TikTok Had Over 700 Million Downloads In 2019, More Than Facebook And Messenger

2019 was a successful yet troublesome year for TikTok, it was banned in the US Navy and Army due to security concerns. However, the Chinese social app thrived as one of the most downloaded apps.

Sensor Tower reported that in 2019, TikTok was downloaded more than 700 million times across the globe, making it the year’s second-most downloaded app and beating both Facebook and Facebook Messenger.

WhatsApp had the most downloads last year, downloaded more than 850 million times, probably due to how popular it is in India. TikTok also had 45 percent of its total downloads from the country. In the fourth quarter of 2019, WhatsApp grew by 39 percent compared with the third quarter, according to the data firm.

TikTok is a Chinese social platform where users, most of whom are teens and young people, post short musical videos of 15 seconds or less. Using an algorithm, the app learns what users like through assessing the kinds of videos they watch and how long they watch them. The app then displays that type of content on the main feed for users. Overall, the app has got more than 1.5 billion downloads and its parent company ByteDance is now the world’s most valuable startup.

In recent months, however, the app has been increasingly scrutinized by the US government, alleged of threatening user privacy, free speech, and security. For example, according to a proposed class-action lawsuit, TikTok has been illegally collecting personally identifiable data on users, sending it to China. Meanwhile, Huawei has been accused of potential harm to national security in the US.

The consequences is blacklisting in Huawei’s case. TikTok has been banned on government phones as well as from the US Navy.

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