These days, most people have a smartphone – mobile technology has advanced rapidly in the last decade, and they are probably the most useful tool that the average person owns. There are many different applications that you can download to your smartphone to fulfil different needs.
Mobile applications can be used for all different kinds of things. They could be used in a professional context – for example, IT support services companies might deploy mobile applications for their field engineers. But most applications are developed for personal usage – below are some of the most popular smartphone apps as of 2022.
Games & Entertainment
There are a lot of entertainment apps you can get if you need to kill some time during your day. Below are the most downloaded gaming and entertainment apps this year.
- Subway Surfers
This never-ending runner game was developed by two Denmark based companies way back in 2011. In the game, you play as a young graffiti artist who nearly gets caught whilst tagging a railway site; you run onto the railway tracks to get away from the metro guard and his dog.
- Roblox
This is a very well-known online game platform and game creation system. Users can program their own games and play games that other people have made and published. Roblox has been around for over a decade, but experienced massive growth in the 2010s.
- Bridge Race
This racing game has almost 250 million downloads as of 2022. In the game you play as one of more than 80 different characters, collecting coloured blocks, and using them to build bridges. The game was over 1000 levels with a range of mechanics that keeps the gameplay interesting.
- Netflix
Most of us are familiar with this one. Netflix is probably the most popular film and TV streaming services in the world, and one of the pioneers of the streaming service genre. It has a wide selection of both original titles, and classic films and TV shows from around the world.
- YouTube
Another excellent video streaming service, YouTube is probably the most popular video service in the world. It has millions of hours of original content for you to browse, including music videos, vlogs, gameplay videos, miniseries, sketch shows; and it even offers film and TV rental as well.
- Disney+
The famous American studios recently broke into the streaming game themselves and have had major success with it. The service gives you access to all of Disney’s classic titles, and they are always producing new shows and films for their service.
Social Media
With around half of the global popular now using social media, it is a highly downloaded category of application. Below are the most downloaded social media apps.
- TikTok
Very popular with the younger generations, TikTok has enjoyed massive growth in use over the last few years. It has been around for many years now, but recently changed its name to TikTok. Brands like it because of the level of engagement it offers users.
Both businesses and personal users love Instagram – it has proven to be a winning formula; a highly visual interface with a wide variety of content being produced on it.
Communications
One of the best things about mobile smartphones is that it allows use to stay in communication much more easily than we used to; and not just with phone calls and texts – this communications apps are highly popular.
Currently owned by Facebook, WhatsApp was originally an independently developed app that gained massive popularity. It works by registering your mobile number to create an account, but it relies on internet connectivity, instead of mobile phone coverage – therefore it offers a great alternative to texting.
- Snapchat
This apps is equal parts communications and social media. Snapchat has its own unique formula – you take pictures and send them to people; but the pictures expire after just a few seconds. You can send ‘snaps’ back and forth to friends, creating streaks. You can also create a Snapchat story.
Music & Audio
Everyone loves music, and when you’re out and about, it’s a great form of entertainment that you can enjoy whilst doing other things at the same time.
- Spotify
Probably the most popular music streaming service in 2022, Spotify has a massive catalogue of music from artists all around the world. You can play music and podcasts in the background while doing other things on your phone; you can create custom playlists; and you can follow artists and other users.
- YouTube Music
While YouTube itself is a video streaming service, it has a sister app that is dedicated for music streaming. The interface of YouTube Music is tailored for music. There is a premium service that allows you to play music in the background, and also download songs for playing offline.
