https://techcrunch.com/2021/01/23/this-week-in-apps-tiktok-viral-hit-breaks-spotify-records-inauguration-boosts-news-app-installs-judge-rules-against-parler/ > Welcome back to This Week in Apps, the weekly TechCrunch series that recaps the latest in mobile OS news, mobile applications and the overall app economy. > The app industry is as hot as ever, with a record 218 billion downloads and $143 billion in global consumer spend in 2020.