These Are the 10 Most Popular Mobile Apps in America (recode.net)

Today comScore released its 2017 US Mobile App Report, which among other things, lists the top mobile apps in the nation. From a report: Between smartphones and tablets, Americans spend more than half of their digital media consumption time -- 57 percent -- in apps, according to the report. That's about the same as a year ago -- evidence that the dramatic shift to mobile has now leveled out in the U.S. These are the winners, according to comScore, as measured by their penetration of the U.S. mobile app audience: Facebook (81 percent), YouTube (71 percent), Facebook Messenger (68 percent), Google Search (61 percent), Google Maps (57 percent), Instagram (50 percent), Snapchat (50 percent), Google Play (47 percent), Gmail (44 percent), and Pandora (41 percent). 8 out of 10 apps here are owned by Facebook and Google.

Comments

Google Search shouldn't count

[OrangeTide]

I didn't even know it was optional. At least on Android devices it appears built-in and difficult to remove or disable, if not impossible.

Re:Google Search shouldn't count

[sanf780]

None of the Google applications listed there are optional, as far as I can tell: Search, Maps, Play and Mail. Phone is not listed, though.

I do not understand what "penetration of the US mobile app audience" means in this case, and I am not going to give my data in order to download the whitepaper. I need to ask for your help, Slashdot reader.

Re:Google Search shouldn't count

[jeti]

Facebook is also preinstalled on many devices and can't be uninstalled.

Re: Google Search shouldn't count

[KGIII]

I use none of them. I use Windows for my phone. I have zero non-default apps loaded. Then again, there aren't many to load.

Do I not exist at all then?

[damn_registrars]

I've hardly used any of them:

• Facebook (81 percent),

Never used it. I am not on there at all, never have been. I don't want to sell my personal information to that company.

• YouTube (71 percent),

I've used it maybe 10 times in the past year, mostly to watch videos of car repair techniques while I'm working on my car.

• Facebook Messenger (68 percent),

Never used it. Why is it a separate app from facebook?

• Google Search (61 percent),

Mostly I use this to entertain my son when we're waiting. My voice recognition calls it up automatically and then I'll usually ask it "how much wood can a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood"?

• Google Maps (57 percent),

This I do use a lot, generally at least once a week.

• Instagram (50 percent),

Never used it. I can't even fathom a good reason to.

• Snapchat (50 percent),

Not even sure what this is. Is it better than a regular chat?

• Google Play (47 percent),

Does that include the Play store where I download other apps? Otherwise I've never used it.

• Gmail (44 percent),

I prefer the regular android mail app, though I've used the gmail app once or twice this year for times when I needed a more extensive search and didn't have my laptop handy

• and Pandora (41 percent).

Never used it. My battery drains quickly enough without streaming music.

Re:Do I not exist at all then?

[omnichad]

Do I not exist at all then?

None of those said 100% penetration, so I don't really know what you're getting at. Do you own a TV? I'm just asking but if you didn't I'm sure you would have told us by now.

Re:Do I not exist at all then?

[Captain Splendid]

It's a time-honoured tradition for nerds to flaunt their superiority by proudly enumerating all the mainstream things they don't do.

Re:Do I not exist at all then?

[nospam007]

"how much wood can a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck could chuck wood?"

BTW, for the lazy asses among you, it's apparently 700 pounds.

So You Want to Make an App...

[Thelasko]

What will your app do that can't be done in a browser? Arguably, most of these apps do something with the device's hardware that the browser doesn't have access to (except Facebook).

Re:So You Want to Make an App...

[evilRhino]

The app can report your GPS location, phone number, and other informatics back to the app developer and their advertising partners.

Re:So You Want to Make an App...

[war4peace]

Why would they care what the consumer wants?

Fake News

[WillAffleckUW]

I use Pokemon Go, Twitter, and OneBusAway way more often than any of that p3rvvv stuff you say are the top 10.

Have them all set with no permission to run when not active window.

Google Maps is only when an event is launched and I don't know where it is. Only reason I use it is Apple Maps kept telling me things were in the middle of the Salish Sea, so I stopped using it.

What about iMessage? (Or equivalent)

[Kergan]

Or for that matter, Phone? Music? Photo?

The built-in apps seem pretty popular. I can't fathom key built-in apps being less popular than installed apps.

Re:What about iMessage? (Or equivalent)

[thegarbz]

iMessage? Based on the first character alone it drops off the top 10 list even if 100% of users with it pre-installed actually use it.

WhatsApp

[Zappy]

A top 10 installed app list and WhatsApp is not on there, I call it BS

Pandora

[ichthus]

Glad to see Pandora on the list. I've always liked Pandora and hope it never dies. Although, I let my Pandora One membership lapse a few years ago when they stopped allowing a full year's payment at one time (which they've since resumed). Since then, I've upped with Spotify. I'm still trying to decide which I like better.