Most Used Apps in the World 2021
One of the most used apps in the world in 2021 is TikTok, a social networking app that allows people to share short videos and connect with each other.
Amidst the pandemic, when people had to stay at home with nowhere to go and no one to meet, TikTok managed to steal the show and become the rising star leaving behind Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
In this blog, we'll be taking a close look at the most popular apps of 2021 and the reason why they gained so much attention.
Top 5 Most Used Apps in the World
TikTok
TikTok ranked no.1 with 3 billion downloads in June 2021 and currently accounts for 689 million active users. It is available in more than 200 countries and has an approximate valuation of $100 billion.
TikTok's algorithm is unlike many others of its kind, as it figures out what users want to see and keeps them coming back. For example, most other apps will serve up videos randomly, but TikTok uses an algorithm that shows more engaging content for each user.
This way, the app continues to get higher engagement without frustrating users who don't want to see what they are not interested in. For instance, if your account leans towards fitness content, TikTok will feed you more fitness-focused TikTok videos over time.
If you post a lot of makeup tutorials, you are going to be shown related video posts from either the account you follow or the accounts TikTok thinks you might like following or accounts that users you follow might be interested in.
Another unique aspect of this app is the hashtags used by creators to bring more attention to their content for TikTok’s algorithm.
Most apps use hashtags to find related content, but because TikTok heavily relies on video creation (instead of just social media sharing), hashtags are much closer to what users would call "challenges" than traditional Instagram or Facebook tags.
Creators will tag each other in videos with different challenges, such as #baddie or #NoMakeUpTuesdays, which drives even more individuals to participate in the challenge. This builds up excitement around the app and encourages users to make more content.
Free/Paid: Free
The target audience for the app: Anyone from the age of 13 years to 60 years.
Availability: iOS & Android
Category: Entertainment/Video Sharing
Facebook is one of the most popular apps because it covers both aspects of web surfing and communication. As per a social media statistics report by Hootsuite, Facebook takes the crown for being the most used social media platform, with 2.7 million monthly users and 1.82 billion users logging in every day.
Everyone knows about the news feed-the homepage for every Facebook user. So why go directly to CNN or ESPN to find out what's going on in the world when you can get a quick update from your friends?
Why go directly to Yahoo Sports when you can find out the latest on your favorite football team from the people on Facebook who are also interested in that team?
Why would anyone watch TV or listen to a radio broadcast when they could just check their news feed and pass some time scrolling through status updates, reading articles, browsing photos of cats wearing top hats, and watching videos about how to cook a steak while still maintaining its red color instead of turning it brown?
Do you get what we're trying to say? Facebook encompasses a broad range of aspects when it comes to social networking. Aside from an easy-to-use interface, Facebook has been able to lead the market due to its constant upgrades that enable the app to offer maximum innovation.
Free/Paid: Free
The target audience for the app: Anyone from the age of 18 years to 65 years.
Availability: iOS & Android
Category: Social Networking
As of July 2021, WhatsApp has become the most used online messaging app, with two billion users accessing it monthly.
WhatsApp allows people to communicate with each other on their own terms. Its privacy settings allow users to determine who they share their information with and who gets to see the things that they want to share.
They can be uploaded so others can download them from Dropbox but not shared beyond a certain number of people on a list.
When WhatsApp was first created, its founders believed that making it as easy as possible for people to communicate with one another without restrictions imposed by an outside source would allow them to be more comfortable investing time into the app and choosing the platform on a more consistent basis.
Using WhatsApp means that you get to communicate with others without having to spend money texting them or calling them. All you need in order to send messages over the internet, for free, is to have an internet connection.
WhatsApp Messenger is suitable for people of all ages because it is so simple and easy to understand how it works.
There are no complicated settings or things you need to adjust in order to get started with using this app - just install, open the app, enter your number, enter a contact number, and you are ready! Then, you can simply start sending messages.
Free/Paid: Free
The target audience for the app: Everyone
Availability: iOS & Android
Category: Online Messaging
Zoom
Zoom is the fastest-growing video teleconferencing app with the flexibility to run smoothly across all platforms. The app offers a user-friendly interface that is easy to set up and manage.
The app has 467,100 business customers, 45 billion minutes of webinars, and a revenue of $882 million.
The reason how zoom became the most popular video teleconferencing applies to how seamlessly people can set up their meetings. While making a call on Zoom, participants enter a meeting code, and they're instantly connected.
As per the third quarter of the fiscal year of 2021, almost 3.3 trillion meeting minutes were logged on Zoom.
The main selling point of the app is the free 40 minutes of conference calls that 100 people can attend. This aspect of the app not only enables the business to explore the app but is unable to understand why it is worth it.
Free/Paid: Free and Subscription plans
The target audience for the app: Everyone
Availability: iOS & Android
Category: Business/Video Conferencing
The simple answer to why Instagram is popular is that it offers photo filtering.
Before this type of technology, pictures were taken in the best light possible, and pictures on film were certainly not manipulated—they were either good or they weren't.
With this new app on smartphones, pictures can be taken on a bad camera and then adjusted with a filter until the picture looks decent. This gives more people access to decent-looking photographs.
Another reason why Instagram may have become so popular is that it came out at the right time with the right social-media community already established on Twitter and Facebook.
According to the latest Hootsuite report on Instagram, the app will have 1.22 Billion users in 2021 who spend about 30 minutes on it.
In addition, 81% of people use Instagram to research products and services, and 50% of them visit the business's website.
Free/Paid: Free
The target audience for the app: Anyone from the age of 13 years to 60 years.
Availability: iOS & Android
Category: Photo & Video, Social Networking
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