According to Sensor Tower’s report on Q1 2022’s top mobile apps, TikTok was the most downloaded app worldwide from January to March 2022—surpassing 3.5 billion all-time downloads from last year’s Q1. Currently, it’s the first app not owned by tech giant Meta to break that record.
Over the years, TikTok has proven to be more than a new short-form video platform that could replace the beloved but discontinued Vine app. This Chinese-owned video-focused social networking service has evolved from a simple entertainment app to a social media powerhouse with an international presence that rivals that of Instagram and YouTube.
This is all the more apparent in Sensor Tower’s findings, which listed TikTok as the top downloaded app all over the world. This only counts unique installs—only one download per user—and only from Google Play Store and Apple App Store combined, excluding third-party stores and Google and Apple’s own apps. For Google Play Store’s list, Tiktok only ranks third and is beaten by Meta’s Facebook and Instagram. It dominates the list for Apple App Store, however—shooting past YouTube by a wide margin with about 70 million downloads worldwide.
In the US alone, TikTok has been the top app in each quarter since Q1 2021. It and YouTube have been competing for first place in the Apple App Store. In other regions like Europe and Asia, TikTok also holds a high rank—if not being at the top—but some of the competitors have also shown considerable growth and popularity this past quarter and year. These include WhatsApp, Telegram, and WeChat.
With how much TikTok is expanding its reach daily, we may see an even bigger turnout in the next quarter or year. This can’t only be attributed to its large userbase but also the numerous features and improvements it’s been working on diligently. One of these is a new dislike button for comments that TikTok is recently testing and the launch of its own music distribution platform.
Image credit: Sensor Tower
