Dive Brief:
- A new study suggests that 52% of adult smart phone users and tablet owners use their mobile health apps more now than when they first downloaded them.
- The study, which surveyed 1,000 US adults, found that more than 50% of US adults using mobile health apps tend to use fitness apps.
- According to a related survey by ByteMobile, fitness and weight loss apps were by far the most popular types of apps downloaded, followed by pregnancy and infertility apps.
Dive Insight:
While it's not clear exactly how many Americans are using fitness apps -- the numbers on downloads and usage typically come from the vendor, which certainly has an incentive to boost the numbers -- it's clear that millions of users are accessing and making use of mobile health apps. Now we need to see whether these apps are used in an effective way which actually improves health. If that can be demonstrated, the usage numbers we're seeing could turn out to be just the beginning.