These days, there’s a “National Day” for everything. There’s also an app for everything. So, on December 11th, we celebrate National App Day and all of the options, helpful information, and simple entertainment we receive from apps.
The first iPhone was released in 2007, and that was basically the beginning of the app era. Since then, apps have only grown in quantity and quality, and have become more popular than ever. I was in middle school when I got my first cell phone, and let me tell you, it sure wasn’t an iPhone. When I finally got my first iPhone, I was hooked, like everyone my age was at the time. I downloaded apps and was able to send my 200 texts a month (can you imagine those limits today?!) and I thought I was truly living my best life.
Since then, I have continued to use an iPhone and have continued to download apps as they come out. I’ll admit, I didn’t want to download TikTok for a while because of the negative experience I had running ads on their platform – I’ve read reports that it’s gotten better, but that’s not the point of this blog. The point is that I, like many other people across the world, download new apps when they are released and they become popular.
Think about how much time you spend on your phone every day. Now think about which apps you use most. We’re going to bet that messages, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, or TikTok (depending on your age) are in your top 3. How did we do?
This may not be shocking to many, but TikTok was the most downloaded app in 2021 with 89 million users in the United States alone. After TikTok, you’ll see Facebook, Instagram, and Facebook Messenger all in the top 10. You’ll also see Zoom listed, which before 2020 was a laughable matter. Zoom is now the 8th most used app, listed right after Snapchat and before CashApp and Netlfix.
Which of these apps do you use daily? And which have you downloaded since the pandemic began versus how you lived your pre-COVID life? I know that personally, my daily screen time has increased since the pandemic began. I used to spend an hour getting ready for work and an hour commuting; I now save two hours each day, and sometimes, I spend that time on my phone.
Other times, I work out or deep clean my house – but once or twice each week, I find myself staring at my little screen full of dozens of apps. I don’t always sit on the same apps for an hour or two at a time, but in the last few months, I can tell you that my TikTok and Pinterest usage has skyrocketed, like many others across the country.
I am also planning a wedding, so Pinterest helps me find and save ideas for everything and I have somehow landed on WeddingTok – these might be excuses I’m making to pretend that what I’m doing is productive when I know that I’m sort of wasting time on my phone. But either way, these apps are helping me to plan my dream wedding multiple states away and I am thankful for them.
As a Senior Brand Manager, I work in social media every day (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more) and constantly write content for blogs and websites. None of that would be possible without apps, and I really can’t imagine doing anything else; so, to the invention of the iPhone and the thousands of developers who have come out with apps throughout the past decade and a half, thank you – I have my job and future wedding to thank for it.
