MobileNov 3, 2026, 8:12 PM UTC·2 min read

NetShort Tops South Korea's Entertainment App Installs in October

Short-form drama app NetShort beat Netflix and TVING with 750,000 new installs in October, and half of the top 10 entertainment apps were short drama services.

A smartphone held vertically showing a short-form drama episode, with streaming app icons in the background. — Image: 스타트업 생태계의 모든 것 \'플래텀(Platum)\'

SUMO

Dialo

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The most-installed new entertainment app in South Korea last month was not Netflix or TVING. It was NetShort, an app that serves vertical dramas in episodes of one to two minutes.

According to IGAWorks' Mobile Index, NetShort logged 750,000 new installs in October, taking first place in the entertainment category. TVING came second with 470,000, a gap of 280,000. Short drama apps filled much of the rest of the table: FreeReels was third with 420,000, DramaBox fourth with 390,000, ReelShort sixth with 310,000 and DramaWave eighth with 290,000. Netflix ranked ninth with 290,000. Five of the top 10 were short drama apps.

Users are growing too

The format typically offers the first few episodes free, then asks viewers to pay or watch ads to continue. The growth goes beyond installs. FreeReels gained 260,000 users from the previous month (up 97%), ranking 33rd among fastest-growing apps by user count, while NetShort added 200,000 users (up 17%).

AI services keep climbing as well. ChatGPT had the second-largest user gain at 770,000 (up 4%), and Claude added 390,000 users to rank 19th, a 23% increase that is high among large apps. Naver Plus Store led user growth with 990,000 and also topped shopping installs with 1.17 million.

Games and other categories

Character IP games rose in the rankings. Chiikawa Pocket, based on the popular Japanese character, grew users by 480,000 (417%) and reached 17th among games with 590,000 users. Puzzle game Rotate Rings saw 421% growth.

In Google Play game revenue, the MMORPG Zeus: God of Arrogance from Abutton held first place. Abutton was founded by Kim Dae-hoon, who led development of Dave the Diver at Nexon, and the game launched in August. Dokkaebi World was second and Whiteout Survival third. On Apple's App Store, Unppal Zonmat Game ranked first by revenue. By users, Roblox (3.29 million) led games, followed by Block Blast (2.32 million) and Pokémon Go (1.43 million).

In finance, Hana 1Q led installs with 550,000, ahead of Shinhan Super SOL (450,000) and Silson24 (380,000). NOL led travel and transport with 630,000, Baedal Minjok led food and drink with 590,000, and Musinsa led fashion with 320,000.

The figures are device-level estimates from IGAWorks, produced by linking mobile usage and card payment data with AI, and combine Android and iOS. They may differ from actual numbers or other research firms' data, and game revenue covers in-app purchases on app markets only.