The World's Most Popular Apps

Since the App Store launched in July 2008, there have been over 2,000,000+ apps uploaded to the store! Apps have become such an integral part of our lives that we don’t remember a time without them.

With so many to choose from, we’ve taken a look at the most popular apps in the world right now!

1. Bitmoji

Bitmoji is a free app that allows you to send a personalized avatar to your friends and family across various chat programs. In 2017, it was the most popular app on the app store!

2. Snapchat

Snapchat is one the world’s most popular social media applications, with more than 187,000,000 daily users.

3. YouTube

Who hasn’t heard of Youtube? The video-sharing website is the second-most popular website in the world in terms of traffic, with other 400 hours of content uploaded every minute and 1 BILLION hours of content is watched every single day.

4. Messenger

The (Facebook) Messenger app was originally developed as Facebook Chat, but in 2011 was split away from Facebook’s main app and was released as its own download. Now, in April 2017, it has over 1,200,000,000 users.

5. Instagram

Instagram is a photo and video-sharing app which launched in 2010 on iOS and accumulated 10,000,000 users in just one year before Facebook bought the company for $1,000,000,000 in 2012. The app allows users to share pictures and videos which can we edited within the app as well as create 24-hour “Stories” and message other users.

6. Facebook

Facebook is the world’s biggest social network which launched in 2004 and now has over 2,200,000,000 active monthly users worldwide. After registering with the network, you can create your own profile, share images, videos and statuses as well as connect with friends and colleagues to chat and join groups and pages you have an interest in.

7. Google Maps

Google Maps has been around since 2005 after it was acquired by Google and released as a web application. In 2008, the Google Maps App was added to the iOS app store and in 2013 it was world’s most popular app. Google Maps works as a Sat-Nav, allowing turn-by-turn navigation through GPS when you’re driving, cycling, walking or now public transport.

8. Netflix

Netflix started life in 1997 as a DVD rental by post company but in 2007 it turned into the company we know today – online streaming! With other 125,000,000 subscribers across the world, it’s the most popular video-streaming service. The mobile app was launched in 2010, allowing users to stream their favourite series and movies directly to their smartphones.

9. Spotify

Spotify is one of the world’s most popular music streaming apps, with over 170,000,000 active users across the globe. The company, which was launched in 2008, allows users to stream their favourite artists and music directly to their mobile apps as well as create and share playlists with other users.

10. Uber

Who hasn’t heard of Uber? Uber is a peer-to-peer ridesharing and taxi app which allows users to book local taxis and rides in their local area and allowing users to pay directly through the app as well as track your journey. It was launched in San Francisco and now operates in over 633 cities worldwide. 

11. Gmail

Gmail is Google’s free email service, which counts over 1,200,000,000 users worldwide. It was the first app on Android to hit 1,000,000,000 downloads and it’s estimated that over 92% of startups are using Gmail as their e-mail service provider. 

12. Pandora Music

Pandora Music, which is only available in the United States, is a music streaming and automated music recommendation internet radio service. It allows you to create your own radio station based on artists you like by detecting 400 musical attributes to give you recommendations. 

13. Amazon

Who hasn’t used Amazon? Starting life as an online bookstore in 1994 and has now become the largest internet retailer in the world in terms of revenue and market cap. More money is spent on Amazon than any other internet-based company in the world, selling everything you can ever possibly need. 

14. WhatsApp

Another one of Facebook’s owned apps, Whatsapp is an online messenger service that allows users to message other people across the world. The app allows users to send text messages, voice and video calls, images and other media forms across data networks for free. It was bought by Facebook in 2014 for $19,300,000,000 and is used by 1,500,000,000 users worldwide, making it the most popular messaging application of all time. 

15. Wish

Wish is the #1 shopping app in 42 countries across the world. It was founded in 2010 as a wish-making app which allows users to create lists and pointing users towards online retailers selling their products but has since moved into hosting its own products on their store. In 2017, the app had more downloads than the Amazon app in the USA.

16. Twitter

Twitter is a micro-blogging service that allows users to share, retweet and like posts from other users and businesses. Founded in 2006, Twitter currently has 319,000,000 active users across the world and in 2013 was one of the top 10 most visited websites in the world.

17. SoundCloud

Soundcloud is an online audio streaming service that allows users to upload, promote and share their own musical content across the internet and its app. It was founded in Berlin in 2007 and has roughly 175,000,000 unique monthly listeners on the website and app.

18. Google Chrome

Another app that’s owned by Google. This time its internet browser. Launched in 2009, it has a 56% market share of internet users and is the most popular internet browser in the entire world minus a few exceptions in Africa.

19. Waze

Yet another app in the Google internet empire, Waze was bought by them in 2013 after winning Best Overall App at the 2013 Mobile Congress Awards. Described as a “community-drive GPS navigation app”, it allows users to input travel times and report traffic to other users and making other people’s journeys quicker.

20. Lyft 

Lyft is Uber’s biggest rival in terms of a ride-hailing app. It currently organises over 1,000,000 rides a day across 300 US cities and has recently launched in Canada.