How well do different apps perform across different platforms: Facebook, iPhone or Android? Very conveniently, someone has compared these platforms (see diagram below) with some interesting results. Due to the sheer number of users, Facebook wins out on total apps, but looking at apps per user then the iPhone wins hands down. But that is hardly surprising. When it comes to mobile media, the iphone is very much about apps. With FB it is less about apps and more about basic communication or basic functionality that is already in the system.

What is also interesting are the type of apps in each top 10. For the iphone it’s all games. Facebook is mostly games, but includes some utilities, whereas Android is almost all utilities. This may simply be a matter of necessity. iphone users may be more than happy with their operating system and the only extras they need may be a bit of entertainment. Conversely, the Android users may simply have fewer games to download. But perhaps there is something more to it than that? Whilst the iphone has sold around 65m handsets, the figure of 120 million means that includes the ipod touch. That device is primarily about entertainment, so the fact that it is mostly games that are being downloaded makes sense. Similarly if you want games on your phone then the iphone is going to be the device of choice because of both the functionality and the range of apps available.