Google and Apple recently revealed their most popular and highest rated apps of the year, with Facebook's new app Messenger topping the list of mostly downloaded app on both stores.
Downloads of this app skyrocketed in late July both on Apple's App Store and Google Play as a result of Facebook's strategic move to separate its messenger service from the Facebook app, making it the most popular free app of 2014.
Messenger was followed by another new app, Snapchat, which allows users to take pictures and send it to others. What makes Snapchat different from other pic-sharing apps is that the sent photos will be removed in 10 seconds, allegedly providing more privacy to its users.
Other free apps in both Google's and Apple's top 10 were less surprising, such as YouTube, Facebook Instagram, and Google Maps, despite Apple having its own navigation app.
According to App Annie, a mobile analytics firm from the UK, app downloads through Google Play exceeded iOS app downloads through Apple's App Store by around 60 percent in the third quarter of 2014. However, the latter generated more revenue due to the paid apps available on it.
Gaming apps seemed to dominate the list of most popular paid apps on the App Store, with Heads Up, a password-like game that American comedian and TV presenter Ellen DeGeneres plays on her talk-variety show. The app was followed by Minecraft, a game about placing blocks and going on adventures that is known from Xbox and costs a whooping US$6.99, making it the most expensive app in the list.
Photo editor Afterlight concluded the top 3 most popular paid apps on the App Store.
However, that the most downloaded apps are not always the most highly rated apps proofs Messenger. Notwithstanding its more than 500 million downloads on Google Play, it received almost two million one-star reviews on the store. Most cited complaint? The fact that Facebook forced its users to download the app if they wanted to continue using the messenger service.
