In 2021, we all spent much too much time gazing at The most popular apps of 2021 just like every other year since the invention of cellphones. At the very least, we now have some statistics indicating which applications were the most popular in the previous calendar year.
To cap off the year, Apptopia, an analytics business, announced its annual app download rankings, and to be honest, there aren’t many shocks here. It turns out that the apps that get the most attention are also the ones that get the most downloads. There are, however, distinct listings for downloads globally and in the United States, which provide some intriguing contrasts.
To be clear, this information covers both iOS and Android downloads. The following are the most popular apps in the world in 2021:
- TikTok
- Telegram
- Snapchat
- Zoom
- Messenger
- CapCut
- Spotify
Again, nothing on that list is really startling. The fact that TikTok will be the most popular app in 2021 is self-evident, while the majority of the others are long-standing favourites such as Facebook, Snapchat, and Spotify. CapCut, a separate video editing programme that some TikTok users use to clip together their films before sharing them on the TikTok app, is the only one that sticks out. Who owns CapCut? That’s right, it’s TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance.
As for the U.S., things are a little different just because of course they are. Here’s how things shook out in the states:
- TikTok
- Snapchat
- Cash App
- Zoom
- Messenger
- YouTube
- HBO Max
As you can see, TikTok is also king in the United States. Cash Apps entered our top ten list, indicating that Americans prefer to transfer money between individuals. The same could be said for streaming, since YouTube and HBO Max were also included on the list. Interestingly, Netflix and Disney+ (both of which were on last year’s list in the United States) were pushed in favour of HBO Max this time around. However, when the data was broken down by entertainment applications throughout the world, Netflix came out on top, with HBO Max coming in eighth. HBO Max was the most downloaded entertainment apps for US customers, while Netflix came in second.
