TikTok Tops Download Charts in February, Despite US Download Ban

Yeah, that temporary ban on TikTok downloads in the U.S. doesn’t seem to have had much impact on the app’s momentum, based on the latest app download charts from AppFigures.

As you can see, TikTok continued to top the overall download charts in February, after seeing the most downloads in January as well.

That’s despite TikTok being technically banned in the U.S., due to the Senate-approved sell-off bill, which meant that the app wasn’t available for download in America, on either iOS or Android, from January 19th through to February 14th.

In mid-February, U.S. Attorney-General Pam Bondi provided official, legal confirmation to both app providers that they’ll be safe from any future prosecution as a result of allowing TikTok to remain available in their stores, which then saw it made available in the U.S. again.

But overall, the impact seems to have been minimal, with TikTok seeing increased download momentum in South East Asia, particularly Indonesia, which offset any potential U.S. growth losses.

Though South East Asian markets are not as lucrative for TikTok overall. The platform generates around 40% of its overall ad revenue in the U.S., while it’s also gaining momentum with its in-app shopping functions among American consumers.

So while it’s overall user counts have remained steady, if not grown in the time that American users were cut off (Note: People who had previously downloaded TikTok could still use it in this period, it just wasn’t available for download), its revenue numbers would likely have taken a hit.

But it is looking to expand its monetization push into more regions, with the platform recently rolling out TikTok Shop to retailers in Mexico, while it’s also looking to bring its live shopping elements to brands in Europe, Japan, and Brazil.  

But if you wanted to know why TikTok seems so desperate to remain in the U.S., despite the Chinese government’s opposition to the U.S. push to force it into American ownership, this is why.

In terms of other download trends, ChatGPT rose two spots this month, while Threads remains popular on iOS.

On Android, not as much.

Why would that be?

I assume this points to regional popularity. Android is the dominant operating system in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America, while iOS sees more usage in North America and Oceania. Presumably, this data would suggest that Threads is gaining more traction in the latter markets, but less so in other regions.

But then again, Threads chief Adam Mosseri recently noted that Threads is doing “remarkably well” in Japan, so it is seemingly seeing steady growth in at least some Android-dominant markets as well.

Just not all of them, apparently. Threads is currently sitting at 22nd place on the Android downloads chart.

Other than that, Meta continues to dominate, DeepSeek has dropped out of the top download charts, and Temu interest has remained steady (cheap beats good, if it’s cheap enough).

Some interesting shifts in the broader social media landscape, but no major swings this month.