Meta's agentic AI app Muse reaches No. 2 on US App Store with 83,000 downloads

Muse climbs Apple's US charts

Meta's new agentic AI app, Muse, has risen to second place on the US App Store's top charts, according to Sensor Tower data cited by TechCrunch. The app, released on Tuesday and limited to the US market for now, has been downloaded more than 83,000 times on iOS.

The climb has been quick. TechCrunch reports that Muse sat in fourth place on Apple's chart on Wednesday before reaching the No. 2 position a day later.

A strong chart position, but modest install numbers

While the ranking signals momentum, Sensor Tower's figures show the debut is smaller than Meta's previous app launches. Threads drew more than 4.3 million US downloads on its first day, and the Meta AI app recorded 108,000 US downloads when it arrived. By install count, Muse's opening is therefore the weakest of the three, even with its high chart placement.

The comparison with ChatGPT is also unfavorable at this stage. According to TechCrunch, ChatGPT passed half a million US installs within its first week — the US was its only market at the time — averaging roughly 83,000 downloads per day. Muse needed about twice as long to reach a similar figure.

On Android the picture is weaker still. Muse ranks only 338th in the Productivity category on Google Play, and its Android download counts are not yet available. Sensor Tower's estimates also exclude Muse's web version and its availability through WhatsApp, so the full usage picture remains incomplete.

A crowded field of consumer agents

Meta is betting that agents which complete tasks on a user's behalf represent the next phase of consumer AI, and it is not the only company making that wager. TechCrunch points to Google's Gemini Spark and Anthropic's Claude Cowork as rival efforts, while the startup Instinct — an agent that operates over text messages — has become Muse's most direct competitor for everyday users.

Instinct, recently valued at $2.5 billion and holding $350 million in funding, has been shipping quickly. This week it gave every user an email address and announced that one person's agent can now talk to friends' agents to coordinate plans. It also added integrations with Stripe and 1Password, plus a location-sharing feature that lets the agent take on actions requiring knowledge of the user's whereabouts. TechCrunch suggests a social graph built from who people actually spend time with could ultimately prove more valuable than Meta's existing friend graph.

Launch timing works against Muse

Muse's arrival came only days after Meta agreed to an $18 billion multistate settlement over claims about social media's harms to consumers, as TechCrunch notes. The app also asks users to give Meta more of their personal information, and the company carries a long record of data scandals and Federal Trade Commission privacy fines. That backdrop may be tempering enthusiasm among privacy-conscious users.

Why it matters

Muse is one of Meta's biggest product bets since its metaverse rebrand, and its early performance is a first real-world test of whether mainstream consumers want AI agents doing things on their behalf. The No. 2 chart position shows genuine interest, but the download gap behind Threads, Meta AI and ChatGPT points to a slower takeoff than Meta's earlier consumer launches. The coming weeks will show whether Muse closes that gap — and whether an agent built by a company with Meta's privacy record can earn the trust that task-doing AI ultimately requires.