Explained: How the most downloaded pandemic apps performed in 2021

It is amongst the top nine apps in the world that were set up to support citizens during the pandemic in terms of downloads. But Aarogya Setu, the mobile app developed as a means of contact tracing, has performed reasonably well among peers both in terms of installed base as well as usage despite the large population in the country.

According to App Annie which tracks mobile app data across the globe and in India, the percentage of mobile devices installed with the app in India hit 30 per cent in 2021. And the open rate (the percentage of that installed base who opened the app during the year in the country) was 46 per cent.

However, data for 2020 shows that open rate in 2020 was much higher at 75 per cent (on an installed penetration of 32 per cent). App Annie points out that despite the highest downloads, it showed decline in open rate year on year.

Some analysts say this could be because many citizens shifted to using the CoWin app in the vaccination phase last year as it was specifically meant for booking vaccinations and keeping records. The app has over 10 million downloads and can be used for multiple people to book and store vaccination data.    

Aarogya Setu was clearly the most downloaded app in this space globally with over 100 million plus downloads. But with the second highest population in the world after China and a mobile device base of 1.2 billion phone connections its percentage installed penetration as well as open rate are lower than many others in the list who have a smaller population base.

Open rates varied from country to country. Malaysia stood first and had an installed penetration of 85 per cent (up from 50 per cent in 2020). Its open rate was also high at 92 per cent (it was 90 per cent in 2020). The country, however, saw over 80 per cent of its population vaccinated in 2021, according to John Hopkins University data.

On the other hand, in the UK the installed penetration of the NHS app went up from a mere 3 per cent in 2020 to 20 per cent in 2021. But where they have scored is on open rate penetration, which went up from 60 per cent in 2020 to 80 per cent in 2021. It had over 71 per cent of its population vaccinated.

Of course, App Annie points out that the list does not have any app from the US, where there is no central app for pandemic-related services, with each state having its own version.