Global app downloads reached 142B in 2022, down 0.9% Y/Y

Global mobile app downloads across Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store reached 142 billion in 2022, down 0.9% from the previous year, according to new data from Sensor Tower.

While iOS apps generated 32.2 billion installs with a 0.5% increase, downloads of Android apps fell by 1.4% to 109.9 billion. Meanwhile, total Google Play and App Store downloads reached 35.5 billion during the last quarter of 2022, down from Q4 2021’s 36.1 billion.

According to the report, ByteDance-owned TikTok was the most downloaded non-gaming app of 2022, with 732 million downloads. Apptopia also recently named TikTok the winner of the last year, but according to its data, the short-form video app generated 672 million new installs.

In Sensor Tower’s list, TikTok was followed by Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp, CapCut, Telegram, Snapchat, Messenger, Spotify and WhatsApp Business respectively.

On the gaming side, Subway Surfers was the No.1 title with 292 million global downloads, up 48% from 2021. It was followed by Garena Free Fire at No.2, and Stumble Guys at No.3. Although the latter was newly launched, it still managed to see more than 148 million downloads last year.

The top 10 list continues with Roblox, Ludo King, Candy Crush Saga, Race Master 3D, Bridge Race, PUBG Mobile and My Talking Tom 2, respectively. 

Sensor Tower also revealed the top mobile publishers of 2022 that saw the highest number of downloads. Meta took the lead with around 2.6 billion installs, up 7% year-over-year, ending Google’s leadership that lasted two years. 

You can check out Sensor Tower’s ‘’Q4 2022: Store Intelligence Data Digest’’ report for more details, and our website for more trends & reports like this.