Rise of Apps Culture: 35% of US Adults Have Phones With Apps But Only 24% Use Them

The Rise of Apps Culture
35% of U.S. adults have cell phones with apps,
but only 24% of adults actually use them
September 15, 2010

Kristen Purcell, Associate Director for Research, Pew Internet Project
Roger Entner, Senior Vice President, Head of Research and Insights,
Telecom Practice, The Nielsen Company
Nichole Henderson, Director of Consumer Insights for the Nielsen Telecom
Group

http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/The-Rise-of-Apps-Culture.aspx

Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project
1615 L St., NW – Suite 700
Washington, D.C. 20036
202-419-4500 | pewinternet.org

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Overview
Cell phone use in the U.S. has increased dramatically over the past decade. Fully eight in
ten adults today (82%) are cell phone users, and about one-quarter of adults (23%) now
live in a household that has a cell phone but no landline phone.

Along with the widespread embrace of mobile technology has come the development of
an “apps culture.” As the mobile phone has morphed from a voice device to a multi-
channel device to an internet-accessing mini-computer, a large market of mobile
software applications, or “apps,” has arisen.

Among the most popular are apps that provide some form of entertainment (games,
music, food, travel and sports) as well as those that help people find information they
need and accomplish tasks (maps and navigation, weather, news, banking). With the
advent of the mobile phone, the term “app” has become popular parlance for software
applications designed to run on mobile phone operating systems, yet a standard,
industry-wide definition of what is, and is not, an “app” does not currently exist. For the
purpose of this report, apps are defined as end-user software applications that are
designed for a cell phone operating system and which extend the phone’s capabilities by
enabling users to perform particular tasks.

The most recent Pew Internet Project survey asked a national sample of 1,917 cell
phone-using adults if they use apps and how they use them. Broadly, the results
indicate that while apps are popular among a segment of the adult cell phone using
population, a notable number of cell owners are not yet part of the emerging apps
culture.

35% of adults have cell phones with apps, but only two-thirds of those who have apps
actually use them

Of the 82% of adults today who are cell phone users, 43% have software applications or
“apps” on their phones. When taken as a portion of the entire U.S. adult population,
that equates to 35% who have cell phones with apps. This figure includes adult cell
phone users who:

 have downloaded an app to their phone (29% of adult cell phone users), and/or
 have purchased a phone with preloaded apps (38% of adult cell phone users)

Yet having apps and using apps are not synonymous. Of those who have apps on their
phones, only about two-thirds of this group (68%) actually use that software. Overall,
that means that 24% of U.S. adults are active apps users. Older adult cell phone users in
particular do not use the apps that are on their phones, and one in ten adults with a cell
phone (11%) are not even sure if their phone is equipped with apps.

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Apps users are younger, more educated, and more affluent than other cell phone users

When compared with other cell phone using adults, and the entire U.S. adult
population, the apps user population skews male, and is much younger, more affluent,
and more educated than other adults. Overall, the apps-using population also skews
slightly Hispanic when compared with other adult cell phone users.

App use still ranks relatively low when compared with other uses of cell phones

While 24% of adults, 29% of adults with cell phones, use applications on their phones,
apps use still ranks relatively low when compared with other non-voice cell phone
activities. Taking pictures and texting are far and away the most popular non-voice cell
phone data applications, with more than seven in ten adult cell phone users embracing
these features of their phones.

App use ranks low on a list of non-voice cell phone
activities
% of adult cell phone users who do each of the following on their phone…

Take a picture 76%
Send or receive text messages 72
Access the internet 38
Play a game 34
Send or receive email 34
Record a video 34
Play music 33
Send or receive instant messages 30
Use an app 29

Source: Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, April 29-May 30,
2010 Tracking Survey. N=1,917 adult cell phone users.

29% of adult cell phone users have downloaded an app to their phone

As with the apps-using population as a whole, downloaders are younger, more
educated, and disproportionately male when compared with the total U.S. adult
population. And while they resemble adults who only have preloaded apps in terms of
education, they are still disproportionately young and male even when compared with
this group.

3

One in ten adult cell phone users (10%) had downloaded an app in the past week; 20%
of cell phone users under age 30 download apps this frequently

Those who download apps do so fairly frequently. Among apps downloaders, roughly
half (53%) say their most recent download was in the past 30 days, including one third
(33%) who say their last download was within the past week. As a fraction of all cell
phone-using adults, that equates to 15% who have downloaded apps in the past month,
and 10% who have downloaded apps in the past week. Among cell phone users under
age 30, 20% have downloaded an app in the past week.

One in eight adult cell phone users (13%) has paid to download an app

Among the 29% of adult cell phone users who download apps, just under half (47%)
have paid for an app, with the remainder saying they only download apps that are free.
Put in broader context, that means that 13% of all adult cell phone users have paid to
download an app to their phone. There are few notable demographic differences
between downloaders who pay for apps and those who do not.

Among cell phone users with apps, the average adult has 18 apps on his or her phone

Among adult cell phone users who have software applications on their cell phones, the
mean number of apps is 18. However, the median number of apps is 10, indicating
there are heavy apps users on the high end of the response scale who have a
disproportionate number of apps on their phones. This is particularly true among the
youngest adults.

Again, there is some uncertainty among cell phone users, particularly older cell phone
users, about what software they have on their phones. Fully 18% of cell phone users
with apps on their phones do not know how many they have. That figure doubles to
36% among cell phone users age 50 and older.

Findings from the Nielsen Apps Playbook Survey

Nielsen data indicate that games are the most popular apps, followed by
news/weather, maps/navigation, social networking, and music.

In addition to drawing on results from the Pew Internet Project’s own nationwide
probability sample of 2,252 adults, this report also presents findings from The Nielsen
Company's Apps Playbook, a December 2009 survey of a nonprobability sample of 3,962
adult cell phone subscribers who had downloaded an app in the previous 30

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days.1 Although the Nielsen survey cannot be projected to the population of all app
downloaders with a known degree of accuracy, it provides an extensive snapshot of the
types of apps people are downloading and a broad sense of how they are using them.

Among the recent downloaders Nielsen surveyed, game apps were the most
downloaded apps overall in terms of both volume and the percent of adults who had
downloaded them.2 In terms of actual apps use, six in ten of Nielsen’s recent
downloaders (60%) said they had used a game app in the past 30 days, and roughly half
said they had used a news/weather app (52%), a map/navigation app (51%), or a social
networking app (47%) in that same timeframe. While music apps ranked second on the
most downloaded list, they ranked fifth on the most used list.

1
In probability sampling, all individuals in the population have some opportunity of being included in the
sample, and the mathematical probability that any one of them will be selected can be calculated. In
nonprobability sampling, individuals are selected on the basis of their availability (e.g., volunteering for an
online panel) and an unknown portion of the population is excluded (e.g., those who did not volunteer).
Because Nielsen’s Mobile Insights survey is administered to a nonprobabilty sample, the results cannot be
projected to the entire population of recent apps downloaders and the findings reported here should be
considered descriptive. When compared to the Pew Internet probability sample, the Nielsen sample of
recent-downloaders is similar in racial/ethnic and gender makeup, but overrepresents high income adults
and college graduates. It also skews younger than the Pew sample.
2
For more on the popularity of games and other apps among mobile subscribers, see Nielsen’s September
9, 2010 report “Games Dominate America’s Growing Appetite for Mobile Apps.” Available at:
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/games-dominate-americas-growing-appetite-for-
mobile-apps/

5

What are the most popular types of apps?
% of Nielsen recent downloaders who have used each category of apps in the past
month…

Games 60%

News/Weather 52%

Maps/Navigation/Sea… 51%

Social Networking 47%

Music 43%

Entertainment/Food 34%

Banking/Finance 28%

Sports 27%

Productivity 26%

Shopping/Retail 24%

Video/Movies 22%

Communication 21%

Travel/Lifestyle 18%

Other 3%

Source: The Nielsen App Playbook, December 2009. N=3,962 adults who have downloaded an app in the
30 days prior to the survey.

In the Nielsen survey, most recent apps downloaders said they used their apps daily
but for short periods of time, and used them in a variety of situations

Some 57% of the recent apps downloaders in the Nielsen study said they use their apps
daily. While one quarter of these recent apps downloaders (24%) said they use their
apps for more than 30 minutes a day, the vast majority said they spend less time using
their apps each day.

Asked where they use their apps most frequently, 71% of the Nielsen sample said they
frequently used their apps when they were alone, and about half said they frequently

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used their apps while waiting for someone or something (53%) or while at work (47%).
One in three (36%) said they frequently used apps while commuting.

The Nielsen survey indicates that different people may use apps in different ways

There were several notable differences among the Nielsen recent-downloader sample in
terms of which apps they favored and how frequently they used them. For instance:

 Women in the sample were more likely than men to have used a social
networking app in the past 30 days (53% v. 42%), and women who used the
Facebook app were also more likely to use that app everyday (64% v. 55%)
 Women in the sample were more likely than men to have a used a game app in
the past 30 days (63% v. 58%), while men were more likely to have used a
productivity app (29% v. 21%) or a banking/finance app (31% v. 25%)
 Among the Nielsen sample of recent downloaders, whites (53%) and Hispanics
(47%) were more likely than African-Americans (36%) to have used a
map/navigation/search app in the month prior to the survey
 Hispanics, on the other hand, were the most likely to have used a music app
recently (48% of Hispanics v. 42% of whites and 42% of African-Americans)
 In the Nielsen sample, 75% of 18-24 year-old Twitter app users reported using
that app every day, compared with 52% of the 25-34 year-olds and 48% of the
Twitter users age 35 and older
 In contrast, among Nielsen’s Facebook app users, 25-34 year-olds were more
likely than both younger and older Facebook app users to report using their
Facebook app daily
 The African-Americans and Hispanics in the Nielsen sample were significantly
more likely than whites to be daily users of their Youtube apps (33% of African-
Americans v. 24% of Hispanics v. 12% of whites) and their Pandora music apps
(33% of African-Americans v. 27% of Hispanics v. 14% of whites)

The Nielsen study indicates that cell phone screen real estate is valuable

Slight majorities of Nielsen’s recent app downloaders said they organize their apps so
that the most frequently used are easily accessible (59%), and that they delete apps
from their phones that are not useful or helpful (56%). And this culling process happens
relatively quickly; among those who had deleted an app, 62% said they usually do it
within two weeks of downloading the software. The men in the Nielsen sample deleted
apps more quickly than women; 40% of the male recent-downloaders said they delete
apps they did not find useful within a week, compared with 29% of the women.

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About Pew Internet Project Findings

The figures from the Pew Internet Project survey were gathered in a telephone survey
of a representative sample of 2,252 U.S. adults age 18 and older between April 29 and
May 30, 2010. The sample included 1,917 adult cell phone users, 744 of whom were
contacted on their cell phones. The margin of error is +/- 2.4 percentage points for
results based on the total sample of adults, and +/- 2.7 for results based on cell phone
users.

The Nielsen data are from an online, self-administered survey with a nonprobability
sample of 4,265 recent apps downloaders originally identified in Nielsen’s Mobile
Insights survey of cell phone subscribers. Because the survey is not based on a
probability sample, no margin of error can be computed and the results cannot be
generalized to the population of recent app downloaders with a known degree of
precision. The Mobile Insights sample is drawn from a combination of online panels and
is augmented by a Spanish language phone survey in highly concentrated Hispanic
markets using a residential phone list sample frame for improved coverage of Hispanics.
The Apps Playbook follow-up survey was conducted in December of 2009, and screened
for “recent downloaders”—those who had downloaded an app in the past 30 days. The
Apps Playbook data includes teen as well as adult cell phone subscribers, but for this
report, percentages are based only on the 3,962 adults ages 18 and older who had
downloaded an app in the past 30 days.

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Part I. The Apps Landscape
Cell phones now permeate American culture. As they become more powerful as
connected, multi-media, handheld devices, a new ecosystem of computing applications
is being created around them. The emergence of this pervasive mobile connectivity is
changing the way people interact, share creations, and exploit the vast libraries of
material that are generated for the internet.

The newest national phone survey of the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American
Life Project shows that 82% of adults are cell phone users, and about one-quarter of
adults (23%) now live in cell phone only households – that is, households with no
landline phone. According to Pew Internet survey data, as of September 2009, three-
quarters of 12-17 year-olds had cell phones, and a 2010 Kaiser Family Foundation study
indicated almost a third of 8 to 10 year-olds in the U.S. have cell phones today.3

The widespread embrace of mobile technology has spawned the development of an
“apps culture.” As the mobile phone has morphed from a voice device to a multi-
channel device to an internet-accessing mini-computer, a large market of mobile
software applications designed specifically for cell phones has developed alongside it.

Currently, the cell phone industry lacks a standard, widely shared definition of what is
and is not considered an “app.” Traditionally the term “app” has been used as
shorthand for any software application. With the advent of the mobile phone, the term
“app” has become popular parlance for software applications designed to run on mobile
phone operating systems. For the purpose of this report, apps are defined as end-user
software applications that are designed for a cell phone operating system and which
extend the phone’s capabilities by enabling users to perform particular tasks. Assuming
this definition, cell phone apps as discussed here are distinct from cell phone functions,
which are hardware-enabled activities such as taking pictures and recording video
and/or which run on systems software. Cell phone apps as defined here rely on or
require certain systems software and/or hardware features to function, and may be
thought of as being layered on top of them.

To understand whether and how U.S. adults have jumped into the emerging apps
market, and how apps use compares to the use of other cell phone features, the Pew
Internet Project recently conducted a national survey of adults age 18 and older that
included 1,917 cell phone users.

Broadly, results indicate that while apps are popular among a young, tech-hungry
segment of the adult cell phone using population, a notable number of adult cell phone
users are not part of apps culture. Many adults who have apps on their phones,

3 2
Kaiser Family Foundation, Generation M : Media in the Lives of 8 to 18 year-olds, January 2010.
Available at: http://www.kff.org/entmedia/upload/8010.pdf.

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particularly older adults, do not use them, and one in ten adults with a cell phone (11%)
are not even sure if their phone is equipped with apps. Moreover, apps use ranks fairly
low when compared with the use of other cell phone functions such as taking pictures
and texting.4

35% of adults have cell phones with apps

Of the 82% of adults today who are cell phone users, 43% have apps on their phones.
When taken as a portion of the entire U.S. adult population, that means that 35% have
cell phones with apps. This figure includes adult cell phone users who:

 have downloaded an app to their phone (29% of adult cell phone users), and/or
 have purchased a phone with preloaded apps (38% of adult cell phone users)

A “yes” answer to either question was sufficient to include someone in the apps
population. Of course, many cell owners (23%) have both pre-loaded and downloaded
apps on their cell phones.

One in ten adult cell phone users do not know if they have apps on their phone

While 38% of adults cell phone users report having a phone that came preloaded with
apps, another 11% of cell phone users said they did not know if their phone came with
any software applications. This uncertainty about cell phone features is most
pronounced among cell phone users age 50 and older, 15% of whom did not know if
their phone came with apps. Just 4% of cell phone users under age 30 could not say if
their phone came with software applications.

Adult cell phone users are more confident when asked whether they have ever
downloaded an app, with 29% saying yes, 70% saying no, and less than one half of one
percent saying they did not know.

Two-thirds of adult cell phone users who have apps actually use them

While 35% of adults have apps on their phones, only about two-thirds (68%) of adults
who have apps report actually using them. That means that 24% of all adults in the U.S.
use apps.

4
Aaron Smith, Mobile Access 2010, July 7, 2010. Available at: http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010
/Mobile-Access-2010.aspx.

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All adults

82% use cell phones

35% have apps

24% use apps

Figure 1: 24% of Adults use cell phone apps

Among those who actively use their apps, the vast majority (91%) have used them
within the past 30 days. Just 9% of apps users say it has been more than 30 days since
the last time they used the apps on their phone.

Apps users are younger, more educated, and more affluent than other cell phone users

Apps users have a distinct demographic profile when compared with other cell phone
using adults, and when compared with the entire U.S. adult population. Apps users
skew male, and they are much younger than the broader population. Overall, they are
also more educated and more affluent than other cell phone users or the adult
population as a whole. The apps-using population also skews slightly Hispanic when
compared with other cell phone users and all adults.

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App users are disproportionately male, young, educated and
affluent
% of each group in each demographic category

Adult Cell Phone Users Total U.S.
App Users
Who Do Not Use Apps Adults
(n=460)
(n=1,457) (n=2,252)
Gender
Male 57 46 48
Female 43 54 52
Age
18-29 44 18 23
30-49 41 34 34
50+ 14 46 41
Race/Ethnicity
White (non-Hispanic) 64 70 69
Black (non-Hispanic) 14 12 12
Hispanic (English-speaking) 14 11 11
Education
Less than high school 8 12 13
High school graduate 24 35 34
Some college 29 24 25
College graduate 39 28 28
Annual Household Income
Less than $50,000 41 43 46
$50,000-$74,999 15 15 14
$75,000+ 36 24 24

Source: Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, April 29-May 30, 2010 Tracking
Survey.

Among adults who have apps, age is the strongest predictor of apps use

It is clear that young adult cell phone users are the most eager apps adopters. While
79% of 18-29 year-olds who have apps on their phones say they use them, that figure
drops to 67% among 30-49 year-olds and just 50% among adults age 50 and older.

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Cell phone only adults (those who have a cell phone but no landline phone) are also
especially likely to use the apps on their phone. Some 75% of this group who have apps
say they use them. This may be due in part to a disproportionate number of cell only
adults relying on their phones for internet access and participation in online activities.5

It is not surprising that adults who are heavy cell users in general (heavy texters and
heavy voice users) are much more likely than other adults to use their apps and to have
used them in the past 30 days. The relationship between apps use and the use of other
cell phone features/technologies is discussed in detail in Part III of this report.

Overall, adults who have more apps on their phone, those who have downloaded apps
(as opposed to purchasing a phone that is preloaded with apps), those who have
downloaded an app recently (within the past 30 days), and those who have paid for an
app download are significantly more likely than other adults to actually use the software
on their phones.

Adults with more apps, those who download, and those who pay are
most likely to use them
% within each group who use the apps on their phone…

100%

80% 93% 90%
85%
60% 68%

40%

20%

0%
All cell users Download apps Have more than Pay for apps
with apps (n=432) 10 apps (n=200)
(n=694) (n=472)
Source: Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, April 29-May 30, 2010 Tracking Survey.

5
In the current Pew Internet Project survey, adult cell phone users who either only have a cell phone or
who have a landline but rely mainly on their cell phone to make calls are significantly more likely than
other adults to be wireless internet users (74% of cell only adults and 86% of dual phone users who rely
mainly on their cell are wireless internet users, compared with just 47% of other adults).

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Among those who have apps, the average number of apps is fairly high at 18

Among adult cell phone users who have software applications on their cell phones, the
mean number of apps is 18. However, the median number of apps is 10, indicating
there are heavy apps users on the high end of the response scale who have a
disproportionate number of apps on their phones. This is particularly true among the
youngest adults.

Again, there is some uncertainty among cell phone users, particularly older cell phone
users, about what software they have on their phones. Fully 18% of cell phone users
with apps on their phones do not know how many they have. That figure doubles to
36% among cell phone users age 50 and older.

Looking just at those who know how many apps they have, young adult cell phone users
on average have a greater number of apps on their phones. The mean number of apps
for 18-29 year-olds is 22, compared with a mean of 16 for 30-49 year-olds, and 13 for
adult cell phone users age 50 and older. However, the medians show considerably less
variation, with young adults having a median of 12 apps on their phone and those over
age 50 having a median of 8.

The average adult with apps has 18 on their phone, and young
adults have more
Mean and median number of apps for each group…

Median Mean
All adults with apps 10 18
Age 18-29 12 22
Age 30-49 10 16
Age 50+ 8 13

Source: Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, April 29-May 30, 2010
Tracking Survey. N=694 adult cell phone users with apps.

Apps use ranks relatively low when compared with other cell phone activities

While 24% of adults, or 29% of adult cell phone users, report using apps on their
phones, apps use is not the most popular feature of cell phones when compared with
other non-voice cell phone activities. Taking pictures and texting are far and away the
most popular cell phone activities, with apps use ranking lowest among the various
activities Pew Internet has asked about.

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App use ranks low on a list of non-voice cell phone
activities
% of adult cell phone users who do each of the following on their phone…

Take a picture 76%
Send or receive text messages 72
Access the internet 38
Play a game 34
Send or receive email 34
Record a video 34
Play music 33
Send or receive instant messages 30
Use an app 29

Source: Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, April 29-
May 30, 2010 Tracking Survey. N=1,917 adult cell phone users.

These data may reveal again, however, some uncertainty among adult cell phone users
about when they are, and are not, using apps. Many of the activities in the above table,
such as playing a game and sending and receiving email, often make use of software
applications, and therefore constitute apps use. Thus, one would expect the percent
who say they use apps to be higher. Yet, apps use garners a slightly lower percentage of
“yes” responses from cell phone users than do other app-enabled activities.

One might infer from these figures that adults are not always aware when engaging in
various activities using their phones that they are, in fact, using an app or software
application. This may be due, in part, to confusion among the public over whether the
different software that comes preloaded on their phone are “apps,” or whether an app
is something that must be purchased separately or downloaded from the internet.

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Part II. Apps Downloading
As noted above, while 43% of adult cell phone users have apps on their phone,
significantly fewer (29%) have actually downloaded an app. The remaining 14% only
have preloaded apps on their phone. Apps downloaders are slightly different
demographically from those who have only preloaded apps, and are distinct from cell
phone users in general.

The downloading population is demographically skewed

As with the apps-using population as a whole, apps downloaders are younger, more
educated, and disproportionately male when compared with the full U.S. adult
population. When downloaders are compared just to other adults with apps—those
who have preloaded apps but do not download—they are similar in their educational
attainment yet are still disproportionately young and male.

App downloaders are demographically distinct from those with only
preloaded apps and U.S. adults in general
% of each group in each demographic category…

App Preloaded Apps Total U.S.
Downloaders Only Adults
(n=432) (n=262) (n=2,252)
Gender
Male 57 49 48
Female 43 51 52
Age
18-29 47 22 23
30-49 39 46 34
50+ 14 31 41
Education
Less than high school 8 7 13
High school graduate 25 25 34
Some college 29 31 25
College graduate 38 37 28
Less than $50,000 41 37 46
$50,000-$74,999 15 16 14
$75,000+ 37 34 24


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One in ten adults with a cell phone has downloaded an app in the past week; one in
five 18-29 year-old cell phone users has done so

In the Pew Internet survey, respondents who had downloaded apps were asked when
their most recent download had occurred. About half (53%) say their most recent apps
download was in the past 30 days, including 33% who say their last download was
within the past week. As a fraction of all cell phone-using adults, that equates to 15%
who have downloaded an app in the past month, including 10% who have downloaded
an app in the past week.

Thus, even among downloaders, the portion who is very actively engaged in apps
culture is relatively small. A significant percentage of downloaders, 43%, say they have
not downloaded an app in more than a month.

When was your most recent app download?
% of downloaders whose last download was…

1 to 3 months
ago
14% Within the past
week
33%
More than 3
months ago
29%
Within the past
month
20%

No answer
4%
N=432 adult app downloaders.

Again, it is the youngest adult cell phone users leading the way, with 62% of 18-29 year-
old apps downloaders having downloaded software to their phone in the past month
(including 39% in the past week). That equates to 20% of adult cell phone owners under
age 30 who had downloaded an app to their phone in the past week.

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One in eight adults with a cell phone has paid to download an app

Among the one-third of adult cell phone users who download apps, just under half
(47%) have paid for an app, with the remainder saying they only download apps that are
free. Put in broader context, that means that 13% of all adult cell phone users have paid
to download an app to their phone. The more apps someone has on her phone, the
more likely she is to have paid for one at some point.

There are very few notable demographic differences between downloaders who pay for
apps and those who do not. Only one subgroup of downloaders stands out in this
regard, and that is heavy cell voice users. Downloaders who make more than 30 calls on
their phone per day are significantly more likely than other downloaders to have paid
for an app (61% v. 45%).

For more on what types of apps downloaders pay for, and how much they spend, see
Part IV of this report.

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Part III. Mobile Computing
The rise of “apps culture” reflects the transition of cell phones from voice
communication devices to mobile computing devices. As cell phone use in general
increases, wireless internet use is also on the rise, particularly among Hispanic and
African-American adults.6 Fully 59% of adults are now mobile internet users, meaning
they access the internet wirelessly via a laptop or cell phone. As mobile computing and
internet use become the norm, cell phones are increasingly taking on functions once
served by desktops and laptops. And for a significant portion of low income and
nonwhite adults, cell phones represent their only means of accessing the internet and
engaging in some online activities. Thus, many adults today expect (and need) their
phones to serve a wide range of functions.

As one might expect, adult cell phone users who embrace “apps culture” also tend to
embrace other cell features and other technologies in general. These patterns are
difficult to disentangle, as there are circular relationships between apps use and the use
of the internet and other technologies. For instance, social media users (adults who use
either social network sites such as Facebook or status update sites such as Twitter) are
twice as likely as other cell phone users to have apps on their phones (59% v. 24%). Yet
many cell phone apps enable social media use, and these apps are in fact among the
most popular (see Part IV of this report). Likewise, wireless internet users are more
likely than other online adults to be apps users. Yet downloading an application in and
of itself requires wireless internet access, which would mean that apps downloaders are
wireless internet users by default. Moreover, these relationships are even further
complicated by the fact that not all cell-using adults recognize activities they engage in
on their phones as app-enabled, when in fact they might be.

Therefore, rather than pinpoint causal direction in these relationships, in this section we
simply show the strong correlations between apps use and various online activities, cell
phone activities, and technology use in general.

Heavy technology users are particularly likely to have apps on their phones and to use
the apps they have

As noted earlier in the report, 38% of cell phone users have purchased a phone with
preloaded apps and 29% have downloaded an app themselves. About a quarter of adult
cell phone users (23%) have both paid and preloaded apps on their phones. Not
surprisingly, heavy technology users are more likely than other adults to both download
apps and to purchase phones with apps.

6
Aaron Smith, Mobile Access 2010, July 7, 2010. Available at: http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010
/Mobile-Access-2010.aspx.

19

Heavy phone and internet users are more likely to have apps, download
apps, and buy phones equipped with apps
% of each group who has apps, downloads apps, and purchases phones with apps…

Purchase app-
Have Download
equipped
apps apps
phones
Total cell phone users (n=1,917) 43 29 38
Internet use
Daily internet users (n=1,222) 54 38 48
Home broadband users (n=1,321) 51 35 45
Premium broadband users (n=479) 61 43 53
Social network site users (n=929) 59 43 51
Twitter users (n=238) 71 56 63
Phone use
Texters (n=1,189) 56 39 48
Heavy texters (51+ texts per day) (n=144) 75 63 62
Heavy cell voice users (31+ calls per day) (n=94) 76 57 60
Dual phone users who rely mainly on their cell
62 42 55
(n=330)
Cell phone only adults (n=278) 50 37 41

Source: Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, April 29-May 30, 2010 Tracking
Survey.

As the above table indicates, adult cell phone users who use the text features on their
phones, and particularly heavy texters (those who send more than 50 texts on a typical
day), are significantly more likely than other cell phone users to download apps. About
four in ten texters (39%) have downloaded an app, a figure that drops to just 4% among
adult cell phone users who do not text. Among the heaviest texters, those who send
and receive more than 50 texts a day, 63% have downloaded an app to their phone.

Heavy technology users on average have more apps on their phones

As one might expect, heavy technology users in general tend to have more apps on their
phones than cell phone users who do not embrace other technologies. The table below
shows that some of the highest reported mean numbers of apps are among heavy cell
voice users and heavy texters. Cell-using adults who have premium broadband at home,
those who use status update sites such as Twitter and adults who go online from their

20

phones on a daily basis also report a higher average number of apps on their phones.
These groups are also especially likely to report using the apps they have.

The mean number of apps is 18; heavy tech users have more and are
more likely to use them

% who use
Median Mean the apps
they have

All adults with apps (n=694) 10 18 68%
Premium broadband at home (n=260) 12 21 67%
Twitter users (n=160) 10 23 80%
Access internet via phone daily 15 24 88%
Cell phone only 11 20 75%
Heavy texters (51+ texts per day) (n=106) 11 27 79%
Heavy cell voice users (31+ call per day) (n=69) 20 32 81%


App users are more likely to take advantage of all of their phone’s features

Overall, apps users are significantly more likely than other adult cell phone users to take
advantage of every feature of their cell phone asked about in the survey, including
email, texting, taking pictures, playing music, instant messaging, recording a video,
playing a game, accessing the internet, purchasing a product online, and accessing social
networking sites from their phone.

Again, it is important to note that apps use and use of these other cell phone features
are not mutually exclusive. Many of these activities make use of apps, and apps that
enable these activities are among the most popular downloads (see Part IV of this
report).

It is also important to note that these figures include adults whose phones may not be
equipped to perform some of these tasks. Apps users are likely to have phones that are
able to perform more of these functions, which explains, in part, their higher reported
use of different phone features.

21

App users are more likely to embrace other phone features as well
% of each group who use their phone to…

App Other cell phone
users users
(n=460) (n=1,457)
Take a picture 97 67
Text 96 61
Access the internet 86 18
Send or receive email 76 16
Play music 72 17
Play a game 71 19
Access a social network site 64 28
Send or receive instant messages 57 19
Record a video 62 22
Post a photo or video online 44 16
Purchase a product 31 11
Access Twitter or another status update site 30 8

Source: Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project, April 29-May 30, 2010
Tracking Survey.

Apps users are more engaged in a wide range of online activities

Due in part to the web accessibility and increased engagement many apps provide, it is
logical that apps users are more likely than other adults to engage in almost every
online activity asked about in the survey. They are particularly likely to use social
network sites such as Facebook and status update sites such as Twitter when compared
with internet users as a whole.

22

What do apps users do online?
% of each group who use the internet to…

Apps users (n=460) All internet users (n=1,756)

90%
Get news online
75%

80%
Watch a video on a video-sharing site
66%

75%
Buy a product online
66%

81%
Use a social network site
61%

74%
Do any banking online
58%

66%
Use online classified ads like Craigslist
53%

68%
Look for info on Wikipedia
53%

46%
Get financial info online
37%

37%
Look for religious or spiritual information
32%

32%
Make a donation to a charity online
22%

28%
Use Twitter or another status update service
17%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%


23

Part IV. The Nielsen Apps Playbook
As part of its ongoing research into telecom trends, the Nielsen Company conducts a
quarterly tracking survey of more than 80,000 mobile subscribers age 13 and older
sampled from a combination of online panels and augmented with listed Hispanic
telephone sample. Among other measures, the Mobile Insights survey identifies mobile
subscribers who have downloaded an app to their phone. In the fourth quarter of 2009,
Nielsen found that 13% of their adult (age 18 and older) mobile subscribers had
downloaded an app in the past 30 days. As noted earlier, the current Pew Internet
survey finds that as of April 2010, 15% of cell-phone using U.S. adults age 18 and older
had downloaded an app to their phone in the past 30 days.

In December 2009, Nielsen completed online, self-administered surveys with 4,265 apps
downloaders originally identified in the Mobile Insights survey. This follow-up survey
(The Nielsen Apps Playbook) asked “recent downloaders”—those who had downloaded
apps in the past 30 days—more detailed questions about the types of apps they
download, in what contexts they use their apps, and whether and how much they pay
for apps. The results reported here are based on the 3,962 adults ages 18 and older in
the Nielsen sample who had downloaded an app in the past 30 days.

It should be noted that because Nielsen’s Mobile Insights survey is administered to a
nonprobabilty sample, it is not representative of all recent apps downloaders and the
findings reported here should be considered descriptive. However, the Nielsen data
produce overall estimates of adult apps downloading rates comparable to the most
recent Pew Internet survey. As the table below indicates, after weighting, the two
samples are similar in terms of sex and race/ethnicity, though the Nielsen sample is
skewed slightly toward white non-Hispanics and away from African-Americans. The two
samples diverge more notably on education and income, with the Nielsen sample
overrepresenting college graduates and the highest income categories. In terms of age,
the Pew probability sample produces a recent-downloader population that is slightly
older than the Nielsen sample.

24

Weighted demographic profiles of recent apps downloaders from the
Pew Internet and Nielsen surveys
% of each group in each demographic category…

Pew Internet Nielsen Survey
Survey Sample Sample
(n=221) (n=3,692)
Gender
Male 59 57
Female 41 43
Age
18-24 14 15
25-34 17 32
35-54 36 41
55+ 31 13
Education
Less than high school 9 2
High school graduate 27 8
Some college 25 22
College graduate 38 59
Race/Ethnicity
White, non-Hispanic 58 65
Black, non-Hispanic 15 7
Hispanic 19 18
Less than $50,000 41 26
$50,000-$74,999 15 21
$75,000+ 34 47

Adult apps users are hooked on games

As indicated by the Pew Internet survey data, apps downloading and apps use are not
synonymous. Some adults may download apps that they do not actually use. Thus, the
Nielsen App Playbook asks about both recent downloading behavior, as well as which
apps recent-downloaders have used in the past 30 days, how frequently they use them,
and in what contexts.

25

As the table below indicates, the adult downloaders in the Nielsen sample are hooked
on games. Six in ten of these recent downloaders said that they had used a game app in
the past 30 days. By comparison, roughly half said they had used a news/weather app,
map/navigation app, or social networking app in that same timeframe. While music
apps ranked second in terms of total downloads, they ranked fifth on the most used list
for this group.

What are the most popular types of apps?
% of Nielsen recent downloaders who have used each category of apps in the past
month…

Games 60%
News/Weather 52%
Maps/Navigation/Search 51%
Social Networking 47%
Music 43%
Entertainment/Food 34%
Banking/Finance 28%
Sports 27%
Productivity 26%
Shopping/Retail 24%
Video/Movies 22%
Communication 21%
Travel/Lifestyle 18%
Other 3%

Source: The Nielsen App Playbook, December 2009. N=3,962 adults who downloaded an app in the 30
days prior to the survey.

In the Nielsen sample, some demographic groups were more likely than others to use
particular categories of apps. For instance, men in that sample were more likely than
women to have used banking/finance, sports, productivity, and video/movie apps in the
past 30 days. Women recent-downloaders in the sample, on the other hand, were more
likely to have used games, social networking, music, and entertainment/food apps.

The tables below show rates of use for the major categories of apps across demographic
groups.

26

The percentage of Nielsen recent downloaders in each group who have used each
kind of app in the past month
Games Social Networking

All 60% All 47%
Men 58% Men 42%
Women 63% Women 53%
< Age 35 64% < Age 35 52%
Age 35+ 58% Age 35+ 41%

News/Weather Maps/Navigation/Search
All 52% All 51%
Hispanic 42% Hispanic 47%
White 56% White 53%
Black 35% Black 36%
< $50,000 45% < $50,000 43%
$50,000+ 57% $50,000+ 55%
< Age 35 45% < Age 35 46%
Age 35+ 60% Age 35+ 56%

Entertainment/Food Music
All 34% All 43%
Men 32% Men 40%
Women 36% Women 47%
< $50.000 30% Hispanic 48%
$50,000+ 36%
White 42%
< Age 35 37%
Black 42%
Age 35+ 33%

Banking/Finance Productivity
All 28% All 26%
Men 31% Men 29%
Women 21%
Women 25% Hispanic 21%
Hispanic 32% White 27%
White 27% Black 15%
Black 23% < $50,000 20%
$50,000+ 28%
< $50,000 26% < Age 35 22%
$50,000+ 30% Age 35+ 29%


27

Within the different categories of software applications, some apps stood out as
particularly popular among the Nielsen sample. Asked which specific apps they had
used in the past 30 days, puzzle/strategy games ranked highest in the games category,
while the Weather Channel was far and away the most used news/weather app for this
group. Google applications comprised three of the top four map/navigation/search
apps, while Facebook topped the list of social networking apps used by Nielsen’s adult
downloaders.

The percentage of Nielsen recent downloaders who used each type of
app in the past month
Games News/Weather
Puzzle/Strategy 36% Weather Channel 32%
Card/Casino 25% Weatherbug 10%
CNN Mobile 9%
Classic/Arcade 22%
Accuweather 9%
Trivia/Word/Numb… 18% USA Today 8%
Board Games 13% New York Times 7%
Fox News 7%

Social Networking Maps/Navigation/Search
Facebook 42% Google Map 35%
Twitter 11% Google Search 18%
MySpace 8% Mapquest 15%
LinkedIn 5% Google Earth 13%
Yahoo 8%

Entertainment/Food Music
UrbanSpoon 9% Pandora 19%
Food Network 7% Youtube 18%
Open Table 6% iPod/iTunes 13%
All Recipes 6% Shazam 8%
TMZ 5% Yahoo Music 6%


28

Frequency of Apps Use

More than half of the Nielsen recent apps downloaders (57%) reported using their apps
daily, yet the vast majority said they spend less than 30 minutes per day using their
apps. Just one quarter of Nielsen’s downloaders (23%) said they use their apps for at
least a half an hour a day.

57% of Nielsen’s recent downloaders say they use their apps daily, but
most use them for less than 30 minutes a day
% of recent downloaders who use apps…
Less often
7%
Once a week
8%

Multiple times
a day
Several times a 42%
week
28%

Once a day
15%

More than
1 hour
7%

Less than 10
31-60 min/day min/day
16% 28%

10-30 min/day
48%


29

Somewhat surprising is the fact that the youngest apps downloaders in the Nielsen
sample, those age 18-24, were not the most frequent apps users. While 29% of this age
group said they use their apps multiple times a day, the same was true of 44% of the 25-
34 year-olds and 44% of those age 35 and older. Nielsen’s young apps users were also
more likely than their older counterparts to say they use their apps for less than 30
minutes per day (84% of the 18-24 year-olds v. 74% of the 25-34 year-olds v. 75% of
those age 35 and older).

Among Nielsen’s sample of downloaders, the frequency of apps use varied by race as
well, with the white and Hispanic downloaders more likely than the African-Americans
to use their apps daily (57% whites v. 54% Hispanics v. 48% African-Americans).
However, Nielsen’s white apps downloaders were also the most likely to say that they
use their apps for less than 10 minutes a day (30% whites v. 25% Hispanics v. 23%
African-Americans).

How often are some of the most popular apps used?
% of Nielsen downloaders with each app who use it daily…

Twitter Facebook
All 55% All 59%
Ages 18-24 75% Men 55%
Women 64%
Ages 25-34 52%
Ages 18-24 57%
Ages 35+ 48%
Ages 25-34 69%
Ages 35+ 54%

YouTube Pandora
All 17% All 18%
Hispanic 24% Hispanic 27%
White 14%
White 12%
Black 33%
Black 33%


30

Adult downloaders in the Nielsen sample reported using their apps in a variety of
contexts. Asked in which situations they most frequently use their apps, seven in ten
(71%) said they frequently use their apps when they are alone, and about half said they
frequently use their apps while they are waiting for someone or something (53%) or
while at work (47%). Roughly one in three Nielsen downloaders (36%) said they
frequently use their apps while commuting. Overall, the adults in the Nielsen sample
reported using their apps for a mix of entertainment and instrumental purposes.

When and where Nielsen’s adult downloaders are using their apps
In which of the following situations do you most frequently use your apps?

While alone/by myself 71%

While waiting for something/someone 53%

At work 47%

While commuting 36%

To improve what I'm currently doing 29%

While socializing with friends 27%

While finding a place to eat 24%

While shopping 23%

At school 13%

Other 2%


In the Nielsen sample, men were more likely to report using apps at work (52% v. 40% of
women), while women were slightly more likely to report using apps while alone (73% v.
70% of men) and while waiting for someone (59% v. 52%). Nielsen’s Hispanic and
African-American downloaders were more likely than the whites in the sample to report
using their apps at school (17% Hispanics v. 17% African-Americans v. 6% whites) and
while socializing with friends (33% Hispanics v. 33% African-Americans v. 22% whites).
The Hispanics in the sample were also more likely than whites to report using their apps
while commuting, while finding a place to eat, and while shopping.

31

The Nielsen sample also produced some interesting situational use differences across
age groups. The table below shows that young adult apps users in the Nielsen sample
(those age 18-24) were the most likely to report using their apps while socializing with
friends, while Nielsen’s middle-age users were the most likely to report using their apps
while at work, commuting, shopping or finding a place to eat. App users age 55 and
older in the Nielsen sample were the most likely to report using their apps while alone,
while waiting for someone/something, and to help in an activity they are currently
doing.

Among Nielsen’s downloaders, apps use varied by age
% of Nielsen downloaders in each age group who reported frequently using apps
in each situation

All 18-24 25-34 35-54 55+
While alone/by myself 71 69 70 73 77
While waiting for someone/something 53 45 53 55 62
While at work 47 44 52 46 31
While commuting 36 37 41 34 29
To improve/help what I am currently doing 29 25 30 29 35
While socializing with friends 27 36 33 22 17
While finding a place to eat 24 21 26 20 21
While shopping 23 23 26 20 21
While at school 13 42 13 5 2

Source: The Nielsen App Playbook, December 2009. N=3,962 adults who downloaded an app in
the 30 days prior to the survey.

What kinds of apps are being downloaded most often by this group?

Among Nielsen’s recent adult downloaders, game apps were the most downloaded apps
overall in terms of sheer volume, followed distantly by music and entertainment/food.
Overall, apps that are used for personal entertainment made up a greater portion of this
group’s recent downloads than those that are used for instrumental purposes, such as
productivity, navigation, and finance apps.

For the Nielsen sample, games and music were the most popular in terms of the percent
of downloaders who have downloaded each type in the past 30 days. Games were far
and away the most popular, with almost half of Nielsen’s recent-downloaders saying
they had downloaded at least one paid or free game app in the previous month.
Roughly equal percentages of Nielsen recent-downloaders (about one in five) said they

32

had downloaded a music app, a news/weather app, a social networking app, a
map/navigation app, or a food/entertainment app in the 30 days prior to the survey.

Games and music were also the most commonly downloaded paid apps for this group,
as measured by the percent of Nielsen recent-downloaders who had purchased at least
one of these types of apps in the past month.

The most frequently downloaded types of apps by the Nielsen sample
% of Nielsen recent downloaders who downloaded each type of app in the past month…

Any Paid Free
download download download
Games 45 16 34
Music 25 10 17
News/Weather 22 3 20
Social Networking 21 3 19
Maps/Navigation/Search 21 4 17
Entertainment/Food 20 4 18
Productivity 16 4 13
Sports 15 4 12
Banking/Finance 13 2 11
Shopping/Retail 13 2 11
Video/Movies 12 4 8
Travel/Lifestyle 11 2 10
Communication 10 2 8
Other 5 1 5


The Nielsen sample produced some interesting downloading differences across age
group, race/ethnic groups, and income categories, yet these differences only occurred
in the case of free downloads. For instance, Nielsen downloaders between the ages of
25 and 44 had a higher mean number of free game downloads in the past 30 days (2.0)
than both the younger (1.4) and the older (1.7) adults in the sample. Similarly,
downloaders ages 25-34 in the Nielsen sample had the highest mean number of free
social networking apps downloads in the month prior to the survey (.9 for the 25-34
year-olds v. .5 for the younger adults and .7 for the older adults).

The tables below show some demographic differences that emerged in the Nielsen
sample in the mean number of free downloads for major categories of apps.

33

Mean number of free apps downloads by Nielsen’s sample in each category
in the past 30 days
Games News/Weather
All adults 1.8 All adults .7
Age 18-24 1.4 Men .8
Age 25-34 2.0 Women .6
Age 35-44 2.0 Hispanic .6
Age 45-54 1.5 White .8
Age 55+ 1.8 Black .4
Age 18-24 .4
Social Networking Age 25-34 .7
All adults .7 Age 35-44 .8
Age 18-24 .5 Age 45-54 .8
Age 25-34 .9 Age 55+ 1.1
Age 35-44 .7 <$25,000 .4
Age 45-54 .6 $25,000-$49,999 .5
Age 55+ .7 $50,000-$99,999 .7
$100,000-$149,999 .8
Entertainment/Food $150,000+ 1.1
All adults .8
Age 18-24 .5 Productivity
Age 25-34 .9 All adults .7
Age 35-44 .9 Men .8
Age 45-54 .8 Women .6
Age 55+ 1.1 Hispanic .7
White .8
Maps/Navigation/Search Black .4
All adults .6 <$25,000 .6
Men .7 $25,000-$49,999 .6
Women .5 $50,000-$99,999 .7
Age 18-24 .4 $100,000-$149,999 .9
Age 25-34 .6 $150,000+ 1.0
Age 35-44 .7
Age 45-54 .6 Source: The Nielsen App Playbook, December 2009.
Age 55+ .8 N=3,962 adults who downloaded an app in the 30
<$25.000 .4 days prior to the survey.
$150,000+ 1.1

34

Consistent with the Pew Internet survey data, the Nielsen sample produced few notable
demographic differences between recent-downloaders who have paid to download an
app and those who have not. Nielsen’s youngest apps downloaders, those age 18-24,
and adults with incomes below $50,000 were only slightly less likely than the older and
more affluent downloaders in the sample to have paid for apps.

What do Nielsen’s downloaders report paying for apps?

In the Nielsen Apps Playbook, 37% of the recent-downloaders said they had paid for an
app in the past 30 days. As noted earlier, games accounted for the highest percentage
of paid apps by this group, followed by music apps. Asked if they had ever converted
from a free/lite trial version to a full paid version of an app, one in three (33%) Nielsen
downloaders said they had done so.

To determine what the recent-downloaders are paying for apps, the Apps Playbook
asked respondents how many of the total apps they had downloaded in the past 30
days fell into each of eight different price categories. Responses indicate that among
this sample of downloaders, most paid downloads were between $0 and $2.99. Fully
60% of paid downloads from the month prior to the survey fell in this price range.

What do Nielsen downloaders report paying for apps?
% of paid downloads from the month prior to the survey in each price range…

Less than $1
$5 or more 15%
23%

$1 - $1.99
$3 - $4.99 28%
17%

$2 - $2.99
17%


35

When they did pay for an app, about a third (34%) of the downloaders in the Nielsen
sample said their preference was to have it billed directly by their cell phone provider,
while just under a third (29%) said they preferred to put it on a credit card. Asked what
factors drive those preferences, eight in ten Nielsen downloaders (80%) said that
convenience was a factor, while roughly six in ten said they take into account bill
consolidation (63%) and security (57%).

When paying for apps, Nielsen downloaders prefer to be billed
by their provider
% of recent
downloaders
% of Nielsen recent downloaders who prefer to pay for apps by…
Billing from their cell phone provider 34%
Credit card 29
PayPal 18
iTunes 12
Amazon 1-click 2
Google checkout *
Other 5
% of Nielsen recent downloaders who say their preference is based on…^
Convenience 80%
Security 43
Bill consolidation 37
Other 4

^ multiple response allowed

Source: The Nielsen App Playbook, December 2009. N=3,962 adults who downloaded an
app in the 30 days prior to the survey.

Where do downloaders say they learn about apps?

Asked how they discover the apps they download, the two most common responses
from downloaders in the Nielsen sample were searching an apps store on their phone
and relying on recommendations from friends and family. About half (49%) of this
group said they discover apps by browsing an apps store on their phones, and about one
in three (34%) said they hear about them from friends and family.

36

The women in the sample were slightly more likely than the men to say they learn about
apps from friends and family (39% v. 33%), while the men were twice as likely to say
they learn about apps from third party websites (25% v. 12%). Nielsen’s older apps
downloaders, those age 55+, were also particularly likely to say they hear about apps
from friends and family (42% v. 34%), and were twice as likely as the younger apps
downloaders in the sample to discover apps through newspapers, magazines and radio
(15% v. 7%).

How do Nielsen’s downloaders learn about apps?
% of Nielsen’s recent downloaders who discovered apps from each source in the past 30
days…

Searching apps store on… 49%

Friend/Family member 34%

Third party website 18%

Device's homepage 17%

Carrier's homepage 14%

Sync software (iTunes, etc.) 14%

TV advertisement 9%

Newspaper/Magazine/Radio 8%

Email tips from carrier 8%

Through another app 8%

Other 5%


In the Nielsen sample, apps downloaders in the highest income categories, those
earning $100,000 or more annually, were particularly likely to say they discover apps by
searching the apps store on their phones and through sync software, while those in the
lower income categories were more likely to say they hear about apps through their
carrier’s homepage.

The African-American and Hispanic downloaders in the sample were also particularly
likely to say they find apps through their carrier’s homepage (25% African-American v.
18% Hispanic v. 12% white) and their device homepage (24% African-American v. 19%
Hispanic v. 15% white).

37

Nielsen’s downloaders reported not only relying on the recommendations of friends and
family in downloading apps, but also relying on the recommendations of strangers. The
Nielsen App Playbook asked recent-downloaders how important user reviews and
ratings are in their decision to download an app. Almost nine in ten downloaders in this
survey (88%) said that user reviews are at least somewhat important, including 19%
who said they are extremely important.

The importance of user ratings for this group in choosing downloads
How important are user reviews and ratings when making the decision to download an app?

Slightly
important
8%
Somewhat
important Not at all
32% important
4%

Extremely
important
Very important
19%
37%


Cell phone real estate is valuable

Most apps users in the Nielsen sample report organizing their apps so that the most
frequently used are most easily accessible. They also report deleting apps from their
phones. The most common reasons given by this group for deleting an app is that it is
not useful. And they report that this culling process happens relatively quickly; among
those who had deleted an app, the majority (62%) said they usually did it within two
weeks of downloading the software. The men in the sample tended to delete apps they
did not find useful more quickly than the women did; 40% of the male recent-
downloaders said they deleted apps they do not like within a week of getting them,
while only 29% of the women said they delete apps that quickly.

38

Nielsen’s app downloaders organize their apps and delete those
that aren’t useful

% recent
downloaders
Do you organize your apps so the most frequently used ones are easily
accessible?
Yes 59%
No 41
Have you ever deleted an app that you downloaded?
Yes 56%
No 44
Main reasons for deleting an app…^
Didn’t find it useful/helpful 59%
No longer use 42
Got bored with it 37
Didn’t like it any longer 33
Needed to clear space 24
Other 5

^ multiple response allowed

Source: The Nielsen App Playbook, December 2009. N=3,962 adults who downloaded an
app in the 30 days prior to the survey.

39

Methodology

Pew Internet Project Survey

This report is based on the findings of a daily tracking survey on Americans' use of the
Internet. The results in this report are based on data from telephone interviews
conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International between April 29 and
May 30, 2010, among a sample of 2,252 adults, age 18 and older. Interviews were
conducted in English. For results based on the total sample, one can say with 95%
confidence that the error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or
minus 2.4 percentage points. For results based on cell phone users (n=1,917), the
margin of sampling error is plus or minus 2.7 percentage points. In addition to sampling
error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting telephone surveys may
introduce some error or bias into the findings of opinion polls.

A combination of landline and cellular random digit dial (RDD) samples was used to
represent all adults in the continental United States who have access to either a landline
or cellular telephone. Both samples were provided by Survey Sampling International,
LLC (SSI) according to PSRAI specifications. Numbers for the landline sample were
selected with probabilities in proportion to their share of listed telephone households
from active blocks (area code + exchange + two-digit block number) that contained
three or more residential directory listings. The cellular sample was not list-assisted, but
was drawn through a systematic sampling from dedicated wireless 100-blocks and
shared service 100-blocks with no directory-listed landline numbers.

New sample was released daily and was kept in the field for at least five days. The
sample was released in replicates, which are representative subsamples of the larger
population. This ensures that complete call procedures were followed for the entire
sample. At least 7 attempts were made to complete an interview at a sampled
telephone number. The calls were staggered over times of day and days of the week to
maximize the chances of making contact with a potential respondent. Each number
received at least one daytime call in an attempt to find someone available. For the
landline sample, half of the time interviewers first asked to speak with the youngest
adult male currently at home. If no male was at home at the time of the call,
interviewers asked to speak with the youngest adult female. For the other half of the
contacts interviewers first asked to speak with the youngest adult female currently at
home. If no female was available, interviewers asked to speak with the youngest adult
male at home. For the cellular sample, interviews were conducted with the person who
answered the phone. Interviewers verified that the person was an adult and in a safe
place before administering the survey. Cellular sample respondents were offered a post-
paid cash incentive for their participation. All interviews completed on any given day
were considered to be the final sample for that day.

40

Non-response in telephone interviews produces some known biases in survey-derived
estimates because participation tends to vary for different subgroups of the population,
and these subgroups are likely to vary also on questions of substantive interest. In order
to compensate for these known biases, the sample data are weighted in analysis. The
demographic weighting parameters are derived from a special analysis of the most
recently available Census Bureau’s March 2009 Annual Social and Economic
Supplement. This analysis produces population parameters for the demographic
characteristics of adults age 18 or older. These parameters are then compared with the
sample characteristics to construct sample weights. The weights are derived using an
iterative technique that simultaneously balances the distribution of all weighting
parameters.

41

Following is the full disposition of all sampled telephone numbers:

Table 1:Sample Disposition

Landline Cell
20,895 12,699 Total Numbers Dialed

1,160 251 Non-residential
982 18 Computer/Fax
12 --- Cell phone
8,886 4,906 Other not working
1,675 176 Additional projected not working
8,180 7,348 Working numbers
39.1% 57.9% Working Rate

558 59 No Answer / Busy
870 2,054 Voice Mail
68 13 Other Non-Contact
6,684 5,222 Contacted numbers
81.7% 71.1% Contact Rate

521 740 Callback
4,305 3016 Refusal
1,858 1,466 Cooperating numbers
27.8% 28.1% Cooperation Rate

284 235 Language Barrier
--- 460 Child's cell phone
1,574 771 Eligible numbers
84.7% 52.6% Eligibility Rate

66 27 Break-off
1,508 744 Completes
95.8% 96.5% Completion Rate

21.8% 19.3% Response Rate

The disposition reports all of the sampled telephone numbers ever dialed from the
original telephone number samples. The response rate estimates the fraction of all
eligible respondents in the sample that were ultimately interviewed. At PSRAI it is
calculated by taking the product of three component rates:

42

 Contact rate – the proportion of working numbers where a request for interview
was made
 Cooperation rate – the proportion of contacted numbers where a consent for
interview was at least initially obtained, versus those refused
 Completion rate – the proportion of initially cooperating and eligible interviews
that were completed

Thus the response rate for the landline sample was 21.8 percent. The response rate for
the cellular sample was 19.3 percent.

The Nielsen Apps Playbook

The Nielsen Company conducts a quarterly attitude and behavior survey of more than
80,000 mobile subscribers in the U.S. ages 13 and older. The Mobile Insights survey
covers multiple research topics, measuring the attitudes and behaviors of both wireless
subscribers and non-subscribers, and including questions about:

– Subscriber Usage
– Brand Awareness
– Customer Satisfaction
– Network Performance Perceptions
– Switching Behavior

Mobile Insights surveys over 25,000 panelists every month—over 300,000 consumers a
year. The Mobile Insights survey is fielded during the first half of each month. The
Mobile Insights panel includes a subset of 2,500 Hispanic panelists every month—over
30,000 Hispanic consumers a year. Within this Hispanic panel subset, each month at
least 1,000 respondents complete an online survey and 1,500 complete a phone survey.

Because the survey is not based on a probability sample, no margin of error can be
computed and the results cannot be generalized to the population of recent app
downloaders with a known degree of precision.

Sampling

Survey respondents are selected at random within Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical
Areas/Metropolitan Statistical Areas (CSMA/MSA) markets from the panel rolls of five or
more different online panel source companies in order to attain a diverse sample of
persons age 13 and older in the US. The Mobile Insights survey sample is selected from
internet sample frames constructed and maintained for general population surveys by
such companies as Harris Interactive, Market Tools, Survey Sampling International, e-
Rewards and Lightspeed Research. The Hispanic portion of the online sample described
above is augmented by a Spanish language phone survey in highly concentrated

43

Hispanic markets using a residential phone list sample frame for improved coverage of
unacculturated Hispanics.

Each month, a sample of web-enabled online panelists is sent invitations to participate
in the Mobile Insights survey via email. The study is described to survey participants as
one about “cell phones” and respondents are asked to share their opinions “regardless
of whether you use a cell phone.” In the survey email invitation, potential participants
are directed to the Mobile Insights survey website.

Initial double and/or triple opt-in recruiting practices by the sample providing
companies are conducted through a wide variety of sources including: opt-in recruiting
during online personalization registration, banner and/or text advertising on selected
websites, follow-on recruiting for panelists at the end of ad-hoc surveying and direct
mail recruiting through opt-in electronic mail accounts.

In order to maintain reliability and integrity in the sample, the following procedures are
used:

1. Unique URL protection: Each invitation contains a unique website address
assigned to the targeted email address. This unique address allows for only the
invited participant to access the survey website and the survey can be completed
only once with a single credential.
2. Only cell phone users can respond to user questions: Only primary users of
mobile technology are designated to complete the specific usage, consumption
and attitudinal sections of the survey. As a precaution, each respondent is re-
qualified as a mobile user. Only primary cell phone users are responsible for
providing data about their personal and business usage of mobile services.
3. Second invitations: In order to maximize the survey sample, second follow-up
email invitations are mailed to all nonresponding invitees, reminding them of the
opportunity to participate in the survey.

The supplemental Spanish language sample is recruited using random digit dialing (RDD)
in Puerto Rico. In the continental US, sample is recruited from a listed household sample
frame that has been filtered using a Hispanic surname database derived from the US
Census Bureau. This Hispanic surname database of listed households is the criterion for
the random selection of records across phone directories in 30 residential ZIP code
areas that are known to have a high density Hispanic population.

Sample design

The adult (over age 18) Mobile Insights sample is stratified by metropolitan area
including 102 markets and the remaining “white space” (non-metropolitan areas).
Systematic (unduplicated random) sampling is conducted within each metropolitan area
and white space. Outcomes are weighted according to market-specific demographic

44

Rise of Apps Culture: 35% of US Adults Have Phones With Apps But Only 24% Use Them

Rise of Apps Culture: 35% of US Adults Have Phones With Apps But Only 24% Use Them

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