Facebook Down, Spotify Up, TikTok Stable, CapCut Keeps Growing

If you want to know what’s happening in the world, one important metric is what apps people are downloading. For 2022, Facebook dropped by more than 25%, TikTok kept winning, and CapCut, a formerly obscure video editing software, cracked the top four most-downloaded apps in the world. Not shockingly, it’s made by the parent company of TikTok, and is a favored tool of influencers for creating — you guessed it — TikTok videos.

Unlike 2021, two games made the top 10 for global installs, according to data released today by mobile intelligence firm Apptopia.

And while Facebook app installs were down, Facebook’s parent company Meta can be happy that WhatsApp, a formerly Eurocentric messaging app, has continued its growth both globally and in the United States. Unfortunately, it’s doing so at the expense of Meta’s own Messenger app.

Here’s the top 10 most-downloaded apps globally:

1. TikTok: 672 million
2. Instagram: 548 million
3. WhatsApp: 424 million
4. CapCut: 357 million
5. Snapchat: 330 million
6. Telegram: 310 million
7. Subway Surfers: 304 million
8. Facebook: 298 million
9. Stumble Guys: 254 million
10. Spotify: 238 million

And here’s the top 10 most-downloaded apps for the United States:

1. TikTok: 99 million
2. Instagram: 72 million
3. Cash App: 64 million
4. WhatsApp: 63 million
5. Snapchat: 54 million
6. Subway Surfers: 51.4 million
7. Roblox: 50.9 million
8. Amazon: 47 million
9. Messenger: 46.3 million
10. Facebook: 45.5 million

What we’re seeing is evidence of big changes in the mobile ecosystem, and where people are spending time on their mobile devices, says Apptopia’s Adam Blacker.

“Messenger is ceding share,” Blacker says. “WhatsApp grew a good chunk in a big market: the U.S., [going] from 12% of WhatsApp downloads in 2021 to 15%. The US also accounted for 13% of Telegram downloads this year as opposed to 9% last year.”

There are also significant shifts in e-commerce.

SHEIN was the most-downloaded shopping app globally with 229 million installs, while Wish, which has been on the top downloads list since 2017, dropped entirely off. In the U.S., however, SHEIN took second place with 40 million installs as Amazon took first with 47 million app downloads. A new entrant from a Chinese company, Pinduoduo, actually made the U.S. list at number eight, with 16.5 million installs, after being available for less than half a year.

“For the first time ever, SHEIN is the most downloaded Shopping app this year,” Blacker says. “Interesting enough, Temu (owned by Pinduoduo) has made the U.S. list and its value proposition reminds me a lot of Wish. What makes Temu’s arrival so impressive is that it only launched in late August of this year.”

Top 10 most downloaded shopping apps globally:

1. SHEIN: 229 million
2. Meesho: 210 million
3. Shopee: 203 million
4. Amazon: 195 million
5. Shopsy: 141 million
6. Flipkart: 115 million
7. Pinduoduo: 79 million
8. Alibaba: 66 million
9. Lazada: 64 million
10. Mercado Libre: 58 million

Top 10 most download shopping apps in the United States:

1. Amazon: 47 million
2. SHEIN: 40 million
3. Walmart: 32 million
4. Fetch: 23.2 million
5. Shop: 22.9 million
6. Etsy: 17.75 million
7. Nike: 17.1 million
8. Temu: 16.5 million
9. eBay: 16.1 million
10. OfferUp: 15.8 million

Interestingly, Shop’s largest shareholder is Tobi Lutke, the CEO of Shopify, whose software powers the Shop app. Also notable: one of the top e-commerce apps is actually a brand app, Nike. Essentially, Nike is becoming a significant direct-to-consumer channel in its own right.

“Nike has always been a top downloaded Shopping app in the U.S. and easily tops our first ever chart showing direct-to-consumer apps,” Blacker said in a blog post. “Its management team is actively invested in leveraging digital channels to improve customer experience. Recently Lululemon has been following Nike’s lead, enabling it to become the fastest growing D2C app in the United States.”

Games are huge in Google Play and the App Store, of course. Surprisingly, the top 10 games show a significant number of top games are old: very old for mobile apps. Two of the top 10 are literally 10 years old: Subway Surfers and Candy Crush Saga.

The top 10 most download games globally:

1. Subway Surfers: 304 million
2. Stumble Guys: 254 million
3. Roblox: 208 million
4. Candy Crush Saga: 138 million
5. Race Master 3D: 128 million
6. 8 Ball Pool: 120 million
7. FIFA Mobile: 111 million
8. Merge & Fight: 110 million
9. Garena Free Fire: 109 million
10. Bridge Race: 107 million

It’s important to note, however, that getting the most installs doesn’t equate to earning the most revenue. Some of the biggest revenue earners like Clash of Clans from Supercell won’t make the top 10 in downloads, but are perennial top earners.

The Apptopia data is based on installs from Google Play and the iOS App Store, but does not include Android installs in China.