The COVID-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the most popular apps of this year. There are some applications which were hardly used, that are now in the top ten most used applications. Let’s take a look at the most downloaded apps of 2020 in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store!
As of April of 2020, this app has obtained over 2 billion downloads overall globally. Initially this app was seen as a Gen Z space only, but it has experienced an influx of new users thanks to the Covid-19 crisis. As more users are stuck at home and on their phones, they started looking for new ways to entertain themselves. Social media users are loving the attractive features and trends, especially the youth. Unfortunately at the end of June, this year, Tik tok was banned in India for security reasons.
This app, along with a few video conferencing apps, is definitely one of the most unexpected apps of 2020. In April 2020, Zoom reported over 300 million daily participants and the app featured 2.13 million daily downloads in March 2020. This boom is also directly linked to the COVID-19 crisis. As many users across the globe had to begin working from home, they depended on video conferencing applications, which is where Zoom became the most popular of them all. Zoom allows users to conduct video calls for business and keeping in touch with loved ones as well.
We can confidently say every Indian possessing a mobile today, will have WhatsApp as a compulsory application. As of July 2020, WhatsApp has topped the list as the most popular global mobile messaging app of 2020, with over 2 billion downloads. While WhatsApp may not be as popular in the United States, it is the leading app across the rest of the globe, especially India. There are many interesting marketing opportunities with WhatsApp, and WhatsApp marketing was a forecasted 2020 marketing trend.
As the number one app in the entire world, it is no surprise that Facebook is one of the most popular apps of 2020. Facebook is especially useful during this time when people want to connect and stay in touch. Facebook is consistently in the top 10 Apps in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store with a whooping 4.6 downloads! According to Statista, it is the most popular app publisher world wide, based on downloads. The Facebook family include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook Messenger. Facebook Advertising and marketing are two very important activities for marketers. We can also say Facebook is the only application in competition with its family!
Like WhatsApp and Facebook, Facebook Messenger is another heavy hitter and consistent favourite in the app store. It is kind of a add-on package with Facebook which one needs to download for Facebook chatting. Unlike WhatApp, Messenger is very popular in the United States, with over 2 million monthly downloads in 2020.
Instagram has become one of the most popular apps of 2020 especially among teens and millennials. It’s the more hip version of Facebook to say truthfully. This photo and video sharing app is one of the most popular apps with even the older generation starting to pour in. Instagram is especially useful when it comes to marketing. According to Statista, brands uploaded an average of 0.7 posts to the social platform every day in 2018. Between IGTV, Instagram Lives, and Instagram Stories, the app provides plenty of opportunities for marketers to engage with their audience. In Summer of 2020, Instagram announced their newest feature, Reels, which has already replaced Tik Tok in India. We don’t have any numbers on this feature yet, but users have adapted pretty quickly to it, so it’s sure to be positive.
Just like with Zoom, Google Meet experienced an unexpected boost in downloads due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In May 2020 the app reached over 50 million downloads as users turned to the service while working from home. Google Meet has grown in popularity during the pandemic because it was made free for all users. Previously, only GSuite members had access. As Zoom comes under fire for security concerns, same as Tik Tok, more and more users have turned to its alternative, Google Meet, currently having 50 million downloads worldwide.
Similar to Google Meet, Google Classroom has also surpassed 50 million downloads and students and teachers turn to online schooling. This app rose to the top 10 which is incredibly remarkable when you consider that it was not even in the top 100 list before March 2020.
When there’s not much to do at home, people turn to the top entertainment apps, one of them being YouTube, which has help fill the void. In May 2020, YouTube was the most downloaded streaming app worldwide, with over 29.3 million installs. This is great news for marketers as more and more invest in video marketing. Content marketing has been an especially important trend in 2020, and YouTube content creation is certainly a key investment for marketers right now. This was great news for YouTubers as well who were experiencing a bit of a downfall due to its ongoing video creating competition with Instagram.
Just like with Zoom, Google Meets, and Google Classrooms, this app has boosted in the charts due to work from home efforts. With over 44 million daily active users, Teams is certainly in new territory being so high up in the charts this year. It will be interesting to watch how these work and productivity apps evolve as the pandemic evolves globally and throughout the year.
