Smartphones with especially large or small screens are not nearly as popular among users as those with medium-size screens when it comes to surfing and using apps, according to research by US Company Flurry. The company analysed data from millions of smartphones in actual use in its research.
For example, smartphones with a screen of less than 3.5 inches - or about 9 centimetres - made up about 16 per cent of devices in use, but accounted for only about four percent of app usage. That's because it's harder to use apps on the smaller screens, noted Flurry.
Mobiles with medium-sized screens - like the iPhone from Apple - are popular among downloaders, enjoying similar usage rates to those seen with tablets like the iPad, where people are more likely to summon up apps, go online or play games. But as soon as the screen on a mobile phone gets too big - between 12 and 17.5 centimetres - online usage figures drop off again. These phones, dubbed phablets because they lie halfway in size between phones and tablets, only made up two percent of devices in use and accounted for 3 per cent of apps downloaded.
Flurry said its study included billions of measurements per month testing the 200 models most in use. That would account for more than 80 per cent of overall smartphones used. The company tests how people use apps and helps with advertising sales for smartphone programmes.