The Great App-scape: when life became a screen

Life could be a dream... but it's actually a tiny screen. To curb the spread of Covid, we stayed home. To curb our homebound isolation and boredom, we spent more time on apps than ever before. Mobile app usage soared 25% from July to September compared to last year. We escaped the anxiety-inducing "real world" of 2020 by living through screens — AKA: The Great App-scape.

From streaming games to Tinder games... our screens entertained us.

• Disney+ gained nearly 74M subscribers in a year, and became the #3 free iPhone app of the year as you streamed "Hamilton" from the tub.
• Epic Games notched a $17B valuation thanks to your Fortnite addiction. Meanwhile, Among Us reportedly hit ~500M players in November — a mobile game record.

From post to post... our social lives rested in the palms of our hands.

• TikTok was the most downloaded app of 2020 (and the fastest-growing) — not to mention all the copycats, from Instagram Reels, to Snap's Spotlight. Speaking of...
• Snap's daily users grew 18% to 249M, while the stock has nearly tripled in value this year.
• Match watched it shares soar to all-time highs as you spent romantic evenings through on Tinder and Hinge (#loveatfirstswipe).

Apps became way more than an escape... they became central to our lives, from managing our money, to managing our mental health, to feeding ourselves.

• Finance: Out of all categories, finance apps had the fastest growing usage compared to pre-pandemic levels: From Robinhood to TD Ameritrade, investing apps saw record growth as millions of people started participating in the markets.
• Relaxation: Calm hit a $2B valuation as meditation apps provided some peace of mind in a zero-chill era and became go-to company perks.
• Shopping: From Amazon toilet paper rolls to DoorDash burrito bowls, our apps became our shopping carts.