If you’re into online casino games, you already know what the best gambling app is: the Vulkan Vegas app. Developed for Android, this application allows you to access every service offered on the Vulkan Vegas Europe™ site and also offers the advantage of push notifications. But how is the situation in other application categories? Which apps were downloaded the most worldwide in 2021? If you’re curious about the answers to these questions, keep reading.
Most Downloaded Apps on Play Store
First of all, let us state that the source of this data is Sensor Tower research, and it shows the situation until June 2021. Since it has not been a long time, we do not expect the order of the lists to change. In addition, these lists do not include games: it is necessary to evaluate them in a separate category.
Let’s start with the most downloaded apps on the Play Store: which apps do Android users use the most?
- TikTok
- Messenger
- Snapchat
- Zoom
- Telegram
- Google Meet
- CapCut
Most Downloaded Apps on App Store
Let’s continue with the App Store: which apps do iOS users prefer to use the most?
- TikTok
- YouTube
- Google Maps
- CapCut
- Messenger
- Zoom
- Gmail
The two lists are almost identical. The differences are due to the characteristics of the ecosystems. For example, there are no YouTube, Gmail and Google Maps in the Android list because they are already part of the ecosystem. In other words, users do not download them separately from the store, as they are already installed by default on Android devices. However, the iOS list also shows in which areas the users of this ecosystem consider the operating system inadequate.
For example, iOS has its own mail and navigation apps. However, the majority of users prefer to install applications from another developer. Unfortunately, Apple Maps is not as advanced as Google Maps and offers extremely inadequate maps in many countries of the world. It may offer a near-perfect service for the United States, but it’s hard to say the same for Asian and Middle Eastern countries. Google Maps, on the other hand, offers much more comprehensive and consistent maps in almost every country in the world.
Likewise, iOS’ own default mail app is inadequate in many ways and has hardly been developed over the years. Although iOS users automatically have an iCloud mail account, almost everyone uses Gmail these days. The iOS mail application has Gmail support, but as you can see from this list, almost everyone prefers to use Google’s application. In short, if we were Apple, we would try to understand what our competitors are doing right in navigation and mail applications.
There are two apps that stand out in both lists: TikTok and CapCut. We’re pretty sure you know what TikTok is, so let’s start with CapCut. It’s a video editing app and completely free to use. Its difference from other similar applications is that it has a very large filter and soundtrack library. Just like your photos, you can almost completely change their appearance by applying different filters to your videos. In the soundtrack library, you can find licensed music and hit songs. Theoretically, you could even shoot a movie with CapCut. Other apps that offer similar features are focused on photos, and there are few apps that offer the same convenience for videos, which is why CapCut is so popular in both ecosystems.
As for TikTok… You all know what it is. TikTok is the only app that Facebook doesn’t own in the top 5 of the Android list. This application, which even caused political crises at the level of the American Presidency, is a platform that contains short videos and can keep everyone busy for hours, thanks to its special algorithm. TikTok gained immense popularity first in Asia and then all over the world. The application, which has become a platform for people of all ages to express themselves, currently has 1.2 billion users in 150 countries, and this number continues to increase day by day.
The TikTok app allows users to shoot videos of 15 to 30 seconds, usually with background music. It is also possible to upload longer videos by adding several videos one after the other, but the limit is set at 60 seconds in this regard. While it may sound simple, young users can show their creativity and produce content that can compete with professional video makers. TikTok has gained incredible popularity, especially among generation Z. Since it has no real competitors, we think this situation will not change for a long time.
Finally, it should be noted that these lists actually show a “monopoly”. Facebook owns five apps on the Android list and four apps on the iOS list. In other words, almost half of the most downloaded apps in the world are controlled by a single company. Technically, this is not a monopoly, as users still have other options. However, we can say that it is practically no different from a monopoly: the data of billions of people is stored and controlled by a single company.