Using exclusive device meters, Nielsen analyzed thousands of smartphone consumers who acceded participation in their rolling Smartphone Analytics research.  As expected, Facebook and Google apps such as Gmail and the Android Market top the chart among owners 18 years and above in the US. The ranking is determined by the percentage of Android owners who used the app within 30 days.

Socially, Facebook gets the bacon among those ages 18-24 and 25-34 years old whose population accounts for 80 percent of Android’s active users. It also owns ¾ of those ages 35-44 years old. YouTube gets the heaviest usage among those ages 18-24 with a report 64 percent of the population using it robustly for the past 30 days. Ages 25-34 and 35-44 only uses it 56 percent and 51 percent respectively. Media apps with social dimension are also popular for ages 18-24, mainly because of their inclination to music and video apps.

Quite surprisingly, those ages 35-44 are most inclined to games such as the ever popular Angry Birds, with 35 percent actively playing, compared to the 22 percent and 29 percent from age groups 18-24 and 25-34. Moreover, 24 percent of the same group is more inclined to online shopping using Amazon Appstore in the last 30 days, while only 14 percent of ages 18-24 did the same. The 25-34 group is more inclined to use Groupon, but still, it’s almost entirely losing its grip on the 18-24 demographic. Google+ is also surprisingly popular among those ages 25 and above compared to their younger counterparts.

Apart from Google’s popularity With Android and mobile apps, they have another open source platform to worry about.  HP is making webOS an open source platform, hoping to revive interest in its own mobile ecosystem. It could be on its way to helping Android competitors such as RIM get back into the game.