Google owns three out of the five top ranked apps, with mapping, the weather and Facebook proving the most popular mobile tools for Brits on the go, according to new research from comScore and GSMA. The study also showed that Apple’s iOS accounted for 65% of apps being used, more than double its closest rival Android with application usage at 31 percent.
The GSMA and comScore, in partnership with the UK mobile operators, released the first monthly data showing how UK mobile consumers engage through mobile applications.
The data from the GSMA Mobile Media Metrics (MMM) application key measurements report reveals that nearly 8.8 million UK mobile owners used an app that connected to the internet during April 2011, with Google Maps ranking as the most accessed app with 6.4 million unique users.
Leading UK Connected Mobile Applications
In April 2011, 40 per cent of the 21.8 million UK mobile internet users accessed a connected application (One that connects to a mobile operator’s network).
Google Maps ranked as the top mobile app with 6.4 million users, reaching 73.3 per cent of all UK app users.
Yahoo’s Weather app ranked second with 3.6 million followed by Facebook’s app with 3.5 million unique visitors.
Another two apps published by Google – Google Mobile and YouTube – rounded out the top five, highlighting Google’s strong position among UK mobile consumers.
Apple iOS Users Comprise 65 Percent of UK Connected Application Users
An analysis of the leading operating systems among connected application users revealed that 65 percent connected via a device running on Apple iOS.
In April 2011 Google’s Android OS had the second highest share among operating systems for application usage at 31 percent. Symbian ranked third and accounted for just one per cent of connected app users.
The application key measurement report includes hundreds of app titles and provides a ranking of the most popular connected applications in the UK. The application ranking is available as part of the GSMA MMM product portfolio, launched in February last year, which includes monthly reports on mobile internet behaviour and a detailed analysis of access methods.
“We are excited to release the first public census-level data from the GSMA and comScore on mobile application usage,” said Henry Stevens, Media Director, GSMA. “Apps have become an important entry point for accessing content on mobile devices and their usage will only increase with the rapid proliferation of smartphones. We look forward to delivering to the UK market these critical insights to help understand the mobile ecosystem.”
Jeremy Copp, VP Mobile for comScore Europe added, “To help better measure publishers’ mobile assets, we offer mobile-optimised tagging to publishers free of charge. This service gives clients the ability to tag mobile-optimised websites and applications to enable accurate measurement of audiences, including unique visitor counts and engagement metrics, across a variety of devices and platforms. By tagging mobile applications, we can expand the ranking of applications currently under measurement and media owners as well as publishers can be sure that their properties are correctly represented in the metrics and audience measurement rankings.”
Source: http://www.gsmworld.com.
www.comscore.com/companyinfo.
