When you look at the list of “most downloaded” apps year on year it’s normally a social media app, food delivery app or something like that, but for 2021 the list of Top Free iPhone apps is dominated by State and Federal Government apps related to the Covid-19 Pandemic.
The list, released by Apple today shows the top ten list of paid and free apps across iPhone and iPad for the year to date.
At the very top of that list was the Express Plus Medicare App – used nationally to view and share your Digital Vaccination certificate. This app is the key to Australia’s ‘opening up’ plan, and has proven effective with integrations into state based apps across most of Australia.
Those State based apps were also big features.
Queensland’s Check-in QLD was the number 2 most downloaded free app for iPhone this year, ahead of Service NSW and Service Victoria.
Despite the size of the population in NSW, it’s likely the QLD app topped it because it was developed later, enforced as mandatory later and was not in use at all before the pandemic, unlike the NSW Government Service NSW app which has been the Digital Drivers licence for NSW for a little while now.
Even MyGovID featured as fifth, the new identity verification app from the Federal Government.
From there on it was content and streaming, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Snapchat and Facebook.
If ever there was a demonstration of the role played by digital transformation in the response to the pandemic here in Australia – this list is that.
Here are the most downloaded apps in Australia for Apple iOS devices for 2021:
Top Free iPhone Apps
Top Paid iPhone Apps
Top Free iPhone Games
Top Paid iPhone Games
Top Free iPad Apps
Top Paid iPad Apps
Top Free iPad Games
Top Paid iPad Games
Top Arcade Games
Trev is a Technology Commentator, Dad, Speaker and Rev Head.
He produces and hosts several popular podcasts, EFTM, Two Blokes Talking Tech, Two Blokes Talking Electric Cars, The Best Movies You’ve Never Seen, and the Private Feed. He is the resident tech expert for Triple M on radio across Australia, and is the resident Tech Expert on Channel 9’s Today Show and appears regularly on 9 News, A Current Affair and Sky News Early Edition.
Father of three, he is often found in his Man Cave.
Australia needs more houses. In a world where polarising points of view has become a…
Heath Ledger's breakout Hollywood role is something different to what it might appear. Hark! A…
It’s a big country, and getting Wi-Fi to everywhere you need to isn’t always an…
Yesterday I got the chance to see something critical in this year's push to convince…
Google announces personalisation built into Gemini using Gmail, YouTube and other Google apps, so who's…
Epson has unveiled its new flagship ultra-short throw (UST) EH‑LS970B projector, delivering 4K resolution with…