‘The average number of Apps found on a Smartphone is 22; of all the apps downloaded on a daily basis – games are the most predominant amongst the free and paid Apps. On average, across all Smartphone brands – Facebook, Google Maps and the Weather Channel seem to be the most popular Apps downloaded on the phones’.  – Nielsen Wire (2011)

With the App Obsession on an all time rise, the question I want to know is what are the 10 most popular and well-known Apps being downloaded by global Mobile users. Some App’s are free and others app’s unfortunately come at a cost. It is quite interesting to see which paid Apps are being downloaded because when people are spending money on Apps it means the App really has to have a good reputation among mobile ‘fundi’s’.

Top 10 Apps Overall, by Downloads:

1. Facebook Mobile: This App which has been classified as the most popular App around, allows users to access the social network from their mobile phone through text messages, e-mails, downloaded applications or a web browser. The purpose of this mobile App is to allow Facebook users to view and update their pages and profile on-the-go.

2. eBuddy Messenger: eBuddy is a browser-based web and mobile messenger service supporting various instant messaging services. eBuddy provides improved stability across the instant messaging platform, more reliable contact lists and groups, and the user is able to choose a colour scheme to suit their taste; perhaps this is why eBuddy is in second place on the most popular list. eBuddy enables the user to send any image from their phone to their friends; they are able to send directly from their camera or they can send from their phones memory.

3. Nimbuzz: Nimbuzz is a messaging service combining instant messaging, presence and VoIP. It interfaces with several popular messaging services such as Skype, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo! Messenger, ICQ, Google Talk, AIM, Gadu-Gadu and Twitter as well social networks such as Facebook and MySpace. Nimbuzz lets you call, chat, message, and swap files on the go, for free. It combines all your buddies from MSN, Yahoo, AIM, Google Talk and more. It does this through one contact list and one login. Nimbuzz Mobile uses an internet data plan or Wifi on your mobile phone. As a result, all the benefits from the PC will be available on the user’s mobile phone, and the user will therefore save money on long distance and international phone calls.

4. Migg33: Migg33 was released in December of 2005 as the first global, mobile community, and has quickly spread around the world. Growing on the strength of user recommendations, and bringing the power of Internet to anyone with a mobile phone, more than 40 million users in over 200 countries have joined the mobile community.

5. Opera Mini browser: Opera is known for bringing a first-class web experience to thousands of mobile phones; the Opera rendering engine displays complete webpages and allows the user to switch between open webpages through the use of tabs, the user is also able to launch their favourite website with a single click through Speed Dial. Opera’s well-designed user interface allows the user to navigate seamlessly and efficiently on their mobile devices. The browser comfortably adjusts to the user’s needs by switching between portrait and landscape mode and allowing the user to adjust their font size for easier reading.

6. Yahoo! Mobile: Yahoo mobile provides a homepage for the user’s mobile that lets the user stay connected, discover what’s new, and keep up with their world, from a single page. The user will be able to retrieve news and services from anywhere on the web; this service is specifically designed for mobile phones and is therefore really fast and efficient and is constantly being updated. The other benefit of this App is that the user can personalize it with their favourite interests, services, links, feeds, contacts, and more.

7. Google: Google is a world wide web search engine that indexes the greatest number of web pages. There were over two billion pages indexed by December 2001 and Google was able to search this index in less than a second, for free. In addition to the Google mobile app’s search aspect which is the app’s primary function, the app not only searches the Web, but it also searches the user’s phone’s address book and e-mail in-box, the user’s Web-based Gmail account, and Google Docs for results that match the user’s query.

8. Yahoo! Mail: Yahoo! Mail, otherwise known as Y! Mail, is a  free web mail service provided by Yahoo!. Currently it is the largest web-based email service. Yahoo ! Mail allows the user to sign into their personal email service from their phone’s browser; they are able to send, search, receive and reply to friends, family,  and any other important emails that have been sent to them.

9. Bitstream Bolt Browser: The Bitstream Bolt Browser allows the user to experience full desktop PC-style browsing on their mobile phone. It also allows the user to run web-based applications, like Mafia Wars and Google Docs. This efficient browser ensures that web content is never reformatted, repurposed, or removed; it allows the user to browse any site with the best page rendering available.

10. YouTube: Founded in February 2005, YouTube allows billions of people to discover, watch and share originally created videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original-content creators and advertisers, large and small. All the user needs to do is download the application and they will be able to watch unlimited video’s on their mobile phone; however although the app is free, it is important for users to be prepared for some potentially high streaming and downloading costs.

Some Extra Information:

Some of the most popular game app’s that have been downloaded are as follows (most of these are paid apps):

•    Doodle Jump – Simplistic platformer;
•    Tap Tap revenge 3 – Guitar Hero-style rhythm game;
•    Pocket God – You play God over primitive islanders;
•    Angry Birds – Inescapable catapulting fun;
•    Bejewled 2 + Blitz – Puzzler based on matching gemstones;
•    Traffic Rush – Solve puzzles based on traffic jams;
•    Flight Control – Air traffic control simulator.