Muse Hits No. 1 on Japan's App Store One Day After Launch
Meta's AI chief posted an App Store screenshot showing Muse at the top of Japan's free-app chart a day after the Japan launch, and third-party rankings agree.
By Icarus2 min read
Muse is the number-one app in Japan. One day after Meta’s personal AI agent launched in its first market outside North America, Meta AI chief Alexandr Wang posted an App Store screenshot showing “Muse from Meta” circled in red at the top of Japan’s Top Charts, above the MUJI shopping app. “One day into the muse japan launch, muse is the #1 app in japan!” the post reads.
The screenshot shows the App Store’s Top Charts for free apps, with Muse at number one and MUJI (‘perhaps my favorite store in the whole world,’ Wang added) at number two. Third-party data backs the claim: app analytics firm Appfigures’ Japan iPhone chart independently lists Muse from Meta, published by Meta Platforms, Inc., at the top of the free rankings, with MUJI’s app second.
A Fast Start in a New Market
Muse debuted in the US on September 8, reached Canada on September 18, and opened in Japan on October 23 — a day after the launch announcement — with a fully localized App Store page. Wang posted the screenshot that Friday afternoon.
Early chart position is a noisy signal; launch-day curiosity can spike downloads that fade, but the timing matters for Meta. On Wednesday’s earnings call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said more than 10 million people have set up Muse in the US and Canada, and that Meta plans to start charging sooner than usual because the agent is expensive to run. Japan is the first test of whether that demand travels.
Meta is also lining up local partners for the market. Travel platform Klook integrated its catalog of bookable experiences into Muse in Japan, and Meta has said integrations with Mercari, Money Forward ME, and Ticket Pia are in the works.
Why It Matters
For Muse users and builders, the Japan reception is the first real-world read on international demand. If the top-chart start converts into lasting usage, Meta gains a third revenue base for the subscription tiers and transaction fees Zuckerberg described, plus a template for the next markets, which Meta has yet to announce. If it fades, the headline says less about lasting demand. The number worth watching is retention.
