A broad survey of app charts has been conducted by AppFollow using the same-name app management platform for application monitoring, ASO and review processing. The company has named the most popular apps in a number of categories, including Business, Education, Finance, Food & Drink, Games, Health & Fitness, Productivity, Shopping, Social Networking and Overall.

AppFollow analysts have tracked down apps which enjoyed the highest average rankings for most of the year 2020 (ca. 8 months). The survey has established the most popular apps in each of the categories for Russia, the USA, Germany and the UK.

According to AppFollow CEO & Сo-founder Anatoly Sharifulin, 

"2020 was a very interesting year in many respects, including the mobile market. As many work-related and social activities and “rituals” embedded in our everyday lives suddenly became impossible, users turned to mobile applications for business (with meetings, forums and conferences happening increasingly online), social networking, entertainment (online movie theaters, games, concerts), education (courses, lectures, webinars), fitness and mental health (meditation and psychotherapy apps), daily fare (food delivery) and shopping. There was a period when online birthday parties sprang to popularity, so special virtual apps were developed to take celebrations online. Strong market leaders appeared in local app markets as well as on the global scene, with ZOOM Cloud Meetings becoming a nearly undisputed winner in the Business (Free) category and Minecraft dominating the rankings in Games (Paid)".

“As seems obvious in early 2021, the Covid pandemic is unlikely to wind down in a matter of days or even months, so the processes that surfaced in the past year will continue to intensify. One of the most marked trends is the development of super-apps, which are enjoying wider popularity across Asia and the Russian Federation. IDFA-related changes will also become more prominent on the market. Most likely, indie apps and games will not be able to compete with leaders in the Health & Fitness and Games categories due to much tighter marketing budgets. They will have to invest more efforts in ASO and new promotion channels, which will bring down their installs rate”.

The survey was conducted for several categories, notably Business, Education, Finance, Food & Drink, Games, Health & Fitness, Productivity, Shopping, Social Networking and Overall, broken down by app market (App Store and Google Play).

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Russia

In Russia, similarly to the USA, TikTok emerged as a clear leader among free iPhone apps available in the Overall category in the App Store, with local services IVI (iPad) and VK (iPhone) occupying the top positions in the Grossing category. VK also tops the Social Networking (Grossing) category together with Odnoklassniki (iPad).

Regional differences can be gleaned in a number of other categories. Tinkoff (iPad) and SberBank Online (App Store (iPhone) / Google Play) share the top ranking in Finance (Free). The app which has held the top position in Productivity for iPhone longer than others was Gosuslugi, used during the pandemic by many Russians eligible for social benefits or returning home from travel abroad. WILDBERRIES achieved the top ranking in the Shopping (Free) category for both iPhone and iPad.

Germany

The top apps in Germany included global household names like Netflix and WhatsApp Messenger as well as many local brands. Thus, Sparkasse - Your mobile branch (an app developed for Sparkasse) came out on top in the Finance category for iPad, while Chefkoch – Rezepte & Kochbuch (a selection of recipes by the German-language magazine on cooking) headed the Food & Drink (Free) category for iPad. The leader in the Food & Drink category in Google Store was the German Lieferando.de - Order Food. More super-popular German apps can be found in the Health & Fitness (Paid) category, topped by the parenting platform “The Wonder Weeks” and its prototype “Oje, Ich Wachse!” (Google Play).

UK

Apart from global brands like Tinder (Overall / Free / iPhone), Dropbox (Productivity / Grossing / iPhone), Amazon (Shopping /Free / All devices) or PayPal (Finance / Free / iPhone, Android), top rankings were achieved by several apps created with the British user in mind. These included some products in the Finance Free/iPad category (Barclays mobile banking app) as well as the Education Paid/All devices category (Driving Theory Test 4 in 1 Kit); the Food & Drink (Grossing / Android) category was topped by The Good Beer Guide APP - a database containing information on pubs around the UK.

USA

Applications which make it to the top in US stores are usually famous worldwide: just think of Facebook (Social Networking / free / iPhone, iPad), Duolingo - Language Lessons (Education / Grossing / iPhone); Procreate (Overall / Paid / iPhone, iPad); MyFitnessPal (Health & Fitness / Grossing / Google Play) or Microsoft Word (Productivity / Grossing / iPad). The most noteworthy local apps include NYT Cooking (Food & Drink / Grossing / iPad, iPhone), OfferUp - Buy. Sell. Letgo (Shopping / Grossing / All stores) and DoorDash - Food Delivery (Food & Drink / Free / iPhone, Google Play).