Nielsen just released its list of the top 20 most popular Android apps and, unsurprisingly, Google's name is all over it.
The study – which looked at the percentage of Android owners who used an app within the past 30 days – found that Android Market (90.5 percent), Google Maps (74.6 percent) and Gmail (74.5 percent) were the most popular applications used by U.S. Android owners 18 years and older.
Facebook finished just off the podium with a 73.5 percent reach, and was followed closely by two more Google-owned products, Google Search (71.9 percent) and YouTube (51.4 percent).
While the top 10 most popular apps will surprise no one, the 20th ranked one may. Facebook rival Google+, just months after being launched, achieved a reach of 11.8 percent, only a few tenths of a percentage point behind Kindle's established app.
Even more interesting, the new social network was found to be twice as popular among men (15.8 percent) than it was among women (7.2 percent). Meanwhile, Facebook has a reach of 81 percent for women compared to just 69 percent for male Android users. It seems as if guys enjoy the more private nature of Google+'s “Circles” feature, while women prefer the more open environment of Facebook. Cue that study.
As for the old clique that man are too proud to stop and ask directions? Well, that may still be true, but we aren't afraid to pull up GPS and pretend like we know where we're going. Google Maps was the second most popular app among male users, ahead of Gmail and Google Search.
Other highlights of the study include Angry Birds, which accounted for two of the top 20 most popular apps among both men and women. The traditional game and its “Rio” offspring both made the list.
The final eye-opener was Android's barcode scanner, which had a total reach of around 14 percent. Fairly impressive…and a clear sign that the technology is quickly moving from a niche market to widespread appeal.
Check out Nielsen's blog post for a complete list of Android's most popular apps.
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Beecher Tuttle is a TechZone360 contributor. He has extensive experience writing and editing for print publications and online news websites. He has specialized in a variety of industries, including health care technology, politics and education. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Jennifer Russell
