Apple reveals the most downloaded apps and games of the year – with iPhone users eschewing TikTok in favor of bargain apps

There are almost two million apps in the App Store.

Now Apple has revealed the most downloaded apps in Britain this year – and it looks like iPhone users are shunning TikTok in favor of bargain apps.

This year’s success stories include fast fashion apps from China, including Temu and Shein, and the trendy ‘preloved marketplace’ Vinted.

They’re ahead of social media apps including TikTok and Meta’s Threads, as well as AI chatbot sensation ChatGPT, which released an app last year.

As 2024 draws to a close, Apple is unveiling the most downloaded apps and games of the year in Britain,” the tech giant said in a statement.

‘The App Store is the safest and best place for users to discover and download apps and games.

“App Store editors around the world recommend tens of thousands of apps every year in the Today, Apps, and Games tabs to help users discover the best apps, games, in-app events, original stories, collections, and more.

Launched in 2008, the App Store has since been central to the creation of a host of hugely successful mobile app companies, including Angry Birds, Uber and Deliveroo.

It’s now hard to imagine the iPhone without a slew of apps covering the home screen – especially the big players Instagram, WhatsApp, TikTok and Snapchat, which didn’t exist when the first iPhone came out.

This year, the most downloaded free iPhone app is Temu: Shop Like a Billionaire, which has gained a lot of attention on social media this year.

Founded just over two years ago, Temu offers deeply discounted consumer goods, usually shipped directly from China to consumers.

Next up is another Chinese e-commerce site called Shein, which was recently valued at a whopping $60 billion due to its global success.

Shein is known for selling ultra-cheap clothes, such as dresses for as little as £3, and is particularly popular with Gen Z consumers.

Other household names include Threads, Meta’s social media platform designed to rival Elon Musk’s X (Twitter), which launched last year.

As of November, Threads has 275 million monthly active users, compared to X, which has 368 million, according to Statista.

Next comes ‘preloved marketplace’ Vinted, followed by ChatGPT and TikTok at fifth and sixth place respectively on the list.

Unlike Temu and Shein, Vinted lets users buy and sell new or second-hand items, usually clothing, at low prices.

The platform was founded in Lithuania in 2008 and is now valued at £4.5 billion, with 65 million users in 21 countries, including 16 million in Britain.

The list of best free apps for iPhone is completed with Tesco Grocery & Clubcard, WhatsApp, Google and Microsoft Authenticator.

As for the most downloaded free games, Block Blast! – a Tetris-inspired block puzzle – is number one in Britain this year, followed by MONOPOLY GO!.

In third place is the controversial online gaming Roblox platform, which allows users to build their own virtual worlds.

Because there are no set age restrictions, Roblox – which allows people to appear as in-game ‘avatars’ – has become extremely popular for young children.

But experts have criticized it for exposing young people to ‘grooming, pornography and violent content’.

Also on this list are Last War: Survival, Whiteout Survival, Township, Offline Games – No Wifi Games, My Perfect Hotel, Wordscapes and Subway Surfers.

Meanwhile, the best paid iPhone apps aimed at people revising their driving theory test are: Driving Theory Test 4 in 1 Kit and Official DVSA Theory Test Kit.

Also in this top 10 are Squeezy, a £2.99 app that encourages women to do pelvic floor exercises, and the £4.99 Official Life in the UK Test, which is taken as part of applications for British citizenship.

And the most popular paid iPhone games include Minecraft: Play with Friends (£6.99), charades-inspired Heads Up! (£1.99) and Plague Inc (£0.99) the British game that invites players to ‘infect the world’ with a deadly pathogen.

As for the iPad, the most popular free apps are largely streaming apps – Disney+, Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, BBC iPlayer and ITVX are all in the top 10.

The most popular paid app for iPads is Procreate (£12.99), which allows artists to create sketches and illustrations, followed by its offshoot Procreate Dreams (£19.99).

And the most popular gaming apps for iPad are Roblox in the free category and Minecraft: Play with Friends (£6.99) in the paid category.

Also still popular among iPad users is Among Us!, the free multiplayer social deduction game set in space where players must discover murderous saboteurs trying to jeopardize a mission.

Apple’s App Store was launched in July 2008 – about 18 months after Steve Jobs launched the very first iPhone.

They are now a dominant part of the iPhone user experience, but incredibly, the first iPhone came without third-party apps.

Jobs was originally against the idea of ​​allowing third-party development on iOS apps that users could purchase from third-party developers.

So when the iPhone first launched, it had no App Store and only came pre-installed apps like Weather, Notes, Calendar, and Photos.

However, Jobs eventually relented, on the condition that third-party apps met strict standards and were all tested and approved by Apple.