What you need to know

This report explores consumers’ usage and opinions regarding mobile apps, including what types of apps are most commonly used and the prevalence of paid app downloads. Other topics covered in this report include mobile app discovery habits, receptiveness to advertising, preferred payment methods, at-home versus on-the-go usage, and differences between tablet and smartphone app usage.

This report builds on the analysis presented in Mintel’s Mobile Apps – US, September 2013, as well as Mobile Apps – US, June 2012.

Definition

For the purposes of this report, mobile apps include any program that users download to their mobile devices, but do not include mobile websites that are accessed via a browser. For example, the YouTube app from an app store is included but accessing YouTube from the mobile Safari or Chrome browsers is not.

Data sources

Consumer survey data

For the purposes of this report, Mintel commissioned exclusive consumer research through Lightspeed GMI to explore consumer consumption of/attitudes and behaviors toward mobile apps. Mintel was responsible for the survey design, data analysis, and reporting. Fieldwork was conducted in June 2014 among a sample of 2,000 adults aged 18+ with access to the internet.

Mintel selects survey respondents by gender, age, household income, and region so that they are proportionally representative of the US adult population using the internet. Mintel also slightly oversamples, relative to the population, respondents that are Hispanic or Black to ensure an adequate representation of these groups in our survey results and to allow for more precise parameter estimates from our reported findings. Please note that our surveys are conducted online and in English only. Hispanics who are not online and/or do not speak English are not included in our survey results.

Mintel has also analyzed data from Experian Marketing Services, using the Simmons NCS (National Consumer Study) and the Simmons NHCS (National Hispanic Consumer Study).

The Experian Marketing Services, Simmons NCS/NHCS was carried out during August 2013-March 2014 and the results are based on the sample of 6,459 adults aged 18+, with results weighted to represent the US adult population.

While race and Hispanic origin are separate demographic characteristics, Mintel often compares them to each other. Please note that the responses for race (White, Black, Asian, Native American, or other race) will overlap those that also are Hispanic, because Hispanics can be of any race.

Abbreviations and terms

Abbreviations

The following is a list of abbreviations used in this report.

CAPTCHA Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart
OS Operating system
PA-DSS Payment Application Data Security Standard
PC Personal computer, including any computer regardless of its brand or OS (ie including Apple computers, Linux, etc)
PCI DSS Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard
UI User interface
UX User experience

Terms

Exabyte A measurement of digital information. One exabyte is the equivalent of 1 billion gigabytes.
Haptic technology Technology designed to provide more robust tactile sensations for the user. It is used in touch screens to provide more immersive experiences, such as the feeling of pressing keys when typing on a smartphone.
Microtransaction A small transaction. These are often used in mobile apps to offer supplemental content or features for a small fee.
Native mobile app An application designed for a specific platform or device.
Hybrid mobile app An app designed to take advantage of device-specific features but that is also generalized so that core features function across multiple devices and operating systems.

Generations are discussed within this report, and they are defined as:

World War II The generation born in 1932 or before. In 2014, members of this generation are aged 82 or older.
Swing Generation The generation born between 1933 and 1945. In 2014, members of the Swing Generation are between the ages of 69 and 81.
Baby Boomers The generation born between 1946 and 1964. In 2014, Baby Boomers are between the ages of 50 and 68.
Generation X The generation born between 1965 and 1976. In 2014, Generation Xers are between the ages of 38 and 49.
iGen/Millennials* The generation born between 1977 and 1994. In 2014, Millennials are between the ages of 18 and 37.

* includes the oldest members of the iGeneration, aged 18-19

Back to top