TikTok topped global app download tables between January and end-November, beating a trio of Facebook-owned apps to the crown despite US concerns over the security of the service, App Annie revealed.

In a report, the analytics company said the TikTok climbed three spots compared with the same period in 2019, and tipped the service to hit 1 billion monthly active users in 2021.

Facebook’s Messenger, standalone app and WhatsApp messenger service respectively topped the table in 2019, but App Annie explained TikTok had won favour by “blurring the lines” between social and streaming apps.

Globally, app downloads across iOS and Google Play are expected to reach 130 billion by the end of 2020, up from 120 billion in 2019, which the company credited in large part to heightened demand for digital products during the Covid-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

Overall spend is expected to grow 25 per cent year-on-year to $112 billion, a goodly rise on the 15 per cent annual growth recorded in 2019.

Senior insights manager Lexi Sydow predicted the market would “see continued growth in at home mobile services” into 2021, “particularly as markets contend with outbreaks” ahead of availability of “effective vaccines”.