Apple Inc.
App recommendation using crowd-sourced localized app usage data

Abstract:

Applications may be tagged with location data when they are used. Mobile device may anonymously submit application usage data. Aggregated application usage data from many mobile devices may be analyzed to determine applications that are particularly relevant to a given location (i.e., exhibiting a high degree of localization). Analysis may include determining the application usage intensity, whether hotspots exist or not at a given location, the spatial entropy of a particular application, the device populations in a particular area, etc. Based on the localized application analysis, applications may be ranked according to local relevance, and, based on this ranking, application recommendations may be provided to a user.