Angry Birds Is An Old Person’s Game [Survey]
Photo by Brian Sawyer - https://flic.kr/p/9soBx6
I can guess your age by asking you two questions: What smartphone do you own and what’s your favorite mobile game? If you answered Android and Angry Birds, you must be between 35 and 44 years old. Turns out, 35 percent of that age group simply adores Angry Birds, while younger gamers could care less about the blue, red and yellow pig-haters.
Nielsen released results of which Android apps are most popular with what ages. No matter your age, Android Marketplace was the top app, followed by Facebook. After that, Android app preferences drew some very clear lines depending on your age. For instance, GMail was listed in second place among 25-34 and 35-44 with 8 out of 10 of the younger Android users picking the Google free mail service. More than 60 percent Android users between the age of 18 and 24 were YouTube fans while 51 percent of older Android owners viewed videos.
Other striking age-related Android app picks were streaming audio is more important for younger users. While the 18-24 age group chose the Pandora Radio app right after YouTube, older Android users rarely chose the music app, pushing it down to No. 13, according to Nielsen.
As someone in the over-50 demographic, I can understand why Angry Birds is popular with older users. First, the game follows the usual requirements of casual gaming – slow paced and approachable, rather than fast and furious like a racing or point-and-shoot app. Secondly, parents often download apps for their kids. As a parent, my young daughter loves to play Angry Birds and often unlocks the iPad levels even before myself. YouTube is the same – young people are accustom to quick video clips. For older users, interaction with YouTube is mostly of the ‘hey, gramps, you gotta see this autotunes news clip.’
It will be interesting to see whether these app trends extend into the iPhone and iPad, which generally cater to younger users. I would think the App Store would also be the No. 1 iOS app, with Facebook and Gmail against rounding out the top three. How do you think iPhone and iPad apps would rank when it comes to age?
