When you really boil it down, which apps that you’ve downloaded from the Android Market do you actually use? According to new numbers from Nielsen, outside of the Market itself, Facebook is the next used app across age groups on Android. Four out of every five people use Facebook for Android, outdistancing Google’s own apps and just about every other app on the platform.
That comes as no surprise. Facebook is the most popular app of all time, with 350 million people accessing the social network from mobile devices. Across the age demographics surveyed by Nielsen, Google properties took the next four spots. After that, the list gets interesting, with media apps more popular for younger segments and productivity apps prevalent for older Android users.
In the 25-34 and 35-44 age groups, Gmail was the third most used app with 80% and 77% respectively. Gmail is used by 70% of the 18-24 age bracket, with Google search taking the third spot at 77%. YouTube took the sixth spot in each demographic but young users are 13% more likely to access the video network from Android devices than the oldest demographic in the study.
Pandora Radio, Words With Friends and Angry Birds all made the list, with Pandora use higher in the youngest demographic and Angry Birds taking the seventh spot for the two older segments. QuickOffice ranked higher for the older users.
Take a look at the chart below. It is interesting to note how the 25-34 demographic is a bridge between the 18-24 and 35-44 groups. Pandora might be the best example, with less older users streaming music than the younger two but QuickOffice ranking higher.
There is one common denominator with all of these apps, as the same apps show up on each list. Most of them are featured heavily in the Android Market (except, of course, the Amazon Appstore). The fact of the matter is that the top 50 or so apps on the Android Market make up for the lion’s share of app usage. Nielsen released a study in August that shows that the top 50 apps make up 61% of usage. The top 10 make up 43% of usage.
The top apps also go to show that the battle to come for the time and attention of users. Facebook and Google are enemies after the same targets, with both companies focused on grabbing eyeballs to sell advertising against. This battle has been evolving on the Web for the last several years. The next several years will find the search giant and the social network taking the war to users’ pockets.
Unlike heavy Android users, most people do not have dozens of apps on their smartphones. What apps are missing from this list that most techies would think should make it? Spotify? Pulse? Netflix? Let us know what are your most used apps in the comments.
