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Zoom shattered App Store record in Q2; US overtook China in app downloads

During Q2 of this year, Zoom completely shattered the previous App Store record for downloads, previously set by TikTok, according to analytics data. While TikTok notched up 67 million US downloads in Q1, reports Sensor Tower, Zoom hit almost 94 million US downloads in Q2.

Demand for the videoconferencing app was of course driven by the coronavirus crisis, which saw record numbers of people working from home. Worldwide, across Apple’s App Store and the Google Play store, Zoom became only the third app to reach 300M downloads in a quarter, joining TikTok and Pokémon GO.

Sensor Tower says Zoom wasn’t the only app to benefit …

The spread of COVID-19 made a dramatic impact on the app landscape. Business, Health & Fitness, and Education apps continued to thrive in Q2 2020, while Travel, Navigation, and Sports apps worked to recover from extended periods of low installs […]

Worldwide app downloads reached an all-time high of 37.8 billion in 2Q20, an increase of 31.7 percent year-over-year. App Store installs grew 22.6 percent to 9.1 billion, while Google Play saw 34.9 percent growth, reaching 28.7 billion […]

Worldwide app downloads reached an all-time high of 37.8 billion in 2Q20, an increase of 31.7 percent year-over-year. App Store installs grew 22.6 percent to 9.1 billion, while Google Play saw 34.9 percent growth, reaching 28.7 billion.

The top 10 iOS apps worldwide were:

  1. Zoom
  2. TikTok
  3. YouTube
  4. Instagram
  5. Facebook
  6. Google Meet
  7. Messenger
  8. WhatsApp
  9. Netflix
  10. Microsoft Teams

Both Zoom and Teams saw massive increases in usage as corporate communication tools, as videoconferences from home replaced in-office meetings – but Zoom also took off in a huge way as the default consumer video app during lockdown. Ease of use saw its widespread adoption despite security problems along the way.

Food delivery app DoorDash also saw a reversal of its fortunes.

DoorDash had three straight quarters of declining downloads in the U.S. between Q2 and Q4 2019. Food delivery bounced back as restaurants were closed due to the coronavirus, and DoorDash achieved a new high in downloads during Q2 2020.

There were no surprises in which categories of apps did well, and which didn’t.

Most App Store categories saw positive download growth following COVID-19, with Business, Education, and Health & Fitness leading the way with huge growth. Games also saw strong growth at 33 percent above pre- coronavirus levels.

Meanwhile, Sports, Navigation, and Travel apps struggled in the post-COVID world. Uber and Lyft both saw a precipitous decline in U.S. downloads in early March as the coronavirus began to spread.

Not quite an App Store record, but also notable was huge growth in app downloads in the US, which saw the country overtake China for the first time in six years.

The U.S. surpassed China for the first time since 2014 with more than 2.2 billion installs. It had 27.4 percent year-over-year growth in 2Q20 compared to just 2.1 percent Y/Y growth for China.

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Avatar for Ben Lovejoy Ben Lovejoy

Ben Lovejoy is a British technology writer and EU Editor for 9to5Mac. He’s known for his op-eds and diary pieces, exploring his experience of Apple products over time, for a more rounded review. He also writes fiction, with two technothriller novels, a couple of SF shorts and a rom-com!


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