If you’re looking into buying a certain smartphone, you might want to read my next piece. If you’re already a smartphone owner, and want to know what you can do with a different smartphone other than your own, continue to read. Earlier I wrote on the Distimo Full Year Report 2010 and reported that the BlackBerry App World showed triple digit growth last year. What I did not have time to mention, was the content downloaded. On the previous post I left screenshots displaying the highest ranked free applications download from the BlackBerry App World along with the highest ranked paid applications.
After looking at the entire report which covers the Apple App Store for iPad, the Apple App Store for iPhone, BlackBerry App World (worldwide), Google Android Market, Nokia Ovi Store, Palm App Catalog and Windows Marketplace for Mobile for 2010 in the United States, I’ve followed the pattern based on factual evidence to speculate what we like to do with our smartphones, at least in the year 2010.
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Apple– If you are an iPhone and or iPad user, like it or not, this is what you like: four out of ten applications are in the Social Networking category. Facebook and Skype for iPhone have been the highest downloaded free applications for Apple in the App Store. The remaining half are games and entertainment. From Solitaire to Paper Toss these games are common on iPhone devices. Scrolling down to the highest ranked paid applications for Apple in the App Store, I examined the content or more findings. In the 2010 top 10 paid applications the majority of applications are games. Games-Action, Games-Arcade,Games-Family, Games-Strategy, the games vary in scope. If you are an iPhone user, you love Social Media and you love games mixed in with some utility and reference apps like Google Search and iBooks.
However, iPad owners are to be taken a bit more serious. In contrast to the Apple App Store for iPhone, none of the most popular free applications on the iPad are Social Networking applications. Maybe because facebook for the iPad sucks! hah. Anyway, most ipad users use their tablet for utilities, books, and entertainment. The Kindle App, Calculator for iPad Free,Google Earth and the VLC Media Player are favorites for 2010, all free. Of the most popular paid applications on the iPad, the three iWork applications by Apple are all featured in the top 5. This could possibly be seen as an indication that some users are using their iPad as a laptop replacement. Distimo picked up on the trend in the Apple App Store for iPhone towards more business oriented applications, reporting that increasingly more consumers see the iPhone, especially the iPad as a productivity tool. Despite their business reputation, BlackBerry App World attracts more entertainment focused applications. Let’s see what BlackBerry users have gotten into over the last year.
BlackBerry– Of the most popular free and paid applications for BlackBerry in 2010, there are only two games. The other platforms have more games amongst the most popular applications. Games? Yeah I love games, that’s what my ps3 is for. I think I speak for plenty of other BlackBerry subscribers on this one. Looking at the highest free applications for 2010, the top 10 is pretty much split with Social Networking and Productivity/Utility. BlackBerry Messenger, which is the ultimate real time chat app is at #1. Below are apps like Poynt (click here for review), a popular Maps and Navigation app and WeatherEye, an exclusive weather app from The Weather Network. Music at the office? Not a problem, Pandora Radio falls at #2. Us BlackBerry users love to get things done. We love instant and efficient communication along with productivity. BlackBerry users definitely put the ‘smart’ in smartphone.
Of the most popular paid applications for BlackBerry in 2010, there seems to be only one that most BlackBerry users are hooked on, and that’s the classic Bejeweled. Other top paid apps include BeBuzz the LED Color Customizer. Let me add, Distimo classified this as ‘entertainment.’ Some may see it as that and thats fine, but for myself, it’s a productivity app. I use BerryBuzz, which is similar to BeBuzz. Each email, and certain social networking applications are color coded, so I know exactly what’s coming to me. Depending on the color, only I know the significance of the message. Other apps that BlackBerry users lean to are MemoryBooster, PhotoClub and Calorie Tracker.
Android– With Android, the stats were divided so we have separate lists for “applications” and “games.” Of the highest free downloaded apps for the year excluding games, Android users tend to download Social Network applications along with a good volume of utility/productivity apps. Google Maps is ranked at #1 with Facebook, Gmail, and a Compass below. Of the Highest ranked paid applications (excluding games) in the Google Android Market, the majority of applications downloaded in 2010 were tools/productivity oriented. Documents to Go, Swiftkey Keyboard, Advanced Task Manager, My backup pro. It seems as if the device lacks on functionality that we expect from a smartphone so users are hitting up the Android Market and spending extra money on these tool applications. This is probably why I own BlackBerry. No need to spend on features that are already on my device coming out of the factory.
Moving on to the Highest ranked free games (excluding applications) Google Android Market, “Paper Toss”, “Fruit Ninja” and “Angry birds” are among the most popular games on both Android and iPhone. However, on Android “Angry Birds” appears in the top free applications as Android users can download the game for free. Of the Highest ranked paid games in the Google Android Market, there are a lot of Arcade and Action games along with Sports and Puzzle. The prices vary from $0.93 to $4.99, so Android users do not hesitate to spend a few bucks on some gaming applications.
Windows Mobile Nokia and Palm-On Windows Marketplace for Mobile 6.x devices the most popular free and paid applications of 2010 are published by only 8 publishers. Microsoft itself is the most featured publisher in the list: six of its applications are amongst the most popular of 2010.
In the Nokia Ovi Store, many of the most popular applications have been free for a certain period. Only the days when an application was paid were used to determine the top paid applications. However, the period when these applications were free could have given these applications a popularity boost.
With Angry Birds having a third position in the most popular application list, the Angry Birds series have a total of six appearances in the top lists of all stores; more than any other game.
Conclusion
Overall, as smartphone users, we love efficiency. If we want to play a game, we want to be able to count on our smartphone to provide us with a great gaming experience. If we want to check the weather for a scheduled road trip, we like to have that especially close to us as well. The desktop days are diminishing, as many have ditched their personal computers and instead send/check email through their handhelds. Mp3 player? hah, I have Pandora Radio streaming off of my BlackBerry while the guy downstairs has music seeping through his 32g Ipod. Attending a ceremony or party? My friend is snapping photos off of her 8 mega-pixel Android. Our smartphones have caused the newspaper industry to flop as we discontinue our weekly paper subscriptions for free daily, news applications. Just like newspapers, books are also disappearing. People still love to read so that doesn’t change, however, we now turn to our Kindle app to read our favorite novels. Summertime is coming and that means vacation. If I need to get to Vegas by floor, I’m using BlackBerry Traffic and Google Maps on my handset, for free. Shopping is extremely simple with apps like eBay and Amazon, which allows us quick accessibility to some of the worlds largest online supermarkets. I can be here all day telling you what we like to do with our smartphones but enough of me, you tell me what we like to do with our smartphones. Take a quick look around you. Ask a friend, make a friend. Ask what apps they have and depend on a daily basis. Let me know what they say. Don’t forget to share!