This Week in Apps #16 - TikTok, Six Flags, Airbnb, and more

This Week in Apps is a short, no-fluff, round-up of interesting things that happened in the mobile industry. Here are our top highlights.

U.S. Mobile Download Index: App Store 82.3, Google Play 83.47

Downloads of Tesla’s app, which you need to operate your shiny new car, have bounced back after dipping low during COVID. Downloads are now at 2020’s all-time high, mimicking its skyrocketing stock price. I bet you the two would align more closely if you took Elon’s Twitter app away from him, but that’s just a guess.

It feels like China is in the news every week nowadays, and this week is no different. But in reverse. The government of India has announced they’d block a slew of Chinese-owned apps, including TikTok. This is bad news for the teen-favorite, who's the leader in downloads in India. With more than half a million new downloads every day now up for grabs, which rival will provide a replacement?

The NYTimes is betting on paid subscriptions as ad revenue has been shrinking over the years. This week, the paper announced they’ll be pulling out of Apple News to focus on building direct subscriptions. With more time at home and more reasons to read the news, downloads have spiked but are back down, while revenue continues to grow.

Summer is upon us, and people in the U.S. are back on the road and traveling. The new normal has people staying more local and not at hotels. Who wins? Airbnb. Downloads on the App Store have hit a new record, far outpacing last summer and also pre-COVID downloads.

Six Flags re-opens today in some states. Giddy with anticipation, users have flocked to its mobile apps, sending downloads up to a 2020 high of over 5,000 downloads in one day. That’s more than 5x the downloads in May, but less than half the downloads last year.

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