According to a new report by Nielsen published this week, Facebook continues its dominant position as the most downloaded app in the U.S. The top ten smartphone apps for 2015 were occupied by just three tech giants, Facebook, Google and Apple. Though Google occupied five spots out of the 10 with YouTube sitting at No. 2, along with apps such as Search, Play, Maps and Gmail also making the top ten.
The report says that YouTube had more than 97 million average unique users each month, which is up by 5 percent compared to the same period last year. While Google Search had 95 million mobile users, Google Play had 89.7 million, while Maps and Gmail had 90 million and 75 million average unique users respectively.
Though, despite Google occupying the top five spots, it was Facebook Messenger that saw the highest year over year growth at 31 percent. This could be attributed to the company’s decision to make Messenger a standalone app, forcing users to download the service. Followed by Messenger, it was Apple Music that witnessed the highest growth with a 26 percent year over year rise, which is quite impressive given that the music streaming service was launched this year. Apple Music has more than 54 million average unique users each month, according to Neilsen’s report.
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Facebook maintains the top spot in terms of top apps by users, with more than 126 million average unique users every month. It saw an 8 percent growth than last year when it also led the way as the most popular app.
In addition, the report also revealed the top mobile operating systems in the US by market share. Android still tops the list as the most preferred OS in the country with 52.6 percent market share, though Apple’s iOS is hot on heels with a market share of 42.7 percent. While, Windows Phone continues to struggle with a mere 3 percent users, followed by BlackBerry which still scooped up a market share of 0.7 percent.
