A look at the top smartphone apps of 2013 will give a sneak peek into what may lie ahead in 2014. U.S. smartphone penetration jumped from 56% on January 1, 2013 to 65% of subscribers by the end of October 2013, according to research firm Nielsen. Android and iOS devices ruled the year with 52% and 41% market share, respectively.
Five Google services feature in top smartphone apps
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) occupied the first place in top smartphone apps of 2013. The social networking giant’s app has over 103 million unique monthly visitors. Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) saw a 27% growth in the number of average unique users compared to the previous year. Google Search was the second most popular smartphone app with 75.9 million unique monthly users.
The list of top smartphone apps is clearly dominated by Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s services. As many as five Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) apps featured among the top ten. Google Play was the third most popular app with 73.6 million unique users. The world’s largest video streaming site YouTube was ranked fourth with 71.9 million average unique users each month. Google Maps was next as the number of its unique users grew 14% from the previous year to 68.58 million.
Gmail was ranked sixth among the top smartphone apps of 2013. It has 64.4 million unique monthly users, up 29% compared to the previous year. Instagram, which Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) acquired last year, was ranked seventh with 31.79 million unique users. It was the fastest growing app of 2013, registering a whopping 66% growth over the previous year.
No games appeared in top smartphone apps
Apple Maps, which faced widespread criticism at its debut, has 31.8 million unique monthly users, a growth of 64% over the previous year. Stocks was the ninth most popular app with 30.78 million users. Finally, Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) was at the bottom of the top smartphone apps of 2013. It has 30.76 million unique users.
Surprisingly, none of the top smartphone apps were games. For iOS users, Ridiculous Fishing was the most addictive game, while Android users were crazy for the Knights and Dragons. On the other hand, Candy Crush Saga was the top free iPhone app.
