Time Spent Per App Rising, but Number of Apps Consumers Use Stays Flat, Says Nielsen

While app usage has transitioned from a novelty to an essential part of the mobile user experience, the number of apps used is staying the same, said a Nielsen study. Millions of apps are available, with more rolled out every day, but more than 70 percent of total app usage is coming from the top 200 apps, said Nielsen. App developers and marketers need to position apps effectively to stand out in an increasingly competitive market, it said. While there’s an app for “everyone, regardless of age, race or interest,” consumers have shown a threshold for the number of apps they use actively per month, it said. On average, smartphone users accessed 26.7 apps per month in Q4, roughly flat with Q4 2012. But the time they spend engaging with those apps has increased by 14 minutes per month, Nielsen said. Average time per month spent on apps per person has grown from 23:02 (hours and minutes) in Q4 2012 to 37:28 in Q4 2014, said Nielsen. The entertainment category -- covering a broad swath of content from weather forecasts to sports scores -- has contributed to the increase in app usage, driving a 13 percent year-on-year increase in Q4, as users spent nearly three hours more on apps during the period, Nielsen said. On smartphones, gaming is the biggest subcategory, with 76 percent of entertainment app users (115 million) reporting they played at least one game in Q4, followed by music and then movies/videos. Men’s monthly app usage averaged 27.2 versus 26.3 for women, but women spend more time per app at 38:02 minutes versus 36:51 for men, it said. African-Americans use the most apps per month (30.3) and spend nearly 43 hours per month on them, while Hispanics follow at 41:31 across an average 27.9 apps per month, it said. Asian-Americans average 37:14 per month on apps, while white non-Hispanic users spend 35:25 per month, it said.