Most Popular Apps and Games in 2022

The app stores are a bustling landscape with hundreds of apps launched every day. Among this multitude of apps and games, users are quick to download the most popular ones. In this blog, we take a look at the top 10 most downloaded apps and games across 7 of the largest app markets (United States, France, United Kingdom, Germany, India, Japan, and South Korea) between January 2022 and June 2022.

Read on to learn:

1. Which apps and games are the most downloaded in your (or your competitors’) market?
2. Which mobile iOS games do users prefer? Which Android games are players hooked on?
3. Which app categories do different countries favor?
4. What are the most popular categories among apps and games on the app stores?
5. Are the top charts similar or different across these countries?

Most popular games on Google Play

Google Play games in the top charts

Among the most popular games on Google Play, Subway Surfers (SYBO Games) generated the most downloads in 2022, achieving the first position in the US, France, UK, and Germany. Count Masters: Stickman Games (Freeplay Inc) and Merge Master: Dinosaur Monster (HOMA GAMES) are also among the top 10 mobile games in 5 of the 7 markets we studied. Merge Master succeeded in entering the Indian market, while others like Count Masters: Stickman Games and Subway Surfers did not.

Leading game categories & developers on Google Play

In the Games category, arcade,action, and puzzlegames are the most popular in many of the studied markets. Subway Surfers, Merge Master – Dinosaur Monster, and Twerk Race 3D – Running Game reigned in the Arcade category, while Count Masters: Stickman Games, Garena Free Fire MAX, Stumble Guys, and Sausage Man top the list in the Action category. On the other hand, the Puzzle category sees popular games like Blockudocku, Fishdom, Fill The Fridge!, Pull the Pin, and Zen Match dominating the top charts.

Interestingly enough, the game developer Rollic Games managed to get 3 (Fill The Fridge!, Text or Die, and Money Rush) of its games in the top 10 of several markets. Freeplay Inc’s games (Count Masters: Stickman Games and Twerk Race 3D – Running Game) also reached the top charts in most of the markets we looked at.

Check out the most popular game launches in 2022

Did the top charts differ across countries?

While mobile app users in Japan prefer more puzzle games, role-playing games like TailedDemonSlayer – Idle RPG and Solar Revival gained popularity in South Korea. Game preferences in India are also different from other markets, with top-ranking ones including Garena Free Fire MAX, Carrom Pool: Disc Game, and Candy Crush, games that do not feature in the top charts of any other market.

Most popular games on the App Store

App Store games in the top charts

Once again, Subway Surfers occupies the iOS top charts in 4 of the biggest markets – the US, UK, Germany, and India – indicating its widespread popularity among both iOS and Android users. Incidentally, the game dominates the top charts on the App Store in India but does not rank among the top 10 on Google Play (the market’s preferred store) in the same country.

As on Google Play, the games Count Masters: Crowd Runner 3D, Fishdom, and Fill the Fridge! trend on the App Store. In the list of popular games, Coloring Match is very strong on the App Store, gaining traction in multiple markets, but does not rank in the top 10 on Google Play.

On a similar note, Roblox widely dominates major markets – the US, UK, Germany, France, and South Korea – on iOS. On the other hand, the app is almost non-existent among the top games on Google Play, with the exception of the US.

Leading App Store games categories & developers

In 2022, word games like Wordle! and Word Guess – Word Games boomed on the App Store. Other categories like Strategy and Actionare trending at the top in South Korea, with 3 games (Goose Goose Duck, Playerunknown’s Battlegrounds, and Teamfight Tactics) featuring simultaneously in both categories. On the other hand, Action games like Count Masters – Crowd Runner 3D are less popular on iOS than on Google Play.

In terms of the biggest game developers on the App Store, SYBO Games (Subway Surfers), Lion Studios (Wordle!), Supercell (Clash Royale), Supersonic Studios (Coloring Match), Gametion (Ludo King), Sega Corporation (Hatsune Miku: Colorful Stage), and AppteenPlanet (TenTen) deserve a mention.

Most popular apps on Google Play

Top-trending apps & categories on Google Play

Looking at the top charts of the most popular apps on Google Play, social networking apps like TikTok and Instagram came on top in most of the markets analyzed. The local shopping appKarrottops the Korean market, becoming the only market with a non-social app at its top.

WhatsApp Messenger is the most popular communication app in the UK, USA, France, and Germany, outranking apps like Messenger and Telegram. In Japan, Google Play users prefer the messaging app LINE. Besides social apps, apps in the News and Magazines categories are also popular in Japan (Yahoo Japan and SmartNews).

Shopping & mobile payment apps among top categories

A closer look at the top charts reveals the dominance ofshopping apps among the 7 markets: SHEIN, Vinted, Amazon Shopping, Meesho: Online Shopping App, and Grip. Mobile paymentapps are also well-liked in the US (Cash App), UK (Google Wallet), Germany (VR SecureGo plus), India (PhonePe UPI), and Japan (PayPay).

On another note, the online meeting app Zoom Cloud Meeting leads the Korean market while being absent from all other Google Play markets.

Most popular apps on the App Store

Which apps & categories ranked high on the App Store?

Interestingly, Google services such as Google, Gmail, Google Pay, Google Chrome, and YouTube apps rank high in most of the given markets on the App Store, especially in India.

Several streaming apps also dominate the top charts with Disney+, Netflix, and Hulu among the top in the US, while French and Japanese users prefer Netflix and Amazon Prime Video respectively. Social apps such as TikTok and Instagram still perform well, but payment services like PayPal and PayPay surpass their popularity in Germany and India respectively.

Also noteworthy is that South Korean App Store users embrace more banking apps (Busan Bank, Toss Bank) than in any other market. Unlike other markets, the top charts in the US include food delivery (DoorDash – Food Delivery, Uber Eats: Food Delivery) and vacation rental apps (Vrbo Vacation Rentals).

Compare your favorite top charts across different countries and categories

Covid-19 apps rank in the top charts in France & Germany

Government apps also receivedplenty of downloadsin some countries. For instance, the Korean finance app SeoulPay+ is very popular on the mobile platform, as are COVID-19 apps in Germany (CovPass and Corona-Warn-App) and France (TAC Verif). Furthermore, many App Store users in India, the UK, and the US still rely on online meeting apps like Zoom Cloud Meetings and Microsoft Teams.

Studying your market and competitors will help you detect trends and get ahead of the game. Want the latest insights from the top apps? Sign-up for a 7-day free trial!