• by Steve Smith , Staff Writer @popeyesm, November 6, 2014

We know that mobile users are spending 80% of their time in apps of one kind or another. But where are most of them spending most of their actual time? It looks as if Facebook has a lock on our attention across its three major mobile iterations, according to analytics firm Mobidia. Their latest leaderboard of apps ranked by monthly active users (MAUs) puts the signature Facebook app at number 1 on iOS, with Facebook Messenger on #3, and its Instagram app at $4. On Android the story is a bit different, where Google’s own app is ranked #1, Google Maps #3 and Gmail #4. Facebook comes in at #5.

Google’s YouTube is a winner on both platforms, however, ranking #2 on Android and #3 on iOS, behind Apple’s video calling app FaceTime.

Mobidia uses the widely installed and promoted My Data Manager to monitor 3 million apps among millions of users daily in 60 countries. 

Person-to-person communications is still the most popular activity on mobile phones, with apps like Snapchat, Twitter, Pinterest and WhatsApp all making the top 25 on iOS. The media aggregators like Netflix, Spotify, Podcasts, Yelp, and Shazam all make the grade as well. It is worth pointing out that in many cases mobile platforms have successfully created their own native brands, even though he very biggest desktop goliaths have ported here as well.  Curiously, this is a bit less true of Android, where Google really flexes its muscles. Even Hangouts rate high in the Android leaderboard

And there are precious few familiar and major media brands present here, even though TWC and ESPN have a presence. The app leaderboard should be humbling for most media companies. Aside from YouTube – arguably a social network as much as a video platform – Only Pandora and Weather Channel crack the top dozen. On Android even the Super Bright LED Flashlight app has more regular users than TWC’s app or Flipboard.

Now that is a humbling thought major media might want to keep in mind when vying for mobile user attention. You are competing not so much against one another as you are competing with a flashlight.