Facebook is top of the apps

Facebook was last year’s most popular smartphone app as tech and web giants dominated the charts.

An average of more than 146 million unique users visited the app each month in the United States, 14 per cent more than in the previous year.

The company also clinched second place in the rankings with its Messenger app, which was spun off from its main social networking app in 2014.

Facebook Messenger had 129 million unique monthly users, growing 28 per cent on the previous year and moving up one place in the chart.

The company has been adding features over the past year, including games and its own marketplace.

Instagram, which Facebook bought for $1 billion in 2012, was the eighth most popular app with 74 million users a month. Some 36 per cent more people visited the app compared with the previous year, according to research by Nielsen based on consumers in the US.

Google dominated the remainder of the top ten. YouTube, which Google owns, was the third most popular app with 113 million visitors, followed by Google Maps with 105 million, Google Search with 103 million, Google Play with 99 million and Gmail with 88 million.

While Facebook continued its dominance over the market, Amazon also experienced a surge in popularity. The Amazon shopping app entered the top ten with 65 million users, 43 per cent more than the previous year. According to Nielsen, it was the fastest growing major app.

Amazon and Apple Music, the ninth most popular app with 68 million unique visitors a month, were the only apps in the top ten not owned by Google or Facebook.