The results are in – the top apps we’re using during lockdown

Mobile app usage: the winners, the losers and the newcomers

I don’t know about you but the days of going to the cinema, restaurants, pubs… seem like a distant memory. As we continue to follow protocol by staying at home, we’ve had to find new ways of entertaining ourselves. Technology has played a major role in reducing the ennui.  So, we decided to examine emerging trends in customer and employees’ smartphone usage during lockdown. How important are mobile devices to us now that we’re no longer on the move? What new apps are we engaging with? Which apps have been the big winners and losers? How has our mobile app usage changed?

Corrata is in a unique position to provide insights. Because our technology runs on devices we see all activity whether it is over an app or browser, on cellular, a corporate network or on your home WiFi. Here’s what we’ve learned: 

International travel has ground to a half

Not a surprising finding that the percentage of employees who travelled abroad plummeted from a normal average of circa 5% to today’s sub 1% figure. Why are there any people still abroad you might ask? This is typically Europeans who, due to free movement, work in one country but live in another. In a small number of cases it’s people who ended up abroad before the lockdown and have decided to shelter in place at their overseas location. When international business travel will restart is a very open question. With most countries imposing a mandatory period of quarantine of two weeks or more for international visitors and with our increasing comfort with video conferencing, it might well be a while.

We may be stuck at home but we love our mobiles more than ever

When mobile first arrived it was what it said on the tin….a way to stay connected when you were out of the office or away from home. But, today we find that mobile usage takes place wherever you happen to be. We all reach for our mobiles to check messages, browse Twitter or just for distraction at the office, in our homes and when you’re out and about. 

Now that we’re stuck at home most of the day we’re using our mobiles more than ever. We have seen a 2x increase in traffic and app usage since the lockdown began. The increase has been across both cellular and WiFi. People are choosing the network that gives them the best experience at home – and it’s not always WiFi. With the rest of the family hogging the home network, a high quality mobile signal can make you special.

Zoom is zooming, sports betting is in the doldrums and we’re exploring new things

The graph below shows the percentage increase and decrease in a number of apps  and categories in the top 100 that we see across our customer base. E-commerce sites, such as Amazon, have increased by 141% – probably in the rush to buy hair clippers, hand sanitizer and toilet roll! The increase in Zoom has been well flagged and it’s no surprise that social media is through the roof. What surprised us most was the fall off in fitness app usage: perhaps it’s all the cyclists who have been confined to the indoors! Then again…a Netflix marathon can often sound far more appealing than a home workout! 

Newcomers 

Even more interesting was the new arrivals in our top 100. Social media apps TikTok  and ByteDance made an entrance propelled no doubt by the creativity of our lockdown children. Duolingo’s appearance surely reflects both a desire for self improvement and a yearning for the exotic and a return to travel. And, the rise of Houseparty tells us that Zoom’s monopoly on social gatherings in the social distancing era is far from complete.

So, there you have it. We’re doing more online shopping, we’re video calling friends and family, and most importantly, we’re perfecting the ‘Blinding Lights’ viral TikTok dance to show off on social media!