Dive Brief:
- A new report from Flurry says mobile app usage grew 58% in 2015.
- Much of that growth came from existing users doing more with their smartphones and other mobile devices, the company said.
- Every category of mobile apps, with the exception of gaming, grew last year, according to the report.
Dive Insight:
Flurry tracks more than 2.1 billion smart devices globally on a monthly basis.
The growth in app usage reflects the evolution of mobile computing by existing users, Flurry said, as more people use their smartphones, phablets and tablets as their primary device.
“While the growth rate has declined (58% in 2015 compared to 76% in 2014 and 103% in 2013), it remains stunning as rates like these are rare in mature industries,” the Flurry report said. “What was even more impressive is the majority of that growth rate came from existing users versus new users.”
Personalization apps, such as Emoji keyboards, were the most popular, with 332% growth, followed by news and magazine apps at 135%. Productivity apps such as Google Docs, Quip, Slack and the Microsoft productivity suite, used by many businesses and their workers, grew 125% in 2015.
Finally, Lifestyle and Shopping apps grew 81%, proving that mobile commerce is continuing to grow rapidly. Overall, mobile now accounts for 33% of online commerce in the U.S.
