TikTok Surpasses Facebook And Whatsapp To Become The Most Downloaded App In The World
TikTok surpasses Facebook and Whatsapp to become the world's most downloaded app
Tiktok has become the world's most downloaded app. The video-sharing app vaulted three spots from its 2019 ranking in 2020, eclipsing Facebook's popular messaging app and WhatsApp. In the first quarter of the year, Tiktok received over 310 million downloads.
Despite being overtaken by Tiktok, Facebook-owned social sites fared well in the rankings. While Facebook Messenger fell from first to fifth place, Facebook and WhatsApp retained their second and third positions, respectively, while Instagram climbed one spot to fourth place.
Other social applications with strong rankings include Snapchat, which surged from seventh to sixth place in 2019, and Telegram, which rose from eighth to seventh place in 2020. Twitter, the microblogging network, slid to tenth place on the list.
TikTok is a video-sharing social networking service that is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese firm. The social media platform is used to create a range of short-form videos ranging in length from fifteen seconds to three minutes in genres such as dance, comedy, and education.
By April of last year, the app had surpassed 2 billion worldwide downloads. Initially viewed as a Gen Z-exclusive zone, this app has experienced an inflow of new users outside of that demographic as a result of global lockdown efforts.
As more users become stranded at home or on their phones, they seek new forms of entertainment. Social media users are already drawn to video, and when combined with TikTok's clever algorithm, they are presented with an almost irresistible app.
In total, the social video platform has surpassed 3 billion lifetime downloads, making it the first non-Facebook-owned app to accomplish so.
Rising to the top amid international setbacks
Tiktok has encountered numerous hurdles on its ascent to the top. Many of its issues stemmed from worries about security and privacy, as authorities in certain countries feel that personal information posted on the network is not secure.
TikTok was banned in India, the world's second largest country, in June 2020, during the height of its popularity. TikTok was on track to exceed 120 million users at the moment, surpassing Instagram, Snapchat, and other popular platforms in the country.
However, one of its most significant defeats occurred in the United States, where former President Donald Trump ordered the corporation to sell or face a ban. According to the former president, the site constituted a security risk due to the Chinese government's access to user data.
To rehabilitate the situation, Bytedance was to sell a portion of its American company to Oracle and Walmart, as Trump had authorized, but the Chinese government refused. President Joe Biden has since rescinded Donald Trump's decree, restoring Tiktok's freedom.
Additionally, the app has been blocked in Armenia, Bangladesh, and Indonesia, was removed from Hong Kong last year, and Pakistan only recently lifted its second ban on the platform.
Despite obstacles, TikTok's network continued to grow in 2020. Around 50 new nations have been added to TikTok's service map during the last year, bringing the app's total global reach to more than 200.
TikTok had 61 million downloads in January 2021. TikTok had surpassed 205 million downloads for the year in the second quarter of 2021.
TikTok was reportedly testing vanishing video similar to those found on Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook earlier this week. Users can now view TikTok tales posted by accounts they follow for 24 hours after they are posted.
This began when WhatsApp introduced a function that allows users to share photographs and videos that vanish after being viewed.
