The most liked and disliked apps in the world and South Africa (Jaque Silva/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images)

• A study by Mailsuite analysed nearly 1 500 apps on Google Play to identify the most and least favoured email, messaging and social media apps globally.
• According to the ratings studied, Microsoft Outlook is highly favoured in South Africa and 45 other countries, while Gmail is the least liked, being the most hated in 36 countries.
• Facebook Messenger is the top messaging app in South Africa, while Reddit is the most hated in the country. 

With the digital era running our lives, apps have become integral to our daily routine, shaping how we communicate, socialise and carry out professional tasks at work.

A recent study by Mailsuite shared some insight into the preferences of global users, including those in South Africa, ranking the most loved and hated apps on the internet per app store ratings.  

The study did so by analysing nearly 1 500 apps on the Google Play Store to rank the highest and lowest rated email, messaging and social media apps.

Emailing apps – most liked and hated:

Microsoft Outlook is the highest-rated email app in South Africa and 45 other countries including Mexico, Ireland, Denmark, Italy and the Philippines.

In the US, however, Yahoo Mail is preferred. Australia, Japan and seven other countries also think Yahoo Mail is the best.

READ MORE | Channel surfing to stream diving: Toddlers to teens ditch linear TV for instantaneous entertainment

The app boasts over 7.2 million reviews on Google Play, with a 4.5-star rating on average.

On the other hand, Gmail featured as the most hated email app in 36 countries, followed by AOL Mail in 22 countries.

The most hated email app in South Africa is Fast and Smart Mail.

Messaging apps

When it comes to messaging apps, Facebook Messenger features as the topmost liked app in South Africa and about four other countries. However, populations in 25 other countries hate it.

Globally, Google Messages is the most liked messaging app, rated highly in 22 countries.

While South Africans are not too fond of Telegram, it features as one of the most liked messaging apps in 17 countries, along with Rakuten Viber Messenger.

WhatsApp, one of the most popular messaging apps in South Africa, features as one of the top five hated apps (including WhatsApp Business and Facebook Messenger) in six other countries.

Social media apps

As can be expected, TikTok, which gained popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic, has emerged as the most liked social media app in 30 countries. This is followed by Threads (15), Facebook (12), Instagram (nine) and Like (seven).

Facebook emerged as the most liked app in South Africa as well, while Reddit – known as one of the most toxic spaces on the internet – is the most hated social media app in the country.

Reddit is also the most hated app in 30 countries overall, while Facebook is most hated in 39 countries.

Other apps that featured in the top five list of most hated apps overall include X (formerly known as Twitter) in 16 countries, Instagram in four countries, and Threads in four countries.