New apps abound but people stick to a few of their favourites

26 Aug 2014

SAN FRANCISCO, USA: There may be a growing number of applications for smartphones, but people in the USA tend to cling to the few they like and shun the rest, comScore says.

Although thousands of apps are available for iPhone and Android devices most people in the USA use only three or four of their favourites according to research by comScore. Image: [[http://www.reviewbank.net ReviewBank.Net

Nearly two-thirds of US smartphone owners do not download any applications in a month, comScore said in its Mobile App Report.

Nearly half of all apps or mini-programs, downloads were done by just seven percent of smartphone owners in any given month, according to the report that was released last week.

Fun, functional or hip apps for smartphones or tablets are seen by analysts as key to the popularity of the devices, and rivals such as Apple, Google and Microsoft work hard to get developers to tailor apps to devices powered by their software.

Apple's online App Store boasts hundreds of thousands of titles available for users of devices powered by Apple's software.

"While more than half of US smartphone owners accessed applications on their gadgets daily, a staggering" 42% of time was spent on just their favorite apps," said comScore.

"Americans have a difficult time living without their mobile devices, as seen by the vast majority of consumers using apps on their smartphones and tablets nearly every day," comScore said in its report.

Mobile time spent on just four mini-programs

However, nearly three of every four minutes spent using apps was in any of four preferred mini-programs.

The report indicated that social networking, entertainment and messaging accounted for much of the time spent using mobile apps in the United States.

Internet companies Facebook, Google, Apple, Yahoo, Amazon and eBay accounted for nine of the top-10 most used apps, according to the industry tracker.

"Facebook is the top application in terms of audience size and share of time spent by smartphone users," comScore reported.

According to comScore, people using iPhones spend large amounts of their "app time" on general news, radio, photos, social networking, and weather.

Those opting for Android-powered devices devoted a greater share of their time to online search and email.

"The annual income of a median iPhone app user was $85,000, compared with $61,000 made in a year by a median Android user," comScore reported.

Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge

Source: I-Net Bridge

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