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- App analytics firm App Annie recently released data about the most downloaded apps of the decade.
- Facebook-owned apps took the top four spots, with a combined 16 billion downloads.
- Messaging and calling platforms were clearly popular, with the dominance of Facebook and the prominent spots for Snapchat and Skype.
- TikTok, a relative newcomer that's growing faster than Facebook and Instagram, also landed on the list.
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Facebook faced scandal after scandal over the past ten years, but you'd never know it by looking at the download numbers. Despite concerns about data sharing, spreading misinformation, and questionable moderation, Facebook-owned apps were downloaded a combined 16 billion times this decade, according to app analytics firm App Annie.
The second half of the decade has been particularly tough for Facebook's reputation, when the tech giant was implicated in the Cambridge Analytica scandal and faced criticism over the social network's role in inciting genocide in Myanmar. Still, Facebook's various apps account for nearly half of the top 10, and it seems to be looking to expand that dominance even further. This year it was reported that Facebook tried to buy No. 7 on the list, TikTok's predecessor Musical.ly, in 2016, and it continues to experiment with launching new social media apps.
Here are the most downloaded apps of the decade.
