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The Most Popular App Store Keywords of 2022

Anthony Ansuncion by ,  ASO Expert App Market Insights

What were the most searched terms on the App Store in 2022? We looked at 6 of the largest app markets (United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, and India) to find out which keywords reached the highest search volumes this year.

The most popular keywords are defined as searches that received the highest possible search volume scores at some point in a year. The volume score is a number between 5 and 100, calculated and directly received from Apple. The higher the search volume, the more popular the keyword and the higher the frequency of searches for that term on the App Store.

The top 20 most searched keywords on the App Store changed quite a bit from 2021 to 2022. Only 6 keywords that ranked in the top 20 in 2021 still rank in the top 20 in 2022: “instagram,” “snapchat,” “facebook,” “tik tok,” “youtube,” and “messenger.”

On the other hand, some notable keywords that lost their top 20 popularity rankings this year are “mario kart,” “zoom,” “among us,” “disney plus,” and “free games.”

  • instagram
  • snapchat
  • facebook
  • tik tok
  • wordle
  • youtube
  • twitter
  • roblox
  • tinder
  • truth social
  • whatsapp
  • cash app
  • discord
  • messenger
  • netflix
  • reddit
  • grindr
  • spotify
  • amazon
  • google

The following table shows the 20 most popular keywords with the highest search volumes recorded for the United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, and India.

United States   United Kingdom   France   Germany   Spain   India  
Keyword Max Volume 2022 Keyword Max Volume 2022 Keyword Max Volume 2022 Keyword Max Volume 2022 Keyword Max Volume 2022 Keyword Max Volume 2022
instagram100instagram100instagram100instagram100instagram100instagram100
snapchat98snapchat100snapchat100snapchat98whatsapp94whatsapp95
facebook95facebook96facebook93whatsapp96tik tok90bgmi92
tik tok93wordle96tik tok93corona warn app94facebook89snapchat91
wordle92tiktok94tinder91covpass92hay day89facebook89
youtube92vpn94whatsapp91tik tok92tinder89free fire88
twitter91whatsapp92youtube90facebook90telegram88youtube88
roblox90youtube91clash royale89tinder90clash royale86telegram86
tinder90roblox90netflix89youtube90netflix86pubg85
truth social90tinder90telegram89netflix88spotify86google pay84
whatsapp90love island89capcut88spotify88youtube86paytm84
cash app88twitter89sweatcoin88lobby87salud andalucia85vpn84
discord88messenger88tous anti covid88reddit86twitter84amazon83
messenger88new profile pic88messenger87telegram86capcut83mx player83
netflix88reddit88twitter87ebay kleinanzeigen85amazon82netflix83
reddit88vpn free unlimited88spotify86roblox85parchis82phone pay83
grindr87grindr87subway surfers85subway surfer85snapchat82whatsapp business82
spotify87netflix87tiktok85amazon84zara82google81
amazon86nhs87uber eats85db navigator84glovo81hotstar81
google86spotify87waze85luca app84gmail81zomato81

Just like in the US, the most popular keyword searches in the other 5 markets changed quite a bit between 2021 and 2022. Compared to 2021, each country has at least 10 new keywords in the top 20 most popular searches.

Generic keywords lost popularity on the App Store in 2022

In previous years, the most searched keywords in each country were typically brand names; this is even more the case in 2022.

In 2021, there were 19 searches for generic keywords across the 6 markets, and each country had at least 1 generic keyword ranking in the top 20. This year, however, we count a total of only 6 generic keyword searches (among the top 20) across the 6 markets. The US, France, and Germany did not have any generic keywords in the top 20. Here is an overview of the top searches for generic keywords across the 6 markets:

  • USA – no generic searches
  • UK – 3 searches: “vpn,” “new profile pic,” and “vpn free unlimited”
  • France – no searches
  • Germany – no searches
  • Spain – 1 search: “salud andalucia”
  • India – 1 search: “vpn”

Expert Tip

The top 20 most popular keywords contain many branded terms. Using competitors’ trademarked keywords in your metadata can be tempting to drive a lot of traffic, but this is not allowed on the App Store (and not recommended to include in your keyword field).

Compared to last year, the top keywords are dominated by dating apps such as “tinder” and “grindr.” Last year, Bumble (US) was the only dating app that ranked in the top 20 across the 6 markets. This year, 7 dating apps are among the top popular searches, with each country having at least 1 dating app ranking in the top 20.

It is interesting to note that last year there were 6 COVID-related searches ranking as the most popular across the 6 markets, while this year there were only 3. For example, “Tous Anti Covid” (ranked #8 in France in 2021) now is now the 13th most popular search, while Corona Warn App (ranked #1 in Germany in 2021) now ranks #4 on the App Store. This could be due to the global COVID-19 vaccination efforts this year that have altered the trajectory of the pandemic.

A further observation is that “Zoom” did not rank in the top 20 searches for any of the 6 markets this year, while last year it ranked in the top 20 for 4 of the 6 markets. This could be attributed to more employees returning to office environments in a post-pandemic world.

Overall, the top keywords on the App Store continue to be dominated by social media and networking apps, such as ”instagram,” ”twitter,” ”snapchat,” “tiktok,” and “facebook,” much like in the previous year.

Communication & gaming keywords among top searches in 2022

The second and third most popular categories of top searches in 2022 are communication and gaming searches respectively. For communication searches, “WhatsApp” is the most popular search term, ranking in the top 20 for each of the 6 markets. In terms of gaming searches, “Roblox” is the most popular term, ranking in the top 20 for the US, UK, and Germany. Video-related keyword searches are also popular, with “Netflix” and “YouTube” both ranking in the top 20 searches for each of the 6 markets.

Want to unlock more insights? Have a look at the full list of the 500 most popular keywords of 2021 for the past few years:

Top 500 most popular keywords of 2022 -US-UK-FR-DE-ES

Top 500 most popular keywords of 2021 -US-UK-FR-DE-ES

Top 500 most popular keywords of 2020 -US-UK-FR-DE-ES

Top 500 most popular keywords of 2019 -US-UK-FR-DE-ES

Top 1000 most popular keywords of 2018 -US-UK-FR-DE-ES

Want to discover the keywords people use when searching for your app or competitors’ apps? Learn more about our App Keyword Research Tools and sign up for a 7-day free trial.

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Anthony Ansuncion

by ,  ASO Expert

Anthony is an ASO Expert at AppTweak helping apps improve their store presence. He is passionate about sports, movies, video games and has way too many shoes.

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