If you have a smart phone, or some other type of mobile device, like a tablet, then you have an app. How many do you have? How often do you add a new one? Who is winning the app game? And Lastly, Are you more or less efficient as a result?
Every mobile device has what is commonly referred to as an Operating points of interest System (OS). Apple’s iPhone and iPad use one, Google’s Android has their own and RIM’s Blackberry has yet another. The new Microsoft phones, due out any day, have yet another. As a result they all have different app stores, and attract different types of apps developers (apps developers generally prefer to work in one or the other). As you can imagine, the production and development of a solid apps marketplace is in a fierce race. Who is winning the race, and why?
How Many? The average mobile device user downloads anywhere from 14 to 40 apps during the course of owning their device. Does having a treasure trove of apps available at your fingertips distract you, or does it add to your productivity? Perhaps a look at the most popular apps will answer that question.
Most Popular Apps: While the top category for app downloading is games, the single most downloaded app for all three operating systems is the Facebook app. Twitter and YouTube aren’t far behind, coming in, in the top five. Twitter is one of the fastest growing apps, rising 60% in the last five months (Stats courtesy of Twitter between April and September of 2010). Almost half of all Twitter users have used their smart phone for sending Tweets. But wait; there are a lot more apps to choose from.
Apps Marketplaces: As of October 2010, the Android marketplace provided more than 100,000 apps, the Blackberry apps store 7,000, and Apple’s iTunes more than 300,000 so there is a lot of opportunity to move beyond tweets. Everything about smart phones and mobile devices is evolving; the number of apps, the number of users, the size and type of device, and overall capabilities in general. Depending on which OS you have, you will find more than enough things to do on your mobile device. If your mobile device makes phone calls (not all of them do), you can call friends, plan your Thanksgiving menu, send invitations, email your staff, and order flowers for your mother while sitting on the bus. You are going to be so efficient it’s scary!