Facebook and Google Own 8 of the 10 Most Popular Apps

The American appetite for apps has plateaued since last year, but mobile app developers should have no fear: 57% of our digital media usage is spent in apps. It goes without saying that mobile apps are now an integral part of our lives. But which ones are the most used? The answers are, well, less than surprising. Every year, comScore releases a mobile app report with data on the mobile habits of Americans. Among other interesting data points, this report reveals the apps with the most market penetration. At the top of the list are the usual suspects you’d expect, with no real surprises: Facebook, YouTube, Facebook Messenger, Google Search, and Google Maps make up the top five.

Every mobile app developer dreams of creating an app so practical or addictive that it becomes a regular part of users’ lives. But the most popular apps, the ones that users open the most, are established staples. Eight of the top ten most popular mobile apps are owned by Facebook and Google. Relative upstart Snapchat (tied with Instagram at #6) and Pandora (#10 and still somehow more popular than Spotify) are the only exceptions. Also included in the top ten are Google Play (#8) and Gmail (#9). What all of these apps share in common is that they are free (although a couple offer subscription services) and based in California. Among the up-and-coming heavy hitters are Uber, Waze, and Venmo, but it is hard to picture these apps unseating many of the classic apps in the top ten.

So San Diego mobile app developers might be in the right place (or the right state, at least). comScore also asked millenials aged 18-34 to list three apps they could not live without. At the top of the heap was Amazon, which fell off the top ten most popular apps list this year after Snapchat pushed it out. Rounding out the top five are Gmail, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, and YouTube.