[Software] Apple's most downloaded app: Zoom Cloud Meeting ranks No. 1 for iPhone, iPad in 2020

[HiTLeR]

 

What app did you use more than any other in 2020? I'll give you a hint, it's one that you probably never touched before.

 

If you answered Zoom Cloud Meetings, the video app, you're right. Zoom, which changed the way we work and learn from home, is Apple's most downloaded iPhone and iPad app of the year.

 

Apple doesn't release sales stats for its year-end charts, it just notes which apps were more downloaded than others. Google Play also released a year-end Android app chart Tuesday, but doesn't categorize apps with rankings. It gave "Users Choice" nods to Disney+, the new streaming service that launched in Nov. 2019 for overall app, and "SpongeBob: Krusty Cook-off" for game. Google Play editors said "Loona: Bedtime and Relax," was the best app of the year.

 

Beyond Zoom, familiar names topped the Apple charts. TikTok, the controversial social app president Donald Trump sought to ban (the issue is tied up in courts) is No. 2, followed by Disney+, YouTube and Instagram.

 

Google's YouTube was the No. 1 downloaded app in 2019 and 2018, per Apple, while in 2017 it was Snapchat's Bitmoji.

 

The rest of Apple's top five has more familiar names: Facebook, Snapchat, Facebook's Messenger, Gmail and Cash App, the social payment app. Similar to Venmo, Cash is owned by Square, the payment platform used by many small merchants.

 

Zoom was also named top iPad of the year, followed by Disney+, YouTube, Netflix, Google Chrome, TikTok, Amazon Prime Video, Gmail, Hulu and Google Classroom.

Additionally, Apple, like Google, at the end of the year makes editorial judgements about the apps in the iOS App Store, naming best of the best.

 

Zoom got Apple's nod as the best iPad app of the year, although neither Apple nor Zoom would disclose whether more people used Zoom on an iPad vs. phone and laptops, which is where most people were thought to have their video meetings.

 

Apple's top app picks for 2020:

iPhone App of the Year: Wakeout! An exercise app that offers quick workout routines that can be done in minutes as short breaks such as using pillows or pots and pans. The app starts at $4.99 monthly.

 

Mac App of the Year: Fantastical. This is an app that's been around for nearly 10 years, and switched to a subscription format in 2020, for $39.99 yearly. The idea is to have a more robust calendar app, and the subscription brings in use among Macs, iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches, and features like extended weather forecasts and adding and starting Zoom meetings within the app.

 

Apple TV App of the Year: Disney+ has quickly emerged as the third most subscribed to streaming service, with 73 million subscribers, compared to 150 million for Amazon Prime and nearly 200 million for Netflix.

 

Games: Genshin Impact. A role playing game from Chinese developer miHoYo was selected for the iPhone and by Google Play editors as the best Android game. Apple also selected Legends of Runeterra for iPad and Disco Elysium for Macs.

 

In the trends categories, Apple chose the Shine meditation app, which previously won the Best of 2018 app, "for helping users practice self care," the Explain Everything education app "for helping bring remote classrooms to life," Caribu kids video calling app "for connecting families to loved ones" and ShareTheMeal charity donation app "for helping users make a difference."