According to Nielsen, last year was a big year for digital, including new devices, new apps and the market for virtual reality (VR) devices.
Facebook topped the smartphone app category with 146 million average unique monthly users, up 14 percent over last year. Its sister app, Facebook Messenger, came in second place with nearly 130 million unique monthly users. YouTube came in third, with 113 million.
Amazon and Instagram saw year-over-year growth in app use of 43 percent and 36 percent, respectively. Other top downloaded apps included Google’s Maps, Search and Play apps, as well as Gmail and Apple Music.
Smartphone penetration grew to 88 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers by the end of Sept. 2016, with 53 percent of users on Android devices and 45 percent on iOS devices. About 3 percent had a Windows phone or BlackBerry.
Here are the numbers:
146 million | Average unique monthly users for Facebook’s smartphone app
14 percent | Year-on-year growth in unique Facebook app users over 2015
130 million | Average unique monthly user for Facebook Messenger
113 million | YouTube’s average unique monthly users
43 percent | Year-on-year growth in the use of Amazon’s app
36 percent | Year-on-year growth in the use of Instagram
88 percent | U.S. smartphone penetration at the end of Sept. 2016
53 percent | Users on Android devices
45 percent | Users on iOS devices
3 percent | Users with Windows phone or BlackBerry
[Source:-PyMNTS]
