Geographic location biggest indicator of mobile app preferences

Across the globe smartphones and mobile apps have become an integral part of everyday life, but what determines the apps you use?  . A new study involving UCL reveals that the country you live in rather than your demographic data is actually the biggest indicator of the types of apps you download and use. The study, conducted in collaboration with the Insight Centre for Data Analytics, Ireland, University of Helsinki, Finland, and Lancaster University, UK, will be presented at the MobileHCI 2018 conference in Barcelona, Spain, September 3-6. Researchers found that English-speaking countries, including the UK, USA, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, as well as Japan and South Korea had the highest app usage, with the lowest app usage being found in Argentina, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan and India. Dr Mirco Musolesi, who leads the UCL Intelligent Social System Lab (UCL Geography), said: "Previously studies have not focused on geographic and cultural factors behind app usage, instead choosing to focus on usage patterns and behaviour. "Our research highlights that even if mobile communications and hyper-connectivity are a global phenomenon, the country we live in plays a huge part in determining our app preferences. Understanding how and when people use phones, and which apps they engage with, is important for the study of individual behaviour and society at large." The team applied large-scale analysis of geographic, cultural, and demographic factors in mobile usage, using data from 25,323 Android users who used 54,776 mobile applications in 44 countries across Europe, Americas, Asia and Oceania.