Instagram is now the world's most downloaded app, overtaking TikTok, after its copied video feature Reels helped it reach the top spot.
The photo and video-sharing social media app launched its own version of short-form video content in August 2020. At launch, Reels could only be 15 seconds, but they now allow users to post up to 90 seconds. Like TikTok videos, they can be shared with anyone.
Though Instagram faced stiff competition from TikTok, it seems that the introduction of Reels helped it fight back. Instagram was downloaded 767m times worldwide in 2023, a rise of 20% on the previous year, compared with 733m for TikTok, which grew by 4%. TikTok had previously been the most popular download globally between 2018 and 2022.
The data was compiled by market intelligence company Sensor Tower, who said Instagram’s revival was “likely driven by the popularity of its Reels feature” as well as its other functions such as photo-sharing and its Stories disappearing-video feature (a copy of the Snapchat app).
Farhad Divecha, owner and managing director of the UK-based digital marketing agency Accuracast, said that Instagram's broader demographic appeal also helps increase its popularity.
“One thing I think goes in Instagram’s favour is, it appeals to a broader audience demographic, and doesn’t have the ‘it’s for the kids only’ connotation that some people associate with TikTok,” he told The Guardian.
Instagram has nearly 1.5 billion monthly active users, according to Sensor Tower, with TikTok at just over 1.1 billion. However, TikTok has more active users, who spend an average of 95 minutes a day on the app, compared with 62 minutes for Instagram.
In 2022, Mark Zuckerberg, the Facebook founder and the chief executive of Instagram’s parent, Meta, made reference to the threat of TikTok. He said his company’s apps had numerous competitors for users’ attention and that platforms like TikTok were “growing very quickly”.
