According to digital analytics company App Annie, TikTok was the world’s most downloaded app in 2020 as it took the top spot from Facebook Messenger.
The Chinese video-sharing platform is the only app not owned by Facebook to make it into the top five of global downloads.
TikTok’s owner ByteDance is also a powerhouse in China with its Chinese language video app Douyin, featuring lip sync videos to K-pop songs and other viral trends.
The popularity of TikTok continues to soar, even after Donald Trump’s attempt at a ban in America.
Facebook’s dominance over the chart has not dwindled in recent years. Facebook-owned apps have held the top spot since the survey first began and still dominate the list.
Mark Zuckerberg’s social media empire is only getting bigger. As shown in the latest data from App Annie, Facebook Inc.’s flagship app accounted for one of the top five apps as well as WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger all making an appearance.
Last year, then-President Donald Trump issued an executive order to ban new downloads of the TikTok app in America. The administration claimed that it posed a national security risk as the Chinese government had access to its user data; however, the company repeatedly denied these allegations.
When a deal to resolve the issue that would have seen parent company ByteDance selling part of its US business to Walmart and Oracle was given tentative approval by President Trump, it never got an official nod from China.
Since taking office, President Joe Biden has taken swift action to reverse Trump’s executive order.
The company has proven its ability to withstand the challenge in America and is now exploring new ways to attract users.
It emerged last week that TikTok is trialling a new vanishing clip feature similar to functions on Snapchat, Facebook and Instagram.
TikTok has announced a new feature for their platform, called “TikTok Stories”.
TikTok Stories will give users the chance to view posts from accounts they follow and then delete them after 24 hours.
The announcement comes shortly after WhatsApp rolled out their new feature for users to post photos or videos that vanish from the user’s feed once they are seen.
