Strategy Analytics’ AppOptix decodes the usage profile of a typical US Android smartphone user.

Boston, MA – June 12, 2014 – According to Strategy Analytics’ AppOptix platform, US Android users have been spending more time with their devices. Android smartphone users on average spent 138 minutes with their device in May 2014, an increase of 20% from the usage in December 2013.

The analysis is based on over one million individual application sessions on more than 1500 Android smartphone users in the US during the period. The results are powered by Strategy Analytics’ state-of- the-art Consumer Telemetry Platform  by leveraging three core components – a best-in-class telemetry application, an opt-in panel, and big data analytics framework to support rich analysis.

While Facebook, YouTube and Messaging apps demonstrate category leading performance with over 50% share in total time spent in their respective categories, niche segments such as LifeStyle, Productivity, and News, Weather & Sports are characterized by a broad range of smaller apps - no single publisher dominates the category and thereby presents opportunities for new and inspiring app concepts.

Bonny Joy, Chief, Consumer Telemetry Platforms, said:  “The three big categories are social, communication, and browsing – together they account for nearly a third of the time spent. Our analysis on the top 25 apps across each of the categories shows games and lifestyle segments are among the most vulnerable in maintaining mindshare as they are quick to come and disappear from our rankings.

Barry Gilbert, Vice President, said:  “Without doubt time spent on mobile is on the upward trajectory. Our data shows that of the total time spent, the gain is attributed primarily to the increased usage in social, communication and browsing categories.