TikTok races past Facebook to become most downloaded app in the world

TikTok | Representative image

A global survey of downloads in 2020 shows TikTok, a video-sharing app developed in China, on top of the list of social media providers for the first time since the study was first conducted in 2018, the Nikkei Asia reported. 

Telegram, a messaging app (originally developed in Russia, now based in Germany) that allows users to delete posts, has gained prominence during the pandemic year. The app was a particular hit with protesters in Hong Kong and Thailand who wanted to operate under the state radar. 

Short video apps such as Likee, a Chinese app and competitor to TikTok, are gaining popularity. The app creates short videos that many companies use for marketing, and it ranked eighth in the latest global download league.

In India, despite a ban on TikTok, the app's popularity grew overtaking Instagram, becoming the second most popular social network platform in the country, Digital Trends - India, December 2020 report by SimilarWeb  revealed in January earlier. 

TikTok was among the 200-plus mobile applications (mostly of Chinese origin or being marketed/distributed by entities based in that country) blocked by the Indian government in 2020, citing privacy and data security concerns of Indian citizens.

Based on insights from experts, Moneycontrol earlier reported that the increase in the number of TikTok users or deeper penetration could have been because the ban was immediately applicable only on new installs and existing users could still access the platform. 

Also, new users could download the app from various websites, which provide the .apk file (a package file format which allows a mobile app to be installed from unofficial or 'unknown' sources). Users were also able to access the platform through Virtual Private Network (VPN) despite the ban, experts suggested.