iPhone OS project starts nearly tripled in January, says analytics firm.
Mobile analytics firm Flurry says that the number of developers using its technology for iPhone apps nearly tripled in January - the single largest spike in the firm's history.
More than 1,600 new app projects were started using Flurry's analytics during that month, according to the company.
Why? iPad.
"Historically, Flurry has measured surges in new application starts within its system in anticipation of new device launches, including for the Motorola Droid and iPhone 3GS," writes its VP of marketing Peter Farago in a blog post.
"As such, we hypothesize that excitement generated by Apple's iPad event in January is driving this growth."
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Another possible cause is the start of the calendar year, as developers get their budgets signed off and kick off new projects for 2010. But presumably that wouldn't cause such a dramatic spike on its own.
Meanwhile, Flurry reports that Android projects are also on the increase, albeit at a more steady 25% growth month-on-month.
The company has also been tracking consumer usage of iPhone and Android apps, finding that both platforms follow a similar path. Roughly 40% of people who've downloaded an app are still using it a month later, but that falls to below 15% after two months.
Social networking apps get used nearly 20 times a month on both platforms, whereas news is around 10, and games are around five.
The full charts are on Flurry's blog post.
