TikTok hits 3 billion downloads, becomes the first non-Facebook, non-gaming mobile app to do so

TikTok, the largely popularized video-sharing app has become the first non-Facebook app to surpass three billion downloads worldwide across both iOS and Android platforms, as reported by analytics firm Sensor Tower.

The feat has only been accomplished by four other apps which are owned by Facebook. The apps are Instagram, Messenger, Whatsapp, and Facebook.

Even amidst the ban in many countries, the app doesn’t seem to lose its popularity. TikTok was the most downloaded and highest-grossing non-gaming app in the world in the first half of 2021 with a total of 383 million first-time installs and an estimated $919.2 million in consumer spending.

The downloads dropped down by 38 percent from about 619 million in the first half of 2020 after being banned in India. However, consumer spending rose by 73 percent from $530.2 million in the year-ago period.

As per the report, TikTok has gone past $2.5 billion in consumer spending globally. TikTok’s first-time downloads climbed by two percent Q/Q to 177.5 million in Q1 2021 and ascended 16 percent Q/Q to 205.4 million in Q2 2021, the most growth the app has seen since its record-breaking Q1 2020 when it hit more than 315 million installs, the most by any app in a single quarter.

TikTok saw its greatest Q/Q growth in consumer spending in Q2 2021 since Q2 2020 with $534.6 million, a jump of 39 percent from the previous quarter when it accumulated $384.7 million.

Only 16 non-gaming apps have been able to cross the $1 billion gross revenue mark since 2014. And only five of those apps, now including TikTok, have been able to get past the $2.5 billion marks. The other four apps are YouTube, Netflix, Tencent Video, and Tinder.