Culture
The World’s Most Used Apps, by Downstream Traffic
The World’s Most Used Apps, by Downstream Traffic
Of the millions of apps available around the world, just a small handful of the most used apps dominate global internet traffic.
Everything connected to the internet takes bandwidth to view. When you look at something on your smartphone—whether it’s a new message on Instagram or the next few seconds of a YouTube video—your device is downloading the data in the background.
And the bigger the files, the more bandwidth is utilized. In this chart, we break down of the most used apps by category, using Sandvine’s global mobile traffic report for 2021 Q1.
Video Drives Global Mobile Internet Traffic
The biggest files use the most data, and video files take the cake.
According to Android Central, streaming video ranges from about 0.7GB per hour of data for a 480p video to 1.5GB per hour for 1080. A 4K stream, the highest resolution currently offered by most providers, uses around 7.2GB per hour.
That’s miles bigger than audio files, where high quality 320kbps music streams use an average of just 0.12GB per hour. Social network messages are usually just a few KB, while the pictures found on them can range from a few hundred KB for a low resolution image to hundreds of MB for high resolution.
Understandably, breaking down mobile downstream traffic by app category shows that video is on top by a long shot:
Category | Downstream Traffic Share (2021 Q1) |
---|---|
Video Streaming | 48.9% |
Social Networking | 19.3% |
Web | 13.1% |
Messaging | 6.7% |
Gaming | 4.3% |
Marketplace | 4.1% |
File Sharing | 1.3% |
Cloud | 1.1% |
VPN and Security | 0.9% |
Audio | 0.2% |
Video streaming accounts for almost half of mobile downstream traffic worldwide at 49%. Audio streaming, including music and podcasts, accounts for just 0.2%.
Comparatively, social network and web browsing combined make up one third of downstream internet traffic. Games, marketplace apps, and file sharing, despite their large file sizes, only require one-time downloads that don’t put as big of a strain on traffic as video does.
A Handful of Companies Own the Most Used Apps
Though internet traffic data is broken down by category, it’s worth noting that many apps consume multiple types of bandwidth.
For example, messaging and social network apps, like WhatsApp, Instagram, and Snapchat, allow consumers to stream video, social network, and message.
Even marketplace apps like iTunes and Google Play consume bandwidth for video and audio streaming, and together account for 6.3% of total mobile downstream traffic.
But no single app had a bigger footprint than YouTube, which accounts for 20.4% of total global downstream bandwidth.
Category | Top Apps (Category Traffic) | Category Traffic Share |
---|---|---|
Video Streaming | YouTube | 47.9% |
Video Streaming | TikTok | 16.1% |
Video Streaming | Facebook Video | 14.6% |
Video Streaming | 12.1% | |
Video Streaming | Netflix | 4.3% |
Video Streaming | Other | 5.0% |
Social Networking | 50.5% | |
Social Networking | 41.9% | |
Social Networking | 2.4% | |
Social Networking | Odnoklassniki | 1.9% |
Social Networking | 0.7% | |
Social Networking | Other | 2.9% |
Messaging | 31.4% | |
Messaging | Snapchat | 16.5% |
Messaging | Facebook VoIP | 14.3% |
Messaging | LINE | 12.1% |
Messaging | Skype | 4.1% |
Messaging | Other | 21.6% |
Web | 41.2% | |
Web | Other | 58.8% |
The world’s tech giants had the leading app in the four biggest data streaming categories. Alphabet’s YouTube and Google made up almost half of all video streaming and web browsing traffic, while Facebook’s own app, combined with Instagram and WhatsApp, accounted for 93% of global social networking traffic and 45% of messaging traffic.
Traffic usage by app highlights the data monopoly of tech giants and internet providers. Since just a few companies account for a majority of global smartphone internet traffic, they have a lot more bartering power (and responsibility) when it comes to our general internet consumption.
Culture
The Highest Earning Athletes in Seven Professional Sports
We illustrate how much the highest earning athletes across seven different sports make, and where they get their money from.
The Highest Earning Athletes in Seven Professional Sports
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on Apple or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
How much money do the world’s biggest athletes really make? And how do they compare across different sports?
We visualized the highest earning athletes in various professional sports, according to calculations from Forbes. Earnings reported here cover the period of May 2022 to May 2023. Earnings includes on-field (salary, bonuses, prize money) and off-field (endorsements, licensing, etc).
Forbes’ research included talking to industry insiders, following news reports, and parsing salary databases. Please see their methodology page for further details.
Who is the Highest Paid Athlete in the World?
Cristiano Ronaldo was the highest-paid athlete in the world, making an estimated $136 million between May 2022 and May 2023. His move to Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr set a record for the biggest contract in the sport at the time.
Here’s how he compared to the top earners in some other sports.
Athlete | Sport | Total Earnings (May 2022–23) |
---|---|---|
Cristiano Ronaldo | ⚽ Soccer | $136M |
LeBron James | 🏀 Basketball | $120M |
Canelo Alvarez | 🥊 Boxing | $110M |
Dustin Johnson | ⛳ Golf | $107M |
Roger Federer | 🎾 Tennis | $95M |
Russell Wilson | 🏈 American Football | $85M |
Lewis Hamilton | 🏎️ Formula 1 | $65M |
Note: Figures are rounded.
Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James made the most money in basketball (just under $120 million), which is almost twice as much as Formula 1’s top earner, Lewis Hamilton, who took home about $65 million in 2022–23.
Something else to note is how off-court earnings can contribute significantly to total income for some athletes.
Athlete | Sport | On-Field Earnings | Off-Field Earnings |
---|---|---|---|
Cristiano Ronaldo | ⚽ Soccer | $46M | $90M |
LeBron James | 🏀 Basketball | $45M | $75M |
Canelo Alvarez | 🥊 Boxing | $100M | $10M |
Dustin Johnson | ⛳ Golf | $102M | $5M |
Roger Federer | 🎾 Tennis | $0.1M | $95M |
Russell Wilson | 🏈 American Football | $72M | $13M |
Lewis Hamilton | 🏎️ Formula 1 | $55M | $10M |
Note: Figures are rounded.
This is most apparent with Roger Federer, who retired in 2022, after playing his last Laver Cup. However, his massive deals with Uniqlo, Rolex, and Mercedes, as well as his stake in running company On, still keeps him towards the top of the these lists.
Together with Ronaldo and James, these three athletes are widely considered the face of their sport, undoubtedly helping them secure lucrative endorsements and business deals.
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