Who is the King of video?

In our first instalment of the Battle of the Apps, we are looking at video consumption and how TikTok and YouTube compare. While a relatively new player, TikTok is quickly rising in the ranks with its high level of engagement. 

Using our Retro data collection technology, we had thousands of individuals share their actual app usage to provide some compelling insights. This is the same data that powered our MobileLife report.

While the number of weekly active users aged 18-25 in the U.S. on iOS devices was an astounding 84% for YouTube, we saw TikTok’s reach for the same segment to come in at 61%. YouTube wins here.

As we know, reach isn’t everything and it’s a different story when looking at engagement. Individuals 18-25 who completed our Retro task were using TikTok on an average of 10.5 hours per week compared to 6.9 hours of YouTube. 

When looking at active engagement, we also found that out of all the apps on an individual’s phone, TikTok was the 5th most likely to be used first after the phone was picked up. YouTube was one spot back in 6th.

How long will YouTube be able to hold off TikTok with its massive reach? Only time will tell. For now we believe the winner is TikTok as we predict in the long run that engagement is the key to success.
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Interested in this data? We have tons more. Head over and check out our Retro Storefront, explore this Retro data in detail, or check out more findings in our MobileLife report.