Appfigures: iOS 18 could “Sherlock” trail apps, grammar helpers, math solvers, password managers, and emoji apps that have an estimated $393M in annual revenue
competition chief blasts “very serious” issues with DMA non-compliance Samantha Wiley / iLounge : TestFlight iOS app gets a revamp Michael Potuck / 9to5Mac : How to manage and track all of your Apple and App Store subscriptions Randy Nelson / Appfigures : Investigating the Apps (That Could Be) Made Redundant by iOS 18 Mastodon: Dare Obasanjo / @carnage4life@mas.to : It's notable how perception of a company drives how much regulatory oversight it gets. Microsoft was almost split up in the 2000s for giving away internet explorer for free in Windows and screwing Netscape. — Nowadays Apple does that every year at WWDC. … X: @arielmichaeli : This year was big for sherlocking, and it's not _just_ AI's fault... I hope your apps are still safe. @appfigures : We investigated the potential impact of #iOS18 “Sherlocking” and deduced that $400M in apps could be affected. Read the entire case file to learn more about what we dug up. https://appfigures.com/...
Context & Ripple Effects
Appfigures’ estimate puts a revenue figure on a longstanding platform tension: iOS developers build paid utilities atop an operating system whose owner can later bundle similar capabilities. Earlier coverage examined App Store restrictions and their competitive implications, making feature absorption consequential beyond any one app category.
The issue arrives as Apple’s distribution model faces new alternatives in Europe through EU support for alternative app stores, although that change does not prevent iOS-level features from competing directly with utility apps.
First-order effects
- Grammar helpers, math solvers, password managers and emoji apps identified by Appfigures face the immediate risk that users will rely on iOS 18 features instead; the estimate places the affected categories at roughly $393M in annual revenue.
- Developers in those categories must distinguish their products on depth, cross-platform availability, workflow integration or specialized use cases rather than basic standalone functionality.
Second-order effects
- Subscription-oriented utility developers may see higher retention and acquisition pressure if platform-native features reduce the need for a separate download or paid plan; this is especially material where the core feature is easily replicated.
- Apple’s control of the operating-system default can intensify an existing distribution imbalance highlighted in coverage of the App Store’s role as the sole iOS distribution channel; alternative stores may broaden access in some markets but do not change the default feature set.
Third-order effects
- If repeated across categories, platform feature expansion can shift the App Store’s economic center away from narrow single-purpose utilities toward products with differentiated data, services, communities or professional workflows.
- The pattern also strengthens the policy focus on whether a platform owner can both set distribution terms and compete with businesses dependent on that platform, alongside scrutiny of its App Store conduct.
The trend: Mobile platform owners are absorbing commodity app functions into the operating system, raising the premium on differentiation for developers that depend on platform distribution.