Northern Ireland smartphome and tablet owners top the list for app downloads in the UK.

Research, released to coincide with The Sunday Times Apps List 2012, shows Northern Ireland smartphone owners own an average of 60 apps (against a national average of 38).

People in the province use an average of eight a day (UK average is six) and nearly a quarter spend over three hours daily using apps (the mean is 6.4%).

The survey also states that the majority of smartphone and tablet users believe that apps have made their lives better. In fact more than half say they use their phone more for apps than any other purpose such as emailing, texting or even calling.

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The list has been put together by a team of experienced app reviewers, aided by experts in specialist fields such as fashion and culture.

Some win inclusion by solving some of life’s little problems, others for their sheer addictive silliness. 250 apps appear in the paper this weekend (January 22) with the remaining 250 being published on January 29. The full list will be available and searchable online after publication.

It is four years since smartphone and tablet apps were first launched to the masses and from humble beginnings it seems millions of Britons now couldn’t live their lives without them.

A study commissioned by the newspaper found that:

* Half of the UK population now owns a smartphone

* In 2011 over a million different apps were available

* Almost 80% of the apps people download are free

* In the last week of 2011 there were 81 million downloads in the UK alone

* The average smartphone owner in the UK keeps around 38 apps on their device

* Over half download a new app at least once a week

The list includes apps devoted to culture, entertainment, sport, food, travel, health and science and in its online form, the list evolves, with new apps typically added every week.