After 3 years as the #1 Most Downloaded App in the US, TikTok has been dethroned. Taking over the top spots are two new apps: Threads and Temu. 

Let’s get into what fueled their fast rise, other new names on the chart, and who looks like they are falling off.

Threads’ Rapid Rise in Social Media Dominance

In just five months since its July launch, Threads has skyrocketed to claim the top spot on our download leaders list, with nearly 193 million downloads. While its substantial number of downloads can be attributed to its prompts encouraging Instagram users to install the app, Meta’s recent efforts to retain users have been effective. Downloads began to decline for a few months in September after buzz around initial launch faded, however Meta has continued to use different “retention hooks” to continue to capture downloads, almost doubling DAUs during December 2023. 

SHEIN and Temu Top Charts…but Where is Amazon?

Temu emerged as a standout this year, with a phenomenal 482% year-over-year growth in downloads. The gamified e-commerce platform, offering ultra-low cost goods and coupons with high discounts, has effectively captured price sensitive, Gen Z and Millennial consumers and has competed with SHEIN. While Temu amassed a larger number of users on their platform, SHEIN also had impressive growth this year, with 68 million downloads and an average of 10 million daily active users.

Interestingly, while Amazon ranked #8 on our Top Download Leader charts last year, it did not make the top ten this year and actually moved down sixteen places in our rankings of the most downloaded apps. This suggests that SHEIN and Temu have effectively captured a significant share of Amazon’s user base, and users are inclined towards spending even less than what Amazon offers.

MONOPOLY GO! is the Game of the Year

Breaking records as one of the highest-growing games on the app store, MONOPOLY GO! has emerged as a successful newcomer to the app store this year. Since its launch in Q2 this year, it has spiked to 58 million downloads. MONOPOLY GO! was the only gaming app in our top charts this year, which is interesting because Subway Surfers ranked #6 and Roblox ranked #7 last year. 

CapCut Captures US Users

CapCut was only on our worldwide leaderboard last year, but secured the #4 spot on our US downloads chart this year, indicating a more successful reach among US users. CapCut witnessed an impressive 74% growth in downloads and, notably, a 213% increase in Daily Active Users (DAUs) within the platform. Given its substantial integration with TikTok, it makes sense that CapCut trails just one spot below TikTok (#3) in the charts.

The big question about all of these apps is their sustainability. Will consumers make a habit out of using Threads? Will there be a new game next year that will replace MONOPOLY GO!? How will Temu do in year two and will SHEIN rival them in 2024 with their upcoming IPO?

‘Mainstay’ Apps between 2023 and 2022

Five apps have stayed on this list between 2023 and 2022. Of these five, WhatsApp stands out as the only app with positive Year-over-Year (YoY) growth; everyone else descended down the chart. 

Interestingly, TikTok was surpassed by Threads and Temu, experiencing the most significant negative growth in both downloads and DAUs. Instagram moved down five places, but observed no improvement or decline in daily active users…seems like META concentrated more on Threads this year, as it was the #1 most downloaded app in the US. 

Snapchat secured the last place, and its future on the charts seems uncertain. The continuous emergence of new social media apps each year is gradually replacing Snapchat, and not even their paid subscription service, Snapchat+, seems sufficient to attract and retain users.