meta's promotion of the AI app at its annual developer conference and strong early reviews that praised its polished design and highly capable AI model under the hood.

The install numbers only run through Sensor Tower's Thursday estimates, which can lag behind real-world adoption. They do not capture the full impact of the push Muse received at this week's Meta Connect conference. There, Meta announced a range of upcoming features for the app: video chat with the Muse avatar, support for computer use on the Mac, a dedicated email address, more partners and connectors, and plans for smart glasses integrations.

Other market intelligence firms show similarly strong traction, though their numbers vary. Apptopia puts Muse's total downloads to date at 4.3 million, with 2.6 million of those on iOS alone. Muse is currently only available in the U.S. and Canada. Appfigures, meanwhile, sees installs at roughly 2.3 million as of Thursday, split almost evenly between iOS and Android.

Sensor Tower also has visibility into daily active users following the conference. It found that Muse's daily active users climbed 27% on Wednesday after the event wrapped.

A faster start than ChatGPT

Before the conference, Muse was already off to a strong start. Sensor Tower said the app reached an estimated 2.8 million downloads in its first two weeks on the app stores. From September 8 to September 17, Muse averaged 55% day-over-day growth in downloads. For comparison, ChatGPT averaged 24% day-over-day download growth in its first 10 days after launch. Download growth for Claude and Grok declined during their respective launches.

On Friday, September 18, Muse climbed to the top of the U.S. App Store and has retained that ranking since. It also reached the top spot on the Google Play Store on September 19, and remains there today.

Organic demand plus Meta's machine

Much of Muse's traction so far is organic. But the app is also benefiting from the same cross-platform promotion that helped one of Meta's latest social apps, Instagram Threads, top 500 million monthly active users. Meta is marketing Muse to existing Facebook and Instagram users.

The approach differs from how Meta pushed Threads, as Meta's Head of Threads, Connor Hayes, recently told Business Insider. Threads deals in user-generated content that Meta can match to users' interests when running cross-promotions. With Muse, the challenge is to build promotional units that showcase something the AI agent can do for the user, based on Meta's understanding of what would be useful or helpful to them specifically.

Sensor Tower's data indicates Meta rolled out house ads promoting Muse on September 9, a day after launch. Within 10 days, Muse received the majority of house advertising promotions across Meta's properties, ahead of promotions for Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Meta has also begun advertising Muse on mobile ad networks and other social networks, including Reddit, TikTok, and YouTube. By Tuesday, September 22, Muse ranked among the top 10 brands by advertising spend, according to Sensor Tower.

Still, Meta's marketing muscle does not explain the growth on its own. Ads promoting the app account for only 6% of ad impressions from launch through September 19.

Whether Muse can convert its chart-topping debut and the post-Connect user spike into sustained engagement will depend on how quickly the promised features — avatar video chat, Mac computer use, and smart glasses integrations — actually ship.