TikTok 2020's Most Profitable App Despite multi-nation crackdowns, Tinder second: Report

Chinese short-video sharing app TikTok has become the most profitable app globally in 2020 with $540 million in profit, notwithstanding getting banned in India and facing a legal battle in the United States. The most talked-about dating app Tinder has become the second most profitable app by making a profit of $513 million.  

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According to data released by Apptopia, an app analytics firm, YouTube is the third most profitable app with $478 million in profit, followed by Disney with $314 million and Tencent Video with $300 million. Netflix's app is at number 10 with $209 million in profit.

The analytics firm said in a statement that all the data is combined iOS + Google Play, except the data from China which is only iOS and if an app has a ‘lite’ version, that data is included for the respective app’s data.

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As per the app analytics firm, TikTok was also the most downloaded app in the year 2020 with over 800 million downloads, followed by WhatsApp at 600 million and Facebook at over 500 million downloads globally. Instagram is the fourth-most downloaded app with over 500 million downloads and Zoom is at the fifth spot with over 400 million downloads due to the pandemic which forced professionals to attend meetings via the video calling app. 

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TikTok banned in India 

On June 29, 2020, the  Home Ministry of India had banned 59 Chinese Apps including TikTok. The Centre had stated that it has received many complaints from various sources including several reports about the misuse of these apps for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers that have locations outside India. Hence, in a move to protect the sovereignty of Indian Cyberspace and to ensure the interests of crores of Indian mobile users, the government had stated that this was a major blow to China’s Digital Silk Route ambitions. This move had come amid the ongoing India-China standoff at the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Earlier in April 2019, TikTok was briefly banned in India by the Madras High Court for hosting 'pornographic and sleazy' content. Also in 2020, several Indian users and authorities called for a ban on the app after videos promoting violence against women went viral.

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