10 Most Popular Smartphone Apps of 2016 Are All Free

The top 10 phone apps of 2016 were all free downloads. They also happen to be made by some of the largest corporations in America, including Facebook and Google.

According to data recently released by Nielsen, these apps had anywhere from 66 million to 146 million average unique users per month from January through October 2016.

The Facebook app ranks No. 1. It is followed by the Facebook Messenger app.

Facebook the company is behind both of those apps as well as a third app that made Nielsen’s top 10 — the Instagram app. Instagram is a subsidiary of Facebook.

Another tech giant, Google, is behind half of the top 10 apps: three eponymous apps and the Gmail and YouTube apps. YouTube the company is a subsidiary of Google.

However, it is the Amazon.com app that saw the biggest increase in users in 2016 compared with 2015.

The Amazon app ranks No. 10 based on its 66 million average unique users in 2016. But that reflects a 43 percent increase over 2015.

Here are all the top 10 apps of 2016:

1. Facebook: About 146 million average unique users per month
2. Facebook Messenger: Nearly 130 million
3. YouTube: Nearly 114 million
4. Google Maps: Nearly 106 million
5. Google Search: Nearly 104 million
6. Google Play: Nearly 100 million
7. Gmail: Nearly 89 million
8. Instagram: Nearly 75 million
9. Apple Music: About 68 million
10. Amazon: Nearly 66 million

We’ve linked the name of each app to the app’s website. You can also download any of these apps by visiting the app store of your choice, such as Google Play if you have an Android device or the App Store if you have an Apple device.

Speaking of operating systems for mobile devices, Nielsen crunched those numbers too.

As of the third quarter of 2016, Android operating systems’ 53 percent market share beat out Apple’s 45 percent market share. Windows Phone operating systems had 2 percent of the market and Blackberry had 1 percent.

Which app did you use most in 2016? Let us know below or on Facebook.