Meta And TikTok Are On Top Of Most Recent App Download Charts

According to the most recent data from data.ai, TikTok continues to top the download rankings and secure its position as the hot app of the moment, while Facebook remains the most utilized social app, despite recent fears of its extinction (formerly App Annie).

According to data.ai's Q1 2022 Apps Index, Instagram and TikTok were the top downloaded apps in the first quarter of the year, with TikTok leading overall consumer spending. It's worth noting that the consumer spending data includes Chinese iOS users, who account for a major percentage of TikTok's revenue (around 57 percent of overall revenue according to some reports).

Even still, TikTok's popularity appears to be keeping steady - but Meta, of course, remains the clear leader in terms of downloads and active users. However, the migration of apps outside of the major players is likely to be more interesting.

According to data.ai:

“Snapchat moved from #7 to #5 in the download chart from the previous quarter […] Shopee, meanwhile, moved up from #10 in terms of downloads to #7. The Singapore-based mobile commerce company reported GAAP revenue of $5.1 billion for 2021, and ended the year active in 13 countries across Asia, South America, and Europe.”

Meanwhile, Shopee, an eCommerce platform, has been on the rise for a long and received a significant increase during the epidemic, but Snapchat has managed to maintain its prominence, owing to its concentration on private communication between friends.

Many younger users have come to rely on Snapchat as their primary messaging platform for more private conversations — you talk to families and broad connections on Messenger or WhatsApp, for example, but maintain Snap for other chats. Despite increased competition, Snapchat's ongoing popularity bodes well for the future, especially as it attempts to capitalize on the upcoming AR wearables trend.

Another section of data.ai's analysis examines overall consumer spending, which hit a new high in the first quarter.

“Overall, we forecast consumer spend on apps to have grown over 40% in two years, with the total for iOS up nearly 42% from Q1 2020, and 44% up for Google Play.”

According to data.ai, iOS accounts for 65 percent of global app store spending of $33 billion, which is consistent with the preceding five quarters. Android is still the most prevalent operating system, especially in developing countries, but iOS users spend more money, which is unsurprising given the demographics.

There are several intriguing trends - nothing particularly surprising, but worth noticing in any case.