News: Android Smartphones Dominated by 10 Hugely Popular Mobile Apps

There are over 250,000 apps in the Android Market, ranging from free productivity programs to a ridiculous $200 for a vuvuzela horn effect. But chances are you don't have the vuvuzela app on your Android smartphones right now, but you are likely to have one of the ten most popular apps in the Android Market.

Nielsen Smartphone Analytics recently published a report stating that nearly half of all Android activity can be traced backed to just ten hugely popular applications. After analyzing data from mobile devices equipped with metering software, they came to the conclusion that those ten apps account for 43 percent of all usage. The top 50 apps account for 61 percent of all usage, which means those remaining from the 250,000 are struggling in the leftover 39 percent.

So, what are the ten mega apps that everyone is using?

Nielsen hasn't revealed any of the Android apps, probably because they plan to disclose the data in an upcoming free webinar on September 15th. But it can't be too hard to figure out what apps dominate the market. With a quick search in the Android marketplace, the top ten free applications are Google Maps, YouTube, Facebook, Pandora, Angry Birds, Music Download, Words with Friends, Dragon, Fly!, Amazon Kindle, and Advanced Task Killer.

Some of those apps come pre-installed on most Android devices, like Google Maps, YouTube and Facebook, so it's no wonder why they're consistently in the top ten, not to mention that everybody in the world uses their online counterparts on a daily basis.

But looking at the top ten paid apps, it's hard to believe any of these accounts for part of the 43 percent of total activity. Why? Because free is the way to go.

CNET recently held a poll for Android users about what their favorite apps were, based on 100 that the CNET editors chose as their top faves. Of the results, Google Maps was the only one that made the cut from the ones listed above, with the rest being Dolphin Browser HD, Lookout Mobility Security, SoundHound, Read it Later, Google Voice, Google+, Fruit Ninja, Plants vs. Zombies, and Doodle Jump.

But CNET is a very tech heavy site, and it's doubtful that the vast majority of Android users use any of those beside Google Maps. Google+ might make it to the top ten one day overall, but only when it exits its invite-only mode.

So, it's probably safe to say that the better part of the top ten apps that Neilsen is referring to are the top free apps listed in the Android Market. But it's missing some important apps that people use daily, like Barcode Scanner and Skype. The top ten free apps aren't really the ones used the most, but only the ones downloaded the most.

What do you think are the top ten apps that hog up 43 percent of all activity?

And what are your top ten favorite Android apps? Share them in the comments below.