With well over 15,000 applications available from the iTunes App Store, the average iPhone and iPod touch owner has fully embraced mobile applications from social networking to productivity, but the real strength lies in gaming.
From a recent Apple App Store report carried out by US analyst firm ComScore, it was clear that gaming was far and above the most popular category among downloaders, with the musical co-ordination game Tap Tap Revenge (like Guitar Hero on your mobile, but with tapping) coming out on top.
ComScore found that one out of every three App Store customers have downloaded Tap Tap Revenge by small app developer firm Tapulous, which also makes iPhone Twitter application Twinkle.
ComScore rated 11 downloaded applications by the penetration of installations, and Tap Tap Revenge came first with 32pc, while the second most popular was the customisation app Backgrounds, with a 27pc install base.
In the top 10 most installed applications from the App Store, half were games.
The ComScore report also looked at other elements of App Store use among iPhone users. It found that, in comparison to regular internet users, iPhone users more frequently use social networking, sports, entertainment and search sites.
In other words, the average App Store user has more reach and as an online consumer is more likely to engage, and when it comes to gaming sites such as EA.com or Xbox.com, they are at least three times as likely to pay a visit as the average internet user.
Added to this, the report found that 35pc of all app users have an income of at least US$100,000 per year.
Interestingly, while Facebook’s application was the fourth most downloaded, and MySpace Mobile and Google Earth came in respectively at 7th and 8th position, the list of popular apps downloads was dominated by small app developer firms.
By Marie Boran
Picture from mosaic image, courtesy of 148Apps
