Apple has closed 2025 with its most successful year ever for services, marked by unprecedented growth, global expansion, and a wave of intelligent new features across its ecosystem. Reflecting on the milestone year, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Services, Eddy Cue, described 2025 as a defining moment driven by customer enthusiasm, developer success, and continued innovation grounded in privacy.
From entertainment platforms like Apple TV, Apple Music, and Apple Podcasts to everyday essentials such as Apple Pay, iCloud, and Apple Maps, Apple services reached new heights in engagement and adoption worldwide, particularly during the peak holiday season.
App Store Sets New Benchmarks for Engagement and Developer Earnings
The App Store emerged as a cornerstone of Apple’s services success, averaging more than 850 million weekly users across 175 countries and regions in 2025. This record engagement translated into significant economic impact for developers, who have now earned over $550 billion on the platform since its launch in 2008.
Apple noted that the App Store ecosystem facilitated $1.3 trillion in developer billings and sales in 2024, with more than 90 percent of that commerce going directly to developers without commission to Apple. Storefronts in the U.S., Japan, India, and China saw record visitor numbers, while the period between Christmas Eve and New Year’s Day delivered all-time highs in both visitors and customer spending.
Apple TV Enjoys a Landmark Year in Streaming and Awards
Apple TV recorded its highest viewership ever in December 2025, with total hours watched up 36 percent year-on-year. Growth was fueled by strong momentum in Europe and Latin America, continued expansion in the U.S., and major global releases including F1, Pluribus, and The Family Plan 2.
The year was anchored by the blockbuster success of F1, which became the highest-grossing sports movie of all time, and the debut of Pluribus, Apple TV’s biggest series to date. Apple’s storytelling excellence was also reflected at the Emmy Awards, where The Studio, Severance, and Slow Horses secured major wins. To date, Apple TV has accumulated 672 award wins and 3,085 nominations.
Looking ahead, Apple TV announced major platform enhancements, expanded live sports offerings, a new Apple TV and Peacock bundle, a native Android app, and a landmark five-year deal that will bring every Formula 1® race exclusively to Apple TV in the U.S. starting this March.
Apple Music and Shazam Hit All-Time Highs
Apple Music delivered its best year ever, reaching record levels of listenership and new subscribers as the service celebrated its 10-year anniversary. New features such as AutoMix, Lyrics Translation and Pronunciation, Library Pins, and enhanced Replay stats reshaped music discovery and listening.
Apple Music Sing also expanded, allowing users to turn their iPhone into a microphone for TV-based karaoke experiences. During the 2025 holiday season, Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You became the most “sung” track on the platform.
Meanwhile, Shazam surpassed 1 billion song recognitions per month, reinforcing its position as one of the world’s most popular music discovery tools.
Apple Pay, Wallet, and Maps Drive Everyday Utility
Apple Pay continued to scale globally, now available in 89 markets and supported by more than 11,000 banks and network partners. Apple reported that the service helped eliminate over $1 billion in fraud worldwide in 2025, while generating more than $100 billion in incremental merchant sales. During peak holiday shopping, Apple Pay transactions significantly outpaced overall consumer spending growth.
Apple Wallet also expanded its role in daily life, introducing the first international ID in Wallet with Japan’s My Number Card, and launching Digital ID in the U.S. using passport credentials. Enhanced boarding passes, AI-powered order tracking, and expanded Tap to Pay on iPhone — now live in 50 markets — further strengthened Wallet’s utility.
Apple Maps rolled out more personalized and intelligent features with iOS 26, including Preferred Routes and Visited Places, while expanding its Detailed City Experience to 34 cities worldwide.
Fitness+, Podcasts, News, and iCloud Mark Major Milestones
Apple Fitness+ underwent its largest expansion since launch, rolling out to 28 new countries and regions and introducing digitally dubbed workouts in Spanish and German. The service now offers more than 8,000 workouts and meditations in 4K Ultra HD.
Apple Podcasts celebrated 20 years with its strongest performance yet, achieving record listeners and subscribers, expanding transcripts to over 125 million episodes, and naming The Rest Is History as its Show of the Year.
Apple News solidified its leadership as the top news app in the U.S., Canada, and Australia, while expanding local journalism and launching Apple News+ Food, featuring 100,000 recipes from leading publications.
iCloud and iCloud+ continued to emphasize privacy-first design, with advanced security features such as end-to-end encryption, Family Sharing, and tools like Private Relay and Hide My Email.
Looking Ahead
As Apple enters 2026, the company says it will continue to invest heavily in services innovation, intelligent features powered by on-device processing, and global expansion — all while maintaining its core commitment to privacy and customer trust.
