What are the Most Popular Apps in 2023
To help you develop a
mobile app that stands out from the competition, take a look at
the top 10 trending apps of 2023 and see what they’re doing right.
Uber
Uber is the world’s leading on-demand
ride-sharing service, connecting 103 million riders to drivers in over 70
different countries across the globe.
Uber has plenty of competitors today, but
they continue to dominate the U.S. Market, with 71% of that market
share in the mobile app
development market. They also have a powerful presence in most
countries across the globe (their exit from Russia and China notwithstanding).
What made Uber so successful? Obviously,
being first-to-market was a great advantage, but the app itself offers a
superior user experience as well—something anyone can attest to when they’ve
tried using local competitors in various parts of the world.
A few things the Uber app does right:
Excellent GPS integration with Google Maps, allowing
users to drop pins in precise locations and giving them the option to make
their location known to the driver.
Seamless payment processing, with the
option to pay in cash in parts of the world where credit cards are less
widespread.
Price calculation so
riders know what they’re paying upfront. We’re all used to this by now, but
this was an innovative feature when it launched.
Price: Paid as per ride.
Instagram
One of the world’s largest social media
platforms, with 1.4 billion monthly users, Instagram offers an easy way to
connect through images and videos. Launched in 2010 and purchased by Facebook
in 2012, Instagram is extremely popular among Millennials and Gen-Zers, making
it a powerful channel for advertisers trying to reach those segments.
A few things the Instagram app does right:
The “stories” feature first
appeared on Instagram before it spread to Facebook, making it easy to capture
videos and photos that would automatically disappear within 24-hours.
In-app video and photo editing for
on-the-spot uploads.
In-app shopping, allowing
users to connect with brands they love and browse new products for sale.
Pricing: Free.
TikTok
TikTok is a popular app, built by the
Beijing-based firm ByteDance, for creating and sharing short videos. Among the
most popular genres on the platform are lip-syncing and dancing, but many use
it for highly-creative short films. Once the favorite among the under-18 crowd,
TikTok has gone mainstream.
A few things the TikTok app does right:
A highly-effective algorithm figures
out what users want to see, and it keeps them coming back. Sure, every social
media site does this, but TikTok is “sticky” beyond belief—with the average
user spending 52 minutes per day on the app, and with 90% of their monthly
users accessing it daily.
Automatic filters that
make everyone look a bit better looking on camera. Maybe this is not the best
for teaching self-acceptance and body-positivity, but it sure does drive
engagement.
Duets feature, allowing
users to collaborate on different devices to create group videos. Since
lip-syncing is all the rage on TikTok, this comes in handy with videos
like this one, where users add on to existing viral videos.
Price: Free.
Airbnb
Airbnb connects hosts who have apartments or
rooms to rent with travelers who need a place to stay. Today a household name,
Founder Brian Chesky struggled in the beginning, begging venture capitalists to
invest $150,000 to keep it afloat—in exchange for 10% of the company. One of
those VCs walked out of a coffee shop meeting with Chesky, convinced he was a
mad man with a losing idea. Oops!
A few things the Airbnb app does right:
Powerful filters that
make it easy to find the precise accommodation you want, down to details like
whether the place has an iron to iron clothes or a desk to work from.
Easy in-app communication so
hosts and guests can coordinate directly from the app.
Fully integrated payment system that
includes the ability to pay for incidentals. For instance, if you lose the
house keys and owe the landlord extra money for the copy they made, you can
handle that exchange through the app.
Price: Paid as per booking.
Netflix
Netflix is a subscription-based video-on-demand
app. It is the world’s foremost subscription Over the Top (OTT)
media service, accessible on multiple devices, including mobile. Netflix
constantly updates its huge inventory of films with the latest and most
acclaimed movies and shows across many genres.
At the end of 2020, Netflix had over 204 million paying
subscribers, and 47% of Americans prefer Netflix over any other video streaming
service. Usership skyrocketed even more as the Covid-19 pandemic wore on, with
many of us on lockdown and longing to escape into a world of cinema.
A few things the Netflix app does right:
Suggestions based on the content users like
have not only allowed Netflix to keep users engaged, but it’s led to a
burgeoning of original TV shows produced by Netflix itself.
Offline viewing lets
users download shows and movies so they can view them later on the metro or
anywhere else they don’t get data service. We’re getting used to this by now,
but it used to be that we could only stream content using a live connection.
Parental controls allows
parents to easily control the content their kids download on a family plan, and
it can all be done via the app.
Pricing: Paid subscription.
Amazon
One of the world’s largest multinational tech
giants, the Amazon ecosystem offers digital streaming, cloud
computing, e-commerce, and more. Always at the forefront of UX
innovation, the Amazon app makes it easy to buy, review, and return products
around the world.
A few things the Amazon app does right:
Barcode scanner feature, which
allows shoppers to scan a barcode for an item they find in a store and compare
it to the price on Amazon.
A high-tech, seamless returns process allows
users to select products they wish to return and process those returns directly
from the app. In certain parts of the world, customers can then bring the items
they wish to return to a local retail partner. The partner scans a QR code from
the app, receives the item, and takes care of all the return shipping.
Buy Now button that
lets users make a purchase with a single click, assuming they’ve already
uploaded their credit card and address information.
Pricing: Free.
YouTube
YouTube is the world’s most popular video
platform. It is a treasure trove of entertainment and original content, helping
millions of creators shoot and share their work with the world.
A few things the YouTube app does right:
Video chapters allow
creators to break longer videos up into sections, that way viewers can jump to
the “chapters” they want to view and skip past segments that don’t interest
them.
Easy-to-access caption buttons so
viewers can see captions on any video.
Subscribe button that
allows users to subscribe to a favorite creator’s channel with one click. This
means users will receive notifications each time that the creator posts a new
video, thereby boosting engagement and growing the platform.
Pricing: Free, with the option to
purchase an ad-free subscription.
Dropbox
Dropbox is a reliable and well-designed cloud
storage app that functions well on multiple devices. It makes it easy to share
files with teams or store important documents on the cloud for future access.
You can even comment on documents you’ve shared with other people.
A few things the Dropbox app does right:
Easy integration with
other top apps and web service available, with zero compatibility issues.
No file-size limit on
uploads.
Easy sharing features, allowing
users to create secured links to documents they want to share with a handful of
people.
Price: Free to download, with a paid
version that includes additional benefits like extra storage.
Spotify
Spotify is one of the most popular apps in
the music space. It has consistently upgraded its mobile app design, streaming
quality, and music sharing capability. The app has an ad-supported free
version, whereas Spotify premium membership removes ads and gives additional
features.
A few things the Spotify app does right:
Offline listening for
premium members, allowing users to download the songs they like and listen
without an internet connection (saying goodbye to iTunes).
Playlist following and sharing allows
users to share and discover new music.
Made-for-you playlists, with the
app’s algorithm sending you new music based on your preferences.
Price: Free, with paid subscriptions
available for ad-free listening and additional features.
WhatsApp
Launched in 2009 by Brian Acton and Jan Koum,
and sold to Facebook for $19 billion in 2014, WhatsApp is popular around the
world. It’s used to chat, make phone calls, and communicate seamlessly by using
internet data to bypass international phone networks. It currently has more
than 1.5 billion users worldwide.
A few things WhatsApp does right:
End-to-end encryption helps
keep users’ data safe.
Voice messages with
no time limit (unlike Facebook Messenger, which limits your messages to one
minute).
Pin-dropping that
allows users to share their live location with friends.
Price: Free.
Honorable Mentions: Seamless and Pocket
Beyond our top ten, we wanted to mention two
more popular apps that didn’t make the big mobile apps list but deserve a
shoutout nonetheless for their superior UX and overall execution.
Seamless
Seamless, a food ordering
app, lets users order food online through their smartphones.
Seamless is part of GrubHub, where users can order meals from around 35,000
restaurants in more than 900 cities.
A few things the Seamless app does right:
Offering tremendous variety from a
wide range of restaurants.
Simpler, more user-friendly ordering process compared
to similar apps.
Price: Free.
Pocket
Pocket helps users save and share videos,
articles, and emails to their smartphones. The app learns what you like to read
and recommends similar articles.
A few things the Pocket app does right:
Highly readable interface for
offline viewing.
Computer narration, in case
you’re occupied and want a Siri-like voice to read the content to you.
Price: Free.
Why Should a Business Invest In Mobile App
Development
Mobile users are steadily increasing, which
makes a mobile presence imperative for most businesses. Users love working with
companies that make it easy to access their content and do the things they want
to do directly from their smartphones and tablets.
The best mobile apps increase customer
engagement by solving a problem and offering a powerful UX. They also provide
a personalized
channel to connect with a business, along with quick, easy
access to customer support.
Digital
transformation is shaping the future of every business that’s
operating online, and missing out could spell disaster. The most popular apps,
which we highlighted here, have leveraged technology to become successful
around the world. Building a feature-rich application with the help of a skilled team of developers and
designers can take your business to new heights.
