A worldwide survey on the most downloaded app in 2020 puts TikTok, a Chinese video-sharing app, at the top of the list for the first time since the survey began in 2018, reported by Nikkei Asia.
The report stated that ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, introduced a global version of the social media app in 2017 and has since then surpassed Facebook, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram, all Facebook-owned, even in the US, in terms of downloads.
During the Covid-19 epidemic, the app increased in popularity, becoming the most downloaded app in Europe, South America, and the United States, according to a report released on Monday.
Sensor Tower reported that the total downloads of TikTok and Douyin in the App Store and Google Play have exceeded 3 billion downloads, thus becoming the first application not from the Facebook franchise to achieve this feat.
“I enjoy videos by artists who aren’t performing live anymore because of the pandemic,” said Nina, 37, a TikTok content consumer from Portland, U.S.A.
From published data by Sensor Tower, TikTok climbed from its fourth place in 2019 to first on the list of the most downloaded app in 2020 internationally with more than 65.2 million downloads, while Facebook maintained second place with approximately 53.6 million downloads.
In the first half of 2021, TikTok and Douyin were the non-gaming apps with the most downloads and highest in-app purchase revenue in the world, with nearly 383 million downloads and in-app revenue as much as US$919 million, as cited from the same source.
The top 10 applications with the most downloads in 2020. (taken from SensorTower)
In China, the Chinese counterpart of TikTok, known as Douyin, also maintained its domination by remaining first place.
Outside China, TikTok remained second in Asia, behind Facebook which has kept its leading position, in terms of overall downloads.
Between June and September last year, India banned over 200 applications, including TikTok.
According to Nikkei Asia, Chuzen Kin, the marketing manager at App Annie said, “The total viewing time for TikTok in the US and UK is longer than that for YouTube, and short videos will continue to attract attention.”
Apart from TikTok, Likee, a native app, plummeted to eighth place on the international downloads chart in 2020, down from sixth place a year earlier.
