Apple details the App Store's most downloaded apps and games of 2020

By Oliver Haslam
published

App Store
App Store (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • Apple has shared the top ten downloaded games and apps of 2020.
  • Apps relating to the pandemic were understandably popular.

Apple today shared the apps and games that were downloaded from the App Store the most during 2020, with games and general apps split up into different lists. As was probably to be expected, apps that are related to the COVID-19 pandemic in some way were the big winners during the year.

Video calling app Zoom found itself at the top of the free apps across both iPhone and iPad, for example. With the pandemic limiting travel and offices closed, people took to Zoom as a way of keeping in touch with people and running business meetings. The top paid app on iPhone was TouchRetouch, while Procreate picked up the win on iPad.

Zoom on iPhone

Zoom on iPhone (Image credit: Matt Brown / iMore)

Top Free iPhone Apps

  1. ZOOM Cloud Meetings
  2. TikTok
  3. Disney+
  4. YouTube
  5. Instagram
  6. Facebook
  7. Snapchat
  8. Messenger
  9. Gmail
  10. Cash App

Top Paid iPhone Apps

  1. TouchRetouch
  2. Procreate Pocket
  3. Dark Sky Weather
  4. Facetune
  5. HotSchedules
  6. AutoSleep Track Sleep
  7. The Wonder Weeks
  8. SkyView
  9. Shadowrocket
  10. Sky Guide

In terms of games, it was all Among Us! and Minecraft, again two winners that were perhaps predictable given the popularity of the pair.

Among Us Cover

Among Us Cover (Image credit: Innersloth)

Top Free iPhone Games

  1. Among Us!
  2. Call of Duty: Mobile
  3. Roblox
  4. Subway Surfers
  5. Ink Inc. - Tattoo Drawing
  6. Magic Tiles 3: Piano Game
  7. Brain Test: Tricky Puzzles
  8. Brain Out
  9. Coin Master
  10. Cube Surfer!

Top Paid iPhone Games

  1. Minecraft
  2. Plague Inc.
  3. Heads Up!
  4. Monopoly
  5. Bloons TD6
  6. Geometry Dash
  7. NBA 2K20
  8. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
  9. The Game of Life
  10. True Skate

In terms of Apple Arcade, the hugely popular Sneaky Sasquatch sits in the top spot, with a mix of huge franchises and indy games making up the remainder of the top downloaded games

Apple Arcade

Apple Arcade (Image credit: Joseph Keller/iMore)

Top Arcade Games

  1. Sneaky Sasquatch
  2. Hot Lava
  3. Skate City
  4. Sonic Racing
  5. PAC-MAN Party Royale
  6. SpongeBob: Patty Pursuit
  7. Oceanhorn 2
  8. Crossy Road Castle
  9. WHAT THE GOLF?
  10. LEGO Brawls

Apple confirmed the most popular apps and games alongside the winners of its App Store Best Of 2020 winners.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.