Did you know Most Downloaded Apps in December 2024: Threads Becomes Less Popular As Instagram Reigns Supreme

 

December 2024 was certainly busy for apps and that was the trend that many had expected. After all, it was the holiday season.

Insights from App Intelligence revealed how the chart underwent a shuffle from what was on display in the month before. While Instagram retained its number one position, it was interesting to see more users get on the popular Meta app.

The reason was quite clear as TikTok prepares its end in the US after a controversial ban, people turned to Instagram as their next best chance to make money through content creation. We’re talking 48 million new users which is major as reported by Appfigures Intelligence.

That’s less of what we saw in November and it did come as a major surprise as new phones were probably exchanged as gifts. But when you do consider the demographics aspect and also how TikTok might be related, the big picture makes sense.

Global stats showed how TikTok came second in terms of the most downloaded platform for December. Thankfully, no change in downloads was seen, unlike arch-rival Instagram from Meta. Now no change is not always good as it signals that there was no growth either. Now breaking down stats shows how growth was there in the US but not as a whole from other places around the globe so it made no difference.

The app is making the most of whatever time it has been given by the US Government in terms of the countdown to its end which is January 19th. That’s the deadline to split up from Chinese parent firm ByteDance and enter into the ownership of an American entity. If not, it’s getting banned by the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

Other platforms rounding out the top five list of most downloaded platforms include Meta’s WhatsApp and Facebook as well as OpenAI’s ChatGPT. It’s the replica of what we saw in November of last year except with lower download figures.

Less downloads means more revenue which is a trend witnessed throughout 2024. It continues for 2025 and we don’t think anyone is surprised about that. It was interesting to see how CapCut which is the popular video editor from TikTok gets higher on the list to reach number six. It didn’t make the top ten list at all in November and the sad part is that it might be banned as a whole starting next week.

To conclude, the top 10 most downloaded platforms for 2024 in December entered a whopping 327 million phones around the globe. That’s a little less than what we saw in November. Experts want developers to know that if they are spending their time and effort on matters like user acquisition, they might want to put a little more thought into how downloads could transform into users who are paying. After all, that’s what really matters in the end for revenue.