TikTok is one of the world’s fastest-growing social media platforms. Sensor Tower recently released its “Q1 2022: Store Intelligence Data Digest” report in which TikTok was the top app by worldwide downloads in Q1 2022. The app surpassed 3.5 billion all-time downloads in the first quarter of 2021, becoming just the fifth app (and the only one not owned by Meta) to achieve this milestone.
Since the start of 2022, TikTok has been downloaded more than 175 million times. TikTok has surpassed 10 million downloads for the past nine quarters now, while YouTube has surpassed the same threshold for eight consecutive quarters. No app has had more downloads than TikTok since the beginning of 2018 when WhatsApp had 250 million worldwide downloads, per the report.
Image Credits: Sensor Tower
There’s a lot to be said about the success of TikTok and where it’s going. The social media app is mainly dominant for its relevant trends, unique algorithm and a diverse set of communities for every niche subject matter. Just recently, its updates include interactive add-ons for in-feed ads as well as a test on a private dislike button for comments. It also recently launched its own AR development platform, Effect House.
When examining the global downloads on iPhones and iPads, the order of the top five apps has remained unchanged over the past three quarters. TikTok exceeded 70 million App Store downloads for only the third time in Q1 2022, driven by 11% quarter-over-quarter growth in Asia. Despite being banned in India, which has one of the largest markets for app installs in the world, the app was ranked third place overall in Asia. It was No. 1 in the App Store, yet in seventh place for Google Play in Asia.
Looking at U.S. overall downloads, TikTok has been the top app each quarter since Q1 2021. The last app to beat TikTok was Zoom in Q4 2020. Also, since Q1 2021, TikTok and YouTube have been the top two apps on the U.S. App Store each quarter. TikTok was also the number one app on Google Play for the third quarter in a row, with installs up 19% year-over-year.
Image Credits: Sensor Tower
The same five apps have taken the top spots in Europe for each of the past four quarters. TikTok and WhatsApp were in the top two positions, while Instagram went down a ranking from last quarter to the number four spot. Even though WhatsApp has been the top App Store app in Europe for each of the past seven quarters, TikTok has also held on to the top spot on Google Play over the same period.
These estimates made by Sensor Tower include worldwide downloads for iPhone, iPad and Google Play for January 1 through March 31, 2022. This excludes preinstalled apps. The company only reports unique installs and Android estimates do not include third-party stores. The figures represent aggregate installs of all app versions.