In our weekly Mobile Monday series, we cover the latest news and research in the mobile world. Last week, we discussed trends in the mobile app industry trends and hypercasual games, in particular, as the continued hot trend in mobile gaming. This week we’re diving back into that report to highlight the international markets and app categories that are on the rise. Meanwhile, a survey revealed that over half of mobile users said they were unlikely to allow tracking from Facebook after reading their prompt. Get all the details in this week’s Mobile Monday!
55% of Mobile Users Said They Were Unlikely to Allow Tracking from Facebook After Reading Prompt
Apple announced it had created the App Tracking Transparency framework to assert its narrative that user privacy is a top priority for the brand. While this has been good news for consumers, ad tech companies have been focused on how this changes the way they access and track app user behavior. Facebook has relied heavily on user data for their ad experiences so they decided to create a privacy prompt that would explain exactly why tracking digital behaviors is important for the future of small businesses.
In a recent survey conducted by TapResearch, 55% of respondents said that they were either unlikely or highly unlikely to allow tracking after reading this prompt from Facebook. Additionally, 28% of these respondents said they use Facebook at least once a day, while 33% report logging into the app over three times a day. This implies that so a good portion of these daily active users are more concerned with their privacy than having better ad experiences in the app.
The survey also found that age plays a role in a person’s willingness to be tracked based on the reasons that Facebook has presented. The report stated that the younger a user is, the more open or accepting they are of the idea of sharing their private data. Approximately 26% of 18-24 year olds and about 26% of 25-34 year olds stated that they’re likely or highly likely to allow tracking compared to just 16% of 35-44 year olds. TapResearch’s data suggests that users may be open to sharing their digital activities for the right reason, but determining the reason is going to be the real challenge. According to the survey, when asked if they would opt into tracking if it meant they could access their favorite apps for free, 38% of these users responded “Maybe,” while only 29% responded “Yes.”
India and Brazil Are Rapidly Growing in Mobile Adoption
Sensor Tower’s Mobile App Industry Trends 2021 report highlights the international markets and app categories that are on the rise. India and Brazil are among the fastest-growing mobile markets in the world, gaining a year-over-year growth in mobile adoption of 35% and 32%, respectively, in 2020. Outside of mobile games, Utility and Photo and Video apps saw the most success in these countries. The largest mobile markets started to see downloads return to pre-COVID-19 numbers but Turkey’s install rates jumped in December. Meanwhile, Brazil saw a 32% growth year-over-year.
At the start of 2021, the growth of essential apps remains high. Business, Health & Fitness, and Education category apps saw the largest boost as the demand for remote work and home workouts spiked along with downloads of related apps. Contact-tracing and telemedicine apps continued to show high adoption growth throughout the year as COVID-19 raised awareness for health monitoring. With families stuck at home, the Education and Entertainment categories both saw an increase in the number of apps released on Google Play, each making up 8% of the new apps launched. Entertainment was the second most popular non-gaming category on Google Play by downloads in 2020.
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