Mobile News Consumption

The Top 5 Mobile App Trends of 2020

2020 has been a tumultuous year. A global pandemic claimed the lives of nearly 1.5 million people, a worldwide movement emerged for racial justice, and American political division created widespread concern.  With COVID-19 forcing unprecedented social distancing, the mobile app economy has also experienced radical shifts. App consumption has exploded, Gen Z is gaming more than ever, and mobile news consumption dwarfed that of 2019.  And Apple’s announcements of impending data policy rule changes have upended an ecosystem.

Mobile App News Consumption Explodes as U.S. Presidential Election Hangs in the Balance

While 2020 has featured some of the biggest events in modern history —a global pandemic, an impeached U.S. President, widespread protests over severe social injustice, and a wildly volatile economy— 83% of Americans believe that who wins the presidency, according to Pew Research, matters more now than it has over the past two decades. In this report, we look at the massive spike in news consumption driven by this year’s U.S. Presidential election.

Mobile News App Consumption Surges in 2020

2020 has featured an unusually high concentration of major events that have dominated the news. The first quarter included mounting tensions with Iran, President Trump’s impeachment trial, and the untimely death of Kobe Bryant. The second quarter focused on the rise of Coronavirus, economic uncertainty and national protests about racial injustice. The result has been a significant, sustained increase in the consumption of news, including in mobile apps. In this report, Flurry takes a look at news consumption patterns in mobile news applications across the first six months of 2020.