Market research firm Nielsen has published the findings of its month-long study to find out the most-used apps on the Android platform.
The most used app of all across all the defined age categories is Android Market, with Facebook being the second most used app over the month.
The other big hitters were all Google products; Google Search, Gmail, Google Maps and YouTube, with Pandora Radio and Angry Birds a fair way behind.
It’s worth noting that the statistics were gleaned via Nielsen’s proprietary on-device monitoring software, which had been voluntarily installed by thousands of US users.
Here’s the full press release from Nielsen:
App-Happy with Android: The most popular Android Apps by Age
December 12, 2011Facebook and apps from Google like Gmail and the Android Market are the most popular smartphone apps among Android owners 18 years and older in the U.S. according to Nielsen’s latest research on smartphone usage. To rank mobile apps by active reach, that is, by the percentage of Android owners who used the app within the past 30 days, Nielsen analyzed usage data from its proprietary device meters on the smartphones of the thousands of consumer panelists who agreed to be part of Nielsen’s ongoing Smartphone Analytics research.
Staying Social
Facebook’s popular app is the most active among Android owners 18-24 and 25-34, who both hover at around an 80 percent active reach. Additionally, more than three quarters of users 35-44 used the app recently as well.Google’s YouTube app gets heavy usage from Android smartphone owners 18 -24: 64 percent have used it in the past 30 days, compared to 56 percent and 51 percent of 25-34 and 35-44 year olds. A preference for media apps with a social dimension (e.g. Words with Friends) among the 18-24 set is also reinforced by their sizable usage of music and video apps (e.g. Pandora) compared to older demographics.
Play Time
Not just for the kids, the ubiquitous game, Angry Birds, appeals more to those 35-44 when compared to other age groups: 35 percent of them have used the app in the last 30 days, while only 22 percent of those 18-24 and 29 percent of 25-34 year-olds launched the game.Apps and More for Sale
Apart from gaming, the 35-44 segment demonstrates a greater inclination to shop using the Amazon AppStore: 24 percent of them used the app in the last 30 days, while only 14 percent of those 18-24 did the same. Groupon appeals more to those 25-34, not even making the top 20 ranking for those 18-24. A similar trend was found on Google+: active reach was higher for those 25 and older when compared to the 18-24 demographic.
[Nielsen]
