Nielsen: Smartphone owners use about two dozen apps per month

“According to new data from Nielsen out this morning, there may be an upper limit to how many apps people will interact with over the course of a month, and that number – just over a couple dozen – hasn’t grown much over the past few years,” Sarah Perez reports for TechCrunch.

“According to Nielsen, U.S. iPhone and Android users over 18 have been increasing the time they spend using mobile applications, which is up 65 percent over just two years ago. In the last quarter of 2013, for example, users spent 30 hours, 15 minutes using apps per month. That’s a full half-day more than the 18 hours, 18 minutes they spent per month in Q4 2011, the new report notes,” Perez reports. “What’s interesting is how little the number of apps used per month has changed over this same period of time, however. In Q4 2011, the average number of apps used per month was 23.2. The following year (Q4 2012) it grew to 26.5, and as of Q4 2013 it was just 26.8. Says Nielsen, this appears to indicate that there may be an ‘upper limit’ to how many apps users will engage with each month.”

“Of course, those apps being used may not always be the same ones every month, as evidenced by the onslaught of new gaming releases to choose from on any given day, for example. Users are often playing, then disposing of, old titles in favor of new ones on a regular basis,” Perez reports. “Nielsen additionally examined how app usage and time spent varies by age, and found that older smartphone owners (ages 25-44) use more apps, averaging 29 per month, but younger users (13-24) spend the most time in them, with 37 hours, 6 minutes in apps per month. That makes sense, given that younger users aren’t likely as tied down by other responsibilities with either their jobs or their families.”

Much more, including top smartphone app categories, in the full article here.