The Top 25 Most Downloaded Mac Apps
I looked at the list
of the top 25 most downloaded apps as compiled by MacUpdater, who I
figure are as good a source as any and drew a few conclusions.
- VLC
- Pages
- AppCleaner
- Numbers
- Keynote
- iMovie
- The Unarchiver
- GarageBand
- Android File Transfer
- Speedtest
- Amphetamine
- Google Chrome
- Blackmagic Disk Speed Test
- Microsoft Teams
- Transmission
- HandBrake
- Firefox
- Microsoft PowerPoint
- Microsoft Word
- Microsoft Excel
- ImageOptim
- OneDrive
- Bartender
- Magnet
- IINA
Only five of the apps in the list are paid apps. They are the big three in Microsoft Office, the menu bar manager, Bartender and the window manager, Magnet.
The vendor with the most apps on the list is surprisingly, Microsoft with five.
For it' market share to be as small as it, Firefox must have a higher proportion of Mac users employing it than PC users.
I would wager that VLC's popularity is due to its longevity and because of enterprise deployments. I know I have been putting it on images in the educational space for as long as I can remember. IINA seems more popular with more knowledgeable users,
Despite all the predictions made about Bartender's future after the botched handling of its sale, it is the most downloaded paid app in the ecosystem after Microsoft Office.
I have never been a big user of window management tools, and I had no idea Magnet was as popular as it is. It has 165,000 reviews in the App Store and a 4.9 rating.
I find it interesting that the top 25 apps did not include a single notes app, automation tool or clipboard manager. The only messaging app is Microsoft Teams, and I hesitate to say that is its primary function.
The presence of the six-year-old Android File Transfer app is mind-blowing. I suspect this indicates that the download figures are worldwide and include countries where Androids have huge market share.
The high ranking of App Cleaner is good for two reasons - it demonstrates that an app doesn't have to be updated constantly to be useful (last update was 2023-07-05). It also shows that lots of people believe in doing more than just dragging unwanted apps to the trash.