• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, July 2, 2013

When it comes to app use, moms aren’t they different from anyone else, spending a lot of time playing mobile games and catching up via social networks. Within this demographic group, about half the time spent on Android and iPad devices was devoted to gaming apps, and a third of the time spent among iPhone users.

New data from app advertising and analytics firm Flurry suggests social networking was the second-most-popular app category for moms on Android devices and the iPhone, accounting for about one-fifth of time spent on each platform.  On the iPad, newsstand apps captured more attention (24%) than social media apps (11%) according to new data from app advertising and analytics firm Flurry.

The better showing of newsstand apps on the iPad in part reflects the Apple tablet’s appeal as a platform for reading magazine-style content.

The findings were based on a survey of a random sample of 24,985 U.S. smartphone and tablet users in May based on activity across the more than 300,000 apps that use Flurry’s analytics software. Since playing games and social networking are generally popular on mobile devices, how do mothers differ from other groups?

Flurry found that across the iPhone, iPad and Android, moms spent more time with educational apps that the wider population. On the iPhone and Android, they were also more interested focused on health and fitness apps, and shopping apps on Android. 

They are also more likely to own tablets. Among the overall population, a quarter of connected mobile devices are tablets. But this figure goes up to 35% for moms. A recent survey by the Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life project estimated tablet penetration at 35% among all U.S. women.

When it comes to mobile operating systems, iOS is the overwhelming favorite of moms. More than three quarters (77%) own Apple devices compared to 60% overall, while 23% have Android-based ones. That’s partly a factor of the segment being overrepresented in tablet ownership, and the tablet marketing being dominated by the iPad

“Media planners whose want to reach American Moms should continue to buy ad inventory in gaming, news/magazine app and social networking apps, and weight their budgets toward iOS apps,” advises Flurry Research Director Mary Ellen Gordon.

"Woman with Smartphone" photo from Shutterstock.