World’s Most Popular Apps in 2020

With over 2.7 million apps on the Play Store and approximately 2.1 million apps on the App Store, it is safe to say that users of smartphones have a lot of apps to choose from.

Here are 7 of the most popular apps in the world (considering both markets), a list dominated by social media platforms. For anyone who manages a business, you can see that knowing to market effectively using social media is key to reaching a large audience.

1. Facebook

Facebook took over the social networking scene when it was first introduced. It took the reigns that were previously held by MySpace (had over a million users when Facebook went online) and have continued to dominate the market since then.

With that being said, it is no surprise that the Facebook app is one of the most popular apps on both the Play Store and App Store (more than 4 billion downloads). The app allows you to do everything you would do on the regular desktop site except for messaging. That is supported only by Facebook Messenger which is its companion app.

2. Facebook Messenger

Considering that Facebook takes a huge slice of the social market, the messaging app is also considered one of the most popular apps in the world with over 3 billion downloads. It features instant messaging, video calling and even helps find old friends and new. Facebook keeps rolling out new features with every update on their Messenger app and bugs are fixed promptly.

3. Instagram

Another social networking app, Instagram has climbed the ladders pretty quickly to become one of the most popular apps with close to 2 billion downloads. The app differs from Facebook and even MySpace in the fact that it is purely a photo and video sharing application.

The fluid functioning and the aesthetically pleasing design has helped Instagram reach its current status. Notably, Facebook bought Instagram in 2012, almost 1.5 years after they launched and has continued to grow and succeed in the market.

4. Gmail

This email service was launched by Google in 2004 and is one of the most popular apps allowing users to check their mail, compose and schedule emails among others. The general purpose app is used for both work and business communication, through to private communication and even tasks such as social media updates, co-parenting communication and email marketing.

The app has an easy and simple interface making it usable by all ages without much hassle or tech-savviness. With over 3.9 billion downloads, Gmail is one of the most popular and useful apps in the world with tons of features.

5. Youtube

What might come as a surprise is that the creators had designed YouTube to be an online dating website where people could upload videos of themselves with their interests to attract prospective matches. The idea didn’t garner enough viewers and they switched to the general video-sharing platform we see today.

The YouTube app allows users to watch videos, share them via other services, make playlists and save videos to watch later. Over 25% of YouTube streaming is through the app making it another popular app in the world.

6. Whatsapp

Whatsapp has become the norm nowadays for instant messaging. With over 3 billion downloads, this has become by far one of the most used apps in the world. Whatsapp allows users to chat, call, and video call for free with extreme easiness and superb quality.

It also added features of Whatsapp status (similar to stories on Instagram) in 2017 which had its fair share of success. Facebook acquired Whatsapp in 2014 for close to $20 billion.

7. Skype

This video-calling and instant messaging application have also become one of the most popular apps in the world. Owned by Microsoft, Skype has more than 1 billion downloads and is a top contender in the video calling market.

With features such as IM, video calling and voice calling, Skype has upgraded over the years with bug fixes and regular updates and grown to a large extent.