UAE residents' favourite app revealed; some spend up to 12 hours a day on it
According to Sensor Tower's State of Mobile 2025 report, TikTok is the most popular app in the UAE as residents spent on average around 2 hours a day using it.
Data showed that the UAE's 11.2 million residents spent 7.63 billion hours in 2024 on the Chinese-owned app, which amounted to around 2 hours a day. This amounts to approximately 700 hours spent by each resident on the social media app last year.
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Long hours on TikTok
During weekdays, Haleema Saud, a student, spends three to four hours on TikTok and 6 hours on her smartphone.
'And on a good chill day, I spend 12 hours on the phone when I have nothing to do and 8 hours on TikTok easily, watching videos about cooking, baking, Islam, computer engineering and working,' she said.
Saud is among UAE residents who spend long hours on this social media app.
TikTok was in the news globally recently due to a law in the US to ban it due to concerns about spying on the data of American citizens. Later, US President Donald Trump issued an executive order to delay a ban on the short-video app for 75 days.
Dubai-based Telegram was the second most popular app in the UAE as residents spend an average of an hour a day using it, said the report.
Other popular apps in the country include WhatsApp Business, MX Player, Phone by Google, Google Maps, PLAYit and Gmail.
UAE residents spent most of their time online on social media apps and platforms, followed by AI chatbots, software and other utilities, media and entertainment and browsing for shopping.
Top downloaded apps
Among social media apps, TikTok was the most downloaded app in UAE last year followed by Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp Messenger and Telegram.
Overall, TikTok was the second most downloaded in the UAE last year after VPN Proxy Master.
Among finance apps, the buy-now-pay-later app Tabby was the most downloaded app followed by digital wallets app Taptap Send, C3Pay, Mashreq Egypt, ADCB Hayyak, ADCB, e&, insurance app ILOE, Binance and BNPL app Tamara.
Chinese e-commerce app Temu, known for affordable products, was the most downloaded shopping app in the UAE and 15 major markets in 2024, as consumers sought options to address inflation, high interest rates, and economic uncertainty.
'Consumers increasingly look for platforms where they can shop across sectors,' said the report.
Temu's pricing strategy is underpinned by a direct-from-factory model, connecting shoppers directly with manufacturers. By cutting out intermediaries, the platform maintains competitive pricing and operational efficiency.
Trendyol, Shein, Noon and Amazon made it to the top 5 most downloaded apps in the shopping category last year.
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