As of 2022, TikTok ranked number one as far as most downloaded apps, topping Instagram and Facebook. Sensor Tower reported that TikTok was the most downloaded short-form video app worldwide in the first three months of 2022. During the period Jan. 1 to March 31, 2022, TikTok was downloaded over 175 million times, according to a report from Store Intelligence Data for Q1 2022. TikTok has overtaken Instagram as the most downloaded app.
No app has had more downloads since 2018 than TikTok, which has over 3.5 billion all-time downloads. As a result, it is the fifth app to achieve this milestone and the first that is not affiliated with Meta. In the U.S., TikTok has remained the top app every quarter since the beginning of 2021. Asia experienced an 11% quarter-over-quarter growth rate for TikTok in Q1 2022. Even though it was one of 59 Chinese apps banned by India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for national security issues.
In Sensor Tower’s analysis, one download per Apple or Google account is counted, which means that the results are based on a per-user basis. Installs of Android apps include only those from the Google Play store, and not those from any third-party Android stores. Taking that into account, here are some of the most downloaded apps of 2022.
Most Downloaded Apps In Q1 2022
Listed below are some of the top downloaded apps based on Sensor Tower’s report. Please refer to the full report linked at the bottom of this post for more granular data, such as top downloads by app category.
The top 10 most downloaded apps worldwide in Q1 2022 were:
- TikTok
- Telegram
- Shopee
- Snapchat
- Messenger
- CapCut
- Spotify
The top 10 most downloaded apps in the United States in Q1 2022 were:
- TikTok
- YouTube
- HBO Max
- Messenger
- Disney+
- Cash App
- Zoom
- Netflix
The top 10 most downloaded apps in Europe in Q1 2022 were:
- TikTok
- Telegram
- Messenger
- CapCut
- Spotify
- Snapchat
- YouTube
Observations
Top Five Spots Are In The Hands Of Meta Properties
Among the top three most downloaded apps for quarter one, Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook, Inc.) ranked second, third and fourth. In spite of being knocked off top spot, Instagram had 150 million downloads. Facebook had 150 million downloads, and Meta’s messaging platform, WhatsApp, had 125 million downloads. In fifth place, with more than 100 million downloads, was the multi-platform messaging service Telegram. Additionally, Meta’s Messenger ranked eight with over 75 million downloads, placing it among the top 10.
7% decline in Instagram installs
In the third quarter of 2017, Instagram’s installs fell 7%, according to Sensor Tower.
This is still the app’s second best quarter since 2014 and is coming off an all-time high in Q4 of 2021. It is also one of only a few apps that surpasses TikTok in some categories, such as the overall number of downloads from Google Play in Asia and worldwide downloads from the Google Play store.
