Temu, the Chinese e-commerce company whose app is now attracting longer engagement times than Amazon, has topped Apple's list for the most downloaded free apps in the U.S. for 2023. The Cupertino-based tech giant today released an App Store feature that shows the top iPhone apps of the year, free and paid, as measured by app installs — its proxy for overall popularity. Apps from China-based companies had taken over those held by America's great tech giants of Meta and Google in the rankings that emerged this year, in particular with Beijing-based ByteDance coming in on CapCut and TikTok, at Nos. 3 and 5, respectively.

Meta showed up in the top 10 this year with a slightly different mix, from last year when it ranked No. 3 with WhatsApp, No. 4 with Instagram, and No. 9 with Facebook. Gone from the charts is Facebook, while Meta's new app Instagram Threads was the No. 3 app by U.S. downloads. Instagram followed at No. 6 and WhatsApp at No. 9, slipping from their ranking last year.

Meanwhile, Google dominated the chart last year with YouTube the No. 2 app, behind TikTok; Google Maps at No. 5; Google Search at No. 6; and Gmail at No. 7. Last year, however, Google saw only two apps crack the top 10 in terms of downloads: No. 7 Google Search, and No. 8 YouTube, which ranked at No. 2 the previous year.

The shift in downloads may indicate that U.S. tech giants are reaching nearly a saturation point in the market, where their apps are no longer as hot as they used to be a couple of years ago since many already have them installed. This also brings about the growing demand for Chinese company applications, such as ByteDance, gaining younger users' interest, as well as the need for government scrutiny, causing TikTok to be barred from use on several devices used by the government because of its China ties. The Montana state also attempted to ban TikTok in that state, but that judgment was put on hold pending a court ruling due to the ongoing lawsuit by TikTok.

The negative attention that TikTok has received throughout the year might be behind its slump from No. 1 app last year to currently the No. 5 app. Yet U.S. consumers haven't sworn off Chinese apps, by all accounts, considering the rise of Temu to the No. 1 spot. Bloomberg said that Apptopia reported that consumers spent 18 minutes a day on Temu's app and 10 minutes on Amazon. Younger users were spending even higher amounts of time, averaging 19 minutes a day. While in-app games attract users, its real draw may be its bargain prices, which is more appealing during an economic downturn. It's also a heavily-marketed app, just like TikTok was in the months leading up to its No. 1 ranking last year.

The only other top app in the list not from Meta, Google or a Chinese firm was Max (formerly HBO Max), which showed up as the No. 3 app by downloads in the U.S.

Here the paid app leaderboard reflects a more alternative market-those of small developers who create useful productivity tools or creative apps, and there is something the users really want to pay for, whereas the free ones here include (in order) : 7 Easy Spanish, End- Easy German and many more.

The best free games were comprised of several repeat offenders from last year's top winners like Roblox, Call of Duty: Mobile, Subway Surfers and Parking Jam 3D, among others. Here is what the list says: At No. 1 stood MONOPOLY GO!
Roblox (reached No. 2 this year after being last year's No. 3), Royal Match, Subway Surfers (fallen to No3 from last year's No. 2), Gardenscapes, Call of Duty: Mobile rose to No. 5 from No. 8 last year, Block Blast!

Makeover Studio: Makeup Games, Parking Jam 3D (tied with last year) and Survivor!
 
.io. The highest-grossing games in the U.S. were led by Microsoft-owned Minecraft, and also included Heads Up!, Geometry Dash, Bloons TD 6, MONOPOLY, Papa's Freezeria To Go!, Plague Inc., Red's First Flight, Five Nights at Freddy's, which was adapted into a movie this year, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Apple also displays another feature featuring free and paid top iPad applications and games of the year, alongside listing top games for Apple Arcade, the only view of Apple's closed subscription store, unlike the broader App Store where Top Charts let you see into the black box it is. There's some overlap in these lists, though streaming apps make a better showing among the free iPad apps. That list includes (in order) Max, YouTube and Netflix in the top three spots and Disney+, Prime Video and Peacock at No. 5, 8 and 10, respectively. Top iPad games also include more kid-friendly titles, like Toca Life: Hospital (No. 5) and Teach Your Monster to Read (No. 7).