Consumers are spending more time interacting with individual apps each month, with the music category seeing the biggest increase, according to app marketing platform provider Localytics.
The company found that the time users spend in apps increased by 21 per cent over the past year, with users opening a program 11.5 times per month on average, up from 9.4 times a year earlier, a 22 per cent increase. App sessions have remained at an average time of 5.7 minutes, however.
Music apps saw a 79 per cent increase in total user time, equating to about 64 minutes per month. Music apps also have the highest average app session duration.
The increased use of music apps was attributed to a shift away from iTunes to music apps such as SoundCloud and iHeartRadio. These kinds of apps offer playlists, radio and social features that are attracting users.
The time spent using health and fitness apps increased by 51 per cent, or 22 minutes per month, as advances in hardware and software add capabilities in this area. The recently unveiled iPhone 6 and iOS 8 offers enhanced health functionality, while the Samsung Galaxy S5 has a heart-rate monitor.
Social network titles meanwhile saw a 49 per cent increase as users exhibited ‘snacking’ behaviour, in which there are a high number of app launches but low session length. Sports, music and news apps saw similar usage.
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