Study: Games Most Popular Apps On Smartphones

Games are the most popular type of apps available for download from the various app stores, with 93 percent of downloaders in the U.S. happy to pay for content, compared to 76 percent willing to pay for news apps, according to analyst research. A study by Nielsen surveyed app downloaders over the last month, and found that 64 percent of users download games, following by 60 percent for weather apps and 56 percent for social networking apps. Comparing different app stores, the report found that the average iPhone gamer plays on their device around 14.7 hours each month, while Android gamers spend 9.3 hours a month playing Android games. Windows Phone 7 users play just 4.7 hours worth of gaming on their devices a month, while Blackberry gamers spend just 4.5 hours a month playing games. The average playing time over all devices is 7.8 hours of gaming a month. The study noted that iPhone, Windows Phone 7 and Android users are more likely to download and play games, with around 68 percent of users doing so for each platform, while Blackberry users tend to stick to the pre-loaded games, with just 24 percent downloading titles.