- The app store Uptodown offers a report listing the most downloaded apps from its marketplace worldwide so far this year
- The temporary banning of TikTok and Capcut in the United States has made both apps the most in-demand during the first months of 2025
- The battle royale genre remains the most successful in the video game category, with Free Fire Advance, PUBG Mobile and Fortnite leading the way
- Meta apps dominate social and messaging categories
- Several VPN services, emulators and web browsers are also among the most downloaded
Uptodown, the multi-platform app store specialized in Android with over 100 million unique users per month, publishes a report listing the most downloaded apps from its marketplace during the first weeks of 2025. Said report is based on its traffic statistics from a catalog of 260,000 apps between January 1 and February 12 of this year.
TikTok, WhatsApp Messenger and Capcut lead the global ranking
Users’ uncertainty about the potential US government blocking of apps from the Chinese giant ByteDance led to an over 300% increase (compared to previous months’ data) in the download volume of the well-known social media from Uptodown, which became the alternative source during the actual temporary blocking of the Google app store on January 19.
Another reason these apps were the most downloaded out of the entire Uptodown catalog is that the number of countries and institutions that ban TikTok is only increasing. Notably, India, which has one of the largest mobile user bases, has not had official access to the app since 2020. As a result, users are forced to look for other download sources without geographical restriction and resort to VPN services to avoid regional blocking.
WhatsApp Messenger, Instagram, and YouTube are also among the most downloaded apps. They are unbeatable in their field and permanently present in the annual rankings.
Battle Royale, leading the mobile video games category
Over the years, Uptodown’s top-most downloaded video games have been dominated by the different incarnations of the well-known PUBG Mobile, which has more than 700 million cumulative downloads between all its versions —although, during this report’s research period, it has been surpassed by its direct competitors, Fortnite and Free Fire Advance. The latter is an incarnation to test the most up-to-date features of Garena’s successful game, the flagship of the silent hits hegemony: titles with great resonance in Indonesia, India, Pakistan and Latin American countries that do not reverberate among the general public. Over one million downloads during the research’s period attest to its boom.
The other major protagonist of the most downloaded titles is soccer, thanks to the revisions of references such as EA Sports FC Mobile 25, eFootball PES 2025 and Dream League Soccer 2025. The top 10 is rounded out by timeless classics, such as Gacha Life, Subway Surfers and the first Five Nights at Freddy’s.
Meta dominates the social ecosystem
Apart from the aforementioned TikTok, Meta dominates everything related to social media apps and instant messaging. As the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads, virtually all the top downloads come from the various incarnations of those apps. A special mention goes to the boom of Lite versions for some of its services, which are getting almost as many downloads as their big sisters due to the demand for lightweight alternatives in countries with a medium-low range of mobile devices. Outside Mark Zuckerberg’s kingdom, Telegram is the other app that sneaks into the messaging ranking and does not stop gaining followers thanks to its constant new features.
Most downloaded in other categories
When it comes to web browsers, it is difficult to compete with Google Chrome, as it comes pre-installed on most commercially available devices. Still, Kiwi Browser (discontinued in January and not available in the Google store) and UC Browser (not available on Google Play since 2017) are close behind, followed by the increasingly recognized Opera mini and Brave Browser. The download volume of these four contenders almost equals that of Google’s browser, something unthinkable a few years ago.
VPN services are increasingly present among the most downloaded apps, with Secure VPN being the most downloaded so far this year.
Emulation is another major category with more downloads, as it does not fit with the distribution policies of many app stores. AetherSX2 emulator, which lets you run PlayStation 2 games on Android, or Winlator, which does the same with PC titles, are also among the 100 most downloaded apps.
In terms of multimedia tools, CapCut stands out above all others as a companion tool for editing videos alongside TikTok. Spotify and MX Player complete the podium.
Top 5 most downloaded apps by category
TOP 5 APPS (GLOBALLY)
- CapCut
- WhatsApp Messenger
- TikTok
- YouTube
TOP 5 MESSAGING APPS
- WhatsApp Messenger
- Messenger (Meta)
- Telegram
- Messenger Lite
- WhatsApp Business
TOP 5 SOCIAL APPS
- TikTok
- YouTube
- Facebook Lite
TOP 5 WEB BROWSERS
- Google Chrome
- Kiwi Browser
- UC Browser
- Opera Mini
- Brave Browser
TOP 5 VIDEO GAMES
- Free Fire Advance
- Fortnite
- PUBG Mobile
- Gacha Life
- EA Sports FC Mobile 25
TOP 5 VIDEO/AUDIO APPS
- Capcut
- Spotify
- MX Player
- Netflix
- YouTube Music
TOP 5 VPN APPS
- Secure VPN
- SuperVPN Fast VPN Client
- Turbo VPN
- Snap VPN
- Thunder VPN
Links
English PDF version | Uptodown [English] – Most downloaded apps 2025
Spanish PDF version | Uptodown [Spanish] – Apps mas descargadas 2025
Italian PDF version | Uptodown [Italian] – App Android piu scaricate 2025
Russian PDF version | Uptodown [Russian] – Most downloaded apps 2025
Portuguese PDF version | Uptodown [Portuguese] – Apps Android mais baixadas 2025
Arabic PDF version | Uptodown [Arabic] – Most downloaded apps 2025
About Uptodown
Uptodown is an international platform for digital app distribution specializing in Android, established in 2002 and based in Malaga (Spain). This alternative and completely independent app store is based on the principle of respecting the user’s privacy, not requiring user registration and allowing users to download software both from our own official app and through our website. We offer a catalog of over 260,000 apps with more than 4 million files, divided into thematic categories and hosted on our own servers. Each app comes accompanied by an informational description prepared by our own team of editors and complemented by our users’ opinions. Available in seventeen languages, we currently have 100 million active users worldwide and facilitate more than 450 million downloads each month. More than 100,000 developers already rely on the platform to distribute their products.
