According to market research firm App Annie, TikTok was the most downloaded app in the world last year, surpassing Facebook and its messaging platforms.
According to the research firm, the Chinese-owned video app grew in popularity despite efforts by former President Donald Trump to ban it or force a sale to US-based investors.
TikTok, which is owned by China’s ByteDance, is thought to have one billion users worldwide, with more than 100 million in the United States, and its short-form videos are particularly popular among young smartphone users.
On national security grounds, US President Joe Biden revoked his predecessor’s executive orders banning TikTok and Chinese-owned WeChat from US markets in June, but ordered a review of the potential risks of foreign-owned internet services.
TikTok climbed from the fourth most downloaded app in 2019 to the top spot last year, according to App Annie data, as political debate over the video-snippet sharing sensation raged.
According to the market tracker, TikTok surpassed Facebook and two of the US internet giants’ texting apps Messenger and WhatsApp along the way.
Because of TikTok’s popularity, Instagram, which is owned by Facebook, has added video features to capitalise on the trend.
Meanwhile, TikTok announced last month that users can now upload videos up to three minutes long, tripling the previous limit to stay ahead of the competition.
Facebook has argued that the rise in TikTok’s popularity refutes antitrust regulators’ claims that the California company has a monopoly on social networking.
