With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are spending more time on their phones or computers. It is noteworthy that over 50% of the world's population uses at least one social media platform, mainly through apps.
The health crisis that has hit countries around the world has increased the number of mobile app installs as people try to stay in touch with family and friends. But which are the most popular apps?
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According to an analysis by Carphone Warehouse – a London-based mobile phone retailer – the US ranks first in terms of app creation and consumer spending, but not in terms of time “spent” on devices.
The US holds 6% of the app market, with 174,630 apps created in the last year, while consumers spend $32.63 billion on apps – the highest amount in the world.
Additionally, in the US, 14% of app installs are games – not as high as in Japan or South Korea, where 27% and 25%, respectively, of app installs are games. Americans spend an average of 3 hours a day on their mobile phones.
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The most popular type of app is Food & Drink, such as Uber Eats and Music.
Additionally, as reported by ZDNet, YouTube is the most popular app in the world, with a global popularity of 144.It has been downloaded more than five billion times and has a rating of 4.4 out of 5. It has global popularity, and is in the top 10 of download charts in 144 countries.
WhatsApp Messenger also ranks second, with a global popularity of 125. The app asks for 13 permissions from you, including access to your location, SMS, and phone log, and has a rating of 4.5 out of 5.
Facebook comes in third place with the lowest rating on the top 10 list : 3.3 out of 5 and requests 13 permissions to run on your device. The most common user complaints concern the app's layout and functionality, as well as issues with Facebook's business practices. However, despite the complaints, the app has had five billion downloads to date.
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The top 10 list also includes Gmail (five billion downloads – with a rating of 4.3 out of 5), Google Chrome (five billion downloads – with a rating of 3.0 out of 5), Google (five billion downloads – with a rating of 4.4 out of 5), Instagram (one billion downloads – with a rating of 4.6 out of 5), TikTok (one billion downloads – with a rating of 4.6 out of 5), Facebook Messenger (one billion downloads – with a rating of 4.3 out of 5) and Snapchat (one billion downloads – with a rating of 3.9 out of 5).
When it comes to permissions, the Google app asks the most of you, requesting 15 mobile device permissions, including contacts, storage, and SMS access.
In contrast, the Disney+ app only asks for permission to change TV channel information, access the internet, and access your microphone.
If you're not happy with your doomscrolling and want to reduce the time you spend in apps, you can use either Screen Time (iOS) or Digital Wellbeing (Android) to find out which app is "dominating" your screen time.
You can also set focus controls that limit your time in a specific app, or set your device to turn off at a certain time at night and turn back on in the morning to wake you up.
Alternatively, you can uninstall the apps completely and use the desktop or browser version of the app to limit the notifications you receive on your mobile device as you try to “break free” from endless scrolling.
