Cost per tap in productivity fell 35% this year — free Apple Ads playbook | SplitMetrics
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Apple Ads 2026 · Free Playbook

Reaching the same users now costs a third less than in January.

Across productivity, cost per tap fell from $2.83 to $1.82 over the first half of 2026, and install costs came down with it. We analyzed the best-performing apps in the category on Apple Ads to see who is using that headroom, and who is still running January’s playbook.

$6.8M
top monthly Apple Ads spend in the season
35%
lower cost per tap since January
100%
of listings lead with features, not an audience
93%
bid on a competitor’s brand name
Free playbook
Productivity Apps in Apple Ads — Back to School 2026
One field. Add your work email and the playbook is on its way.
Productivity and utility apps already growing with SplitMetrics
Readdle
Surfshark
SumUp
Idealo
Autotrader

Built from three SplitMetrics sources: Iris AI Agent for live market intelligence insights, SplitMetrics Acquire for the full category and campaign picture, and App Radar for organic search and creative.

What’s inside

Four questions the playbook answers with category data

Every figure below comes from live Apple Ads data on the best-performing productivity apps, January to July 2026.

24%
share of voice one of the largest AI apps holds on its own name
Brand defense
Not every big name covers its own brand search.
Smaller and single-purpose apps sit close to 100% on their own name, while some of the largest spend most of their keywords elsewhere. Inside: the share-of-voice numbers on brand terms, and the move worth making first.
$1.82
cost per tap, down from $2.83 in January
Benchmarks
Costs are falling across productivity. How far?
Install costs came down over the same period, and the trend held through H1. The full H1 2026 benchmark set is inside: tap-through rate, conversion rate, cost per install and cost per 1,000 impressions, with what each number means for your app.
93%
of active advertisers bid on a competitor’s brand name
Competitor bidding
How hard does the category bid on competitor brand names?
Many sit at 78 to 100% share of voice on rivals’ terms, and competitor keywords take up most of the biggest budgets. Inside: the share-of-voice picture on competitor terms, and how to keep that targeting tight.
100%
of listings lead with features, not an audience
Listing and creative
Every listing in the category sounds the same. What breaks the pattern?
Feature-led copy across the board, almost nothing about who the app is for or when they need it, and no seasonal message going into September. Inside: what changes when a page is built around a moment instead of a feature list.
Our cooperation with the SplitMetrics team has been excellent. They have been responsive, knowledgeable, and supportive throughout our partnership. Their platform has provided valuable insights and tools for testing and optimizing our custom product pages. Based on our experience, we would definitely recommend SplitMetrics to other publishers looking to improve their mobile app’s performance and user experience.
Aurore Dupont, UA Manager
Ad Hoc Labs, Productivity & Utilities
FREE playbook

Get the full productivity playbook.

✓How the best-performing productivity apps run Apple Ads.
✓The full H1 2026 benchmark set: tap-through, conversion, cost per tap, cost per install, cost per 1,000.
✓How the leaders handle brand defense and competitor bidding, with share-of-voice data.
✓The listing and creative moves almost no one in the category is making.
A 10-minute read you can hand to whoever runs your app growth. Every finding comes with the move to make.
One field. Add your work email and the playbook is on its way.
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The intelligence behind this page

What backs up these numbers

1.6M+
Apple Ads campaigns managed through SplitMetrics, with over a decade in the category.
40%
of the biggest advertisers use SplitMetrics to run Apple Ads.
10,000+
apps and brands grown with SplitMetrics across categories.
98%
customer satisfaction, with 9 in 10 staying year over year.

SplitMetrics is an Apple Ads Partner. Sources: Iris AI Agent for Apple Ads optimization, SplitMetrics Acquire and App Radar. Coverage: productivity, search results, January to June 2026.