Study Shows iOS, Android Preference by U.S. City

New data from Crittercism, a mobile application performance management company, aims to break down the preferences for iOS and Android in the 20 largest U.S. cities.

Among the study findings:

• The major and emerging tech hubs in the US overwhelmingly prefer iOS to Android.
• San Francisco and New York see significantly more iOS usage than Android usage.
• Android had made inroads to San Antonio, Phoenix, Detroit and Houston.

Crittercism’s study is based on performance data from “one billion active users worldwide,” according to Recode.net. (It’s unclear exactly how “worldwide” data applies to U.S. cities.)

The findings aren’t particularly surprising, as iOS is seen as the more polished, fashionable option when compared to Android, and many of the cities with the most obvious iOS preferences are not only tech hubs, but also fashion hubs. Apple devices are more expensive than the majority of Android devices, and tech hubs are often wealthier areas. San Francisco is also the city with the highest percentage of iOS users, which could have something to do with the fact that Apple is based in nearby Cupertino.

Two things jump out at me, though. For example, San Jose, in the heart of Silicon Valley and also very close to Cupertino, is just about evenly split in its iOS/Android preferences, according to the study. The data in the Crittercism chart above is ranked by the 20 largest U.S. cities. As such it includes more Texas cities than cities from any other state. I don’t exactly think of San Antonio, Houston, El Paso, Dallas, and Fort Worth when I think of U.S. “tech hubs.” So it might have made more sense to display the data differently and include other major cities with a techie presence. (I wanted to see Boston ranked, but I’m biased because it’s my home city.)

AS

via Recode.net