Trying again at 2021, what apps and video games dominated the highest charts? Which apps had been new to the App Retailer and Play Retailer final yr, and what had been the most well liked new video games individuals had been enjoying? The preferred apps and video games replicate the defining moments of 2021, a tumultuous yr full of change and shifting traits.
Most Well-liked Apps on the App Store and Google Play in 2021
For the aim of this evaluation, we have now chosen the highest 10 apps which ranked within the high 200 of the ‘All’ class for probably the most days final yr. All of those apps ranked within the high charts on daily basis, and are generally thought-about as a few of the hottest apps ever.
A lot of the highest-ranking apps in 2021 are the identical as in 2020. Nonetheless, there have been some modifications to the highest 10 hottest apps in each shops.
It’s no shock that Money App and Amazon Purchasing had been two newcomers to the 2021 listing of high App Retailer apps; the yr noticed an elevated quantity of individuals staying at residence, however these individuals nonetheless wanted to purchase requirements and pay their friends. In comparison with the earlier yr, Google Maps and Disney+ misplaced recognition and noticed their common rankings lower. On the Play Retailer, DoorDash, Tubi, Want, PayPal, and Walmart rose within the rankings, and every of those apps had a good increased common rating than Fb, Messenger, or Disney+.
| App Store | Play Store | ||
| Icon | App Name | Icon | App Name |
| TikTok | |||
| YouTube: Watch, Listen, Stream | Cash App | ||
| WhatsApp Messenger | |||
| Snapchat | |||
| Messenger | DoorDash | ||
| Snapchat | Tubi – Free Movies & TV Shows | ||
| Gmail | Amazon Shopping – Search, Find, Ship, and Save | ||
| Cash App | Wish – Shopping Made Fun | ||
| Netflix | PayPal Mobile Cash: Send and Request Money Fast | ||
| Amazon Shopping | Walmart Shopping & Grocery |
Most Well-liked Video games on the App Retailer and Google Play in 2021
Analyzing the highest video games individually, we will see many similarities between high-performing video games on each the App Retailer and Play Retailer, however there are slight variations between every retailer.
On the App Retailer, the one recreation that had additionally been one among 2020’s high 10 highest-ranking video games was Name of Responsibility®: Cell. All different video games had not averaged as extremely the earlier yr. All video games that ranked extremely in 2020 noticed decreased general common rankings in 2021. A few of these video games included Shade Bump 3D, Polysphere, Site visitors Run!, and Wordscapes. Equally, many of the highest-ranking video games on the Play Retailer in 2021 had been all completely different from these in 2020, aside from aquapark.io.
One of many key factors to say is that, on any given day, lots of the high 200 video games on both the App Retailer or the Play Retailer are usually hyper-casual video games, which have considerably decrease manufacturing values and are monetized by advertisements. In consequence, these video games don’t usually stay within the high 10 of ‘All’ video games for very lengthy.
General, bigger brand-name video games, reminiscent of Roblox and Name of Responsibility®: Cell, remained within the highest ranks of the highest charts for the longest instances. Hyper-casual recreation rankings had been far more unstable. One doable purpose for this may very well be elevated competitors with related video games. As extra hyper-casual video games flood the market, nobody particular recreation has ranked notably constantly.
| App Store | Play Store | ||
| Icon | App Name | Icon | App Name |
| Call of Duty®: Mobile | Dancing Road: Color Ball Run! | ||
| Roblox | aquapark.io | ||
| Subway Surfers | Pokémon GO | ||
| Magic Tiles 3: Piano Game | Coin Master | ||
| Coin Master | Gardenscapes | ||
| Homescapes | Magic Tiles 3 | ||
| Gardenscapes | Homescapes | ||
| Wordscapes | Kick the Buddy | ||
| Mario Kart Tour | Happy Color™ – Color by Number. Coloring games. | ||
| BitLife | Word Collect – Free Word Games |
High Apps Launched on the App Store and Google Play in 2021
The next chart reveals some new apps which have had probably the most profitable launches of 2021. We decide ‘new apps’ by figuring out when apps started to obtain their first downloads. If an app started the yr with zero downloads and made it into the highest 200 apps or video games by the tip of the yr, it’s thought-about as ‘new’. Widget apps and new streaming companies grew to become extremely popular final yr, with the launch of Peacock TV and the rise and subsequent fall of Quibi. A brand new face-swapping app was additionally in style final yr, following an identical development from 2020.
One other attention-grabbing discovery is that two of the preferred app launches for the Play Retailer had been the COVID-19 contact tracing apps for California and New York. Neither app was as in style on the App Retailer.
| App Store | Play Store | ||
| Icon | App Name | Icon | App Name |
| Widgetsmith | Google Pay: A safe & helpful way to manage cash | ||
| Color Widgets | Peacock TV – Stream TV, Movies, Live Sports & More | ||
| Peacock TV | Reface: Face swap videos and memes with your photos | ||
| Reface: face swap videos | CA Notify | ||
| WATCHED – Multimedia Browser | Quibi: All New Original Shows | ||
| Quibi: All New Original Shows | Mr Beast Burger | ||
| Hype Simulator | COVID Alert NY | ||
| NBA: Stay Video games & Scores | Parler | ||
| Photo Widget : Simple | Zynn – Lifestyle Inspiration & Creative Ideas | ||
| Zynn | Pokémon Home |
High Games Launched on the App Store and Google Play in 2021
Lastly, which new video games launched on the App Retailer and Play Retailer rapidly rose to the highest of the charts and had been downloaded probably the most? In 2020, hyper-casual video games gained large and stuffed lots of the high positions within the Video games class for each shops. This was not notably the case in 2021. Mission Makeover and Amongst Us had been two of the preferred video games of final yr. Another video games that left their mark on the highest charts had been Sushi Roll 3D, Chat Grasp and Acrylic Nails.
In 2020, 9 of the highest 10 recreation launches on the App Retailer – and the entire high recreation launches on the Play Retailer – had been hyper-casual video games. Name of Responsibility®: Cell was the one recreation that didn’t match into that style, and was the one recreation launched in 2020 that remained within the high app rankings in 2021.
Whereas there are lots of apps and video games that carried out effectively on each shops, the App Retailer and Play Retailer are fairly completely different when it comes to high chart rankings and obtain traits. The pandemic modified cultural traits rapidly, and person wants modified in the course of the course of the yr. Streaming, productiveness, meals supply apps and video games all had their moments and had been the preferred and downloaded apps of 2021.
With these insights, we will rapidly see that the Apple App Retailer and Google Play Retailer are very completely different and will at all times be studied and regarded individually.