Turning Lunar New Year 2026 into an app growth opportunity

Over 2 billion people will celebrate Lunar New Year on February 17, 2026. For app marketers, this means billions of decisions made on mobile devices, fueling a weeks-long surge in activity. Consumers worldwide will use apps to plan reunions, book travel, send digital red packets, and overhaul habits from fitness to finance.

Usage patterns are evolving. What was once a predictable two-week spike in installs now stretches across months. Users discover apps in January, engage through March, and often stick around. The opportunity is not just in the festival day itself, but in the sustained growth that follows.

This piece dissects the 2025 Lunar New Year, examining shifts in installs, sessions, and engagement across key app categories. We then share actionable strategies to help you turn the 2026 holiday surge into lasting growth.

We’ve analyzed Adjust data to reveal how installs and engagement shifted across categories. Here’s the breakdown:

Video streaming apps recorded the longest session durations. Global average session lengths increased from 42.7 minutes in 2024 to 49.44 minutes in 2025, representing a 15.8% year-over-year (YoY) increase.

Utilities apps recorded the largest relative increase in session length. Global average session duration rose from 10.75 minutes in 2024 to 15.37 minutes in 2025, an increase of 4.62 minutes, or 43% YoY.

Recipe apps showed a smaller change. Global average session lengths increased from 12.78 minutes in 2024 to 13.19 minutes in 2025, an increase of 0.41 minutes, or 3% YoY.

Finance apps recorded the least change in session lengths. Global averages rose from 6.35 minutes in 2024 to 6.68 minutes in 2025, an increase of 5% YoY. 

Here are some of the top ways mobile app marketers can make the most of this Lunar New Year:

Master the extended journey with phased precision

The Lunar New Year cycle is a marathon with distinct intent phases. Map your strategy to the user's timeline. For instance, capture research intent in early January with educational content, pivot to conversion and gifting prompts as the festival nears, and implement post-festival re-engagement sequences by March. This phased approach maximizes efficiency and capitalizes on the full 'consideration to habit' window.

Achieve authenticity through cultural and platform intelligence

Move beyond superficial theming. Integrate resonant symbols around themes like family and fortune, while rigorously respecting cultural taboos and sensitive timings (e.g., family dinners). Simultaneously, engage on the right local platforms by tailoring content for the specific formats of the social, video, and community apps where festive trends are set.

Implement “agentic” adaptive marketing

Lunar New Year user behavior changes fast. Agentic marketing uses AI to move beyond basic personalization. It can work with real-time shifts in user intent (from browsing to gifting), decide the optimal engagement moment, and act with a personalized message or offer. This creates efficient, context-aware journeys.

Build engagement through participation

Design in-app mechanics that mirror festive traditions. For example, think fortune-telling mini-games, family recipe challenges, or virtual red packet sharing. These participation mechanics generate authentic engagement, foster community, and create a value exchange that builds loyalty.

Use location and context to bridge online and offline behavior

Lunar New Year activities happen both online and offline, from shopping districts to travel hubs. Location-aware messaging lets mobile apps turn offline moments into online action with contextual prompts, QR codes, or timely offers. When done right, this approach boosts acquisition efficiency and shortens the path from discovery to conversion.

Optimize for festive app store optimization (ASO)

Go beyond a generic seasonal update. Research and bid on high-intent, festival-specific keywords in your target languages (e.g., "Lunar New Year gifts," "spring cleaning app"). A/B test festive-themed screenshots that showcase app features used for celebration planning. Critically, consider a limited-time festive app icon—a tactic proven to drive top-of-funnel discovery during cluttered holiday periods.

If Lunar New Year 2026 mirrors previous years, expect another surge in mobile activity. For app marketers, the true challenge and opportunity is converting that short-term lift into long-term growth. This requires a strategy focused on building post-holiday retention from day one. For example, how will your fitness app turn a "fresh start" resolution into a 90-day habit? How will your shopping app leverage gift-purchase data to recommend personal items in March? The festival opens the door; your culturally-intelligent, adaptive, and measurement-driven strategy will keep users inside.

With a mobile measurement partner (MMP) like Adjust, you can bring all your attribution, engagement, and monetization data together, giving you a clear view across mobile, web, CTV, PC, and console. Additionally, Adjust Growth Copilot lets you ask business questions in plain language and get instant, data-based answers, helping you optimize campaigns in real time.

If you want to see how your app performs during this Lunar New Year or prepare your measurement approach for 2026 and beyond, request a demo today!