Nielsen reported on its blog this week the results of its most recent research on smartphone usage which shows that the most used smartphone apps for adults in the U.S. older than age 18 are those made by Facebook and Google, Gmail and the Android market.

Nielsen’s report said that for Android users between the age of 18 and 34, Facebook was the most popular app, achieving an 80pc active reach and for those between age 35 and 44, over 75pc used the app.   64pc of Android smartphone owners between the age of 18 and 24 used the YouTube app made by Google in the last 30 days. Compared to older demographics, this age group favors apps for music and video and this boosted their use of social media apps like Words with Friends.

Nielsen's latest research shows Facebook apps dominate on the Android for the 18 to 34 year old set. (Image: CC via Flickr/Mathew Oliphant)

Angry Birds, the puzzle game created by Rovio Mobile in which users employ a slingshot to hit pigs on their playfield, was surprisingly popular among the more mature 35-44 year old age group; 35 pc of this group use the Angry Birds app in the last 30 days compared to just 22pc for the less mature users between the age of 18-24, while 29pc of users between the age of 25-35 played the game in the last 30 days.

The 35-44 year age group also dominated the use of the Amazon app store for shopping, with 24pc using it over the last 30 days, compared to only 14 pc of those between age 18-24.  The 25-34 set favored Groupon, which did not appear in the top rankings for 18 to 24 year olds.  The same trend occurred with Google+ which achieved a higher active reach for those older than age 24 compared to the 18-24 set.

About David John Walker

Dave has a B.A. in Mathematics, loves writing and reading about the latest developments in technology and social media, and has been working as a freelance writer for five years.