Posted by IN

Android Users Spend More Time Talking Than iPhone Users And Why It Matters

30 May 2013

According to a recent study by Experia Marketing Services in the US Android users spend more time talking than iPhone users whereas iPhone users spend more time texting. One wonders if the same would apply to European users, Asia-Pacific region users, etc. Is the result of the study a cultural thing or is this related to the operating system running on the smartphone or the design of the device itself? It is probably a mix of all these factors and more with different levels of correlation. Nevertheless for “argument’s sake” we’ll assume – without making an ass of you and me – Android users spend more time talking than iPhone users regardless of their immediate environment, ethnic background, etc. with the object to see how it matters when it comes to mobile app design and development.

Let's start by having a look at what the study says in relation to the time Android and iPhone users spend on their smartphone by activity.

mobile app time spent by activity

Talk
Android Users: 28%
iPhone Users: 22%

Text
Android Users: 16%
iPhone Users: 22%

Social Media
Android Users: 16%
iPhone Users: 16%

Web Browsing
Android Users: 16%
iPhone Users: 12%

Email
Android Users: 8%
iPhone Users: 10%

Games
Android Users: 8%
iPhone Users: 8%

Other
Android Users: 8%
iPhone Users: 10%
mobile app speech recognition

What does that tell us from a mobile app architecture perspective? Since Android users spend more time talking than iPhone users what could be done to enhance the user experience in an Android app would be to add speech recognition capabilities whereas on an iPhone app we might make the "tactile" experience more pleasurable. Furthermore as Android users spend more time visiting websites than iPhone users and iPhone users spend more time gaming than Android users a specific requirement could be addressed by adding web browsing capabilities on the Android mobile app whereas on the iPhone mobile app gaming capabilities would be preferred. At last when it comes to social media Android users and iPhone users spend equal time socialising online. Therefore integrating social media capabilities in the mobile app on both platforms makes perfectly sense too.

Have you got an idea for a mobile app for Android or iPhone or both? Contact us regarding your mobile app requirements and we'll be glad to discuss.