It’s easy to hop in the car, buckle up, start the engine, and hit the road. It’s just as easy to put your phone down and focus on driving.

But, according to a CMT survey of over 1,200 people, 73% of Americans don’t. In 2023, Americans spent 2 minutes and 6 seconds using their phones while driving.

The Scherer family knows the painful consequences of distracted driving.

On September 15, 2016, their lives changed forever when a distracted driver hit their car while sitting in traffic, killing their nine-year-old son, Logan.

Which apps was he using while driving?

“We have forensics that show that Facebook was in the background. He was using Waze, he was using Google Maps, and he was checking his email,” said Brooke and Jordan Scherer, Logan’s parents. “Ultimately, what killed our son was when he went through the motions of searching, downloading, logging in, and going into an Excel spreadsheet. That’s what killed our son.”

These distractions that caused the fatal crash highlight a critical question — what apps are people using while driving?

A deeper look at the top 10 most-used apps while driving

CMT only measures the physics of the phone while someone is driving, not the content. To help provide a broader understanding of the behaviors drivers are engaging in behind the wheel, we wanted to uncover the most-used apps while driving, their purposes, typical user interactions, and the motivations behind their use. 

To find out, we used Data.ai’s top 200 most downloaded apps list from early February 2024. We surveyed 1,200 people to ask them if they had used their phone while driving in the past month. If they had, we asked them which of the top 200 apps they had used. We removed apps that people can use hands-free while driving, like navigation, music, podcasting, and audiobook apps.

To see the full list, you can download our full report: The State of US Road Risk in 2024.

For each app on the list, we provide some of the more common interactions people have when using the app. You will likely be familiar with most of these apps. The goal of explaining the interactions is to help isolate the hand and eye movements drivers use while using these apps behind the wheel.

Social networking apps dominate the top 10, and 57% of drivers use them behind the wheel. Unfortunately, drivers use apps across all categories. Shopping apps like Amazon, Afterpay, and AliExpress Shopping are right behind social networking apps, with 47% of drivers using them. Forty-two percent of drivers use productivity apps like Gmail and Chrome. Food and Drink apps like McDonald’s and Domino’s Pizza attract 41% of drivers. Forty percent of drivers use entertainment apps like YouTube, Disney+, and Amazon Prime Video.

Overall, 73% of drivers said they had used their phone while driving in the past month. More men were distracted than women by a significant amount, 83% to 66%. As a demographic segment, men are the second most-distracted group behind people 30-44 years old. Beyond Instagram, Camera, WhatsApp Messenger, and YouTube, most of the apps they used were different. Men used more shopping and travel apps like Afterpay, AliExpress Shopping, and Airbnb. Women used more social and communications apps, like Facebook, Facebook Messenger, and FaceTime. Both men and women had a food app in their top 10. Men used the Domino’s Pizza app. Women used the McDonald’s app.

More younger drivers reported using their phones than older drivers, with 80% of 18-29-year-olds and 84% of 30-44-year-olds saying they used an app while driving in the past month. The 30-44-year-old group is the most distracted of every demographic segment. Only 50% of drivers 60+ said they had used an app while driving.

FaceTime and Amazon made it onto the 18-29-year-old’s top 10 list. Both the 30-44 and the 45-60-year-olds had the Afterpay app in their top 10. Like the younger group, the 60+ segment also uses Amazon. McDonald’s is also in their top 10.

More Android users said they had been distracted by apps in the past month while driving than Apple users, 78% to 72%. Android users have more shopping apps in their top 10 with Afterpay and AliExpress Shopping. Apple users say they use more Apple apps like FaceTime and Apple Messenger.

Now, let’s look at the top 10 most-used apps while driving.

#1 Instagram – 24% of drivers: Instagram tops the list with 24% of drivers using the social networking app. The app focuses on sharing photos and videos. App interactions include scrolling through feeds, uploading content, liking photos and videos, commenting on posts, and sending direct messages.

#2 Camera App – 23% of drivers: The Camera App is the second most-used app while driving. It’s close behind Instagram with 23% of drivers using it to capture photos and videos. Interactions with the app involve tapping to take pictures, swiping to switch between modes, zooming in, flipping between selfies and regular photos/videos, and pressing the capture button.

#3 WhatsApp Messenger – 20% of drivers: Twenty percent of people say they use WhatsApp Messenger to send end-to-end encrypted communication through text, voice, and video calls while they drive. People interact with the app by typing messages, recording audio messages, making both audio and video calls, and sending media or documents. 

#4 Facebook – 19% of drivers: Facebook is the fourth most-used app, with 19% of people admitting to using the social networking app while driving. People use the app to share updates, photos, and links with friends, family, and their communities. Interactions include scrolling through the News Feed, writing and posting updates, commenting on content, and reacting to it with likes, hearts, and other emojis.

#5 YouTube – 19% of drivers: Like Facebook, 19% of drivers admit to using the YouTube app. Drivers interact with the video-sharing platform by searching for videos, watching, commenting, and subscribing to channels.

#6 Gmail – 17% of drivers: Seventeen percent of drivers use the Gmail app for emailing. People use it to write and read emails, organize their inboxes, and search through messages for business and personal tasks. 

#7 Facebook Messenger – 17% of drivers: Seventeen percent of drivers use Facebook Messenger, an instant messaging app and platform. People use it to send messages to Facebook friends and contacts. Interactions involve typing messages, selecting stickers or GIFs, and swiping to navigate through chat features like voice and video calls, and more. 

#8 Google Chrome – 16% of drivers: Sixteen percent of drivers admit to using Google Chrome for surfing the web, accessing web applications, and organizing bookmarks. Drivers interact with Google Chrome by typing URLs or search queries, tapping on links, and navigating through tabs.

#9 Afterpay – 15% of drivers: Afterpay is an app that allows people to make purchases and pay in installments. Fifteen percent of people use it while driving. Typical interactions include browsing stores, selecting payment options, and managing payment schedules. 

#10 Phone App – 15% of drivers: The Phone app is the tenth most used app while driving, with drivers using it to dial phone numbers, make voice calls, listen to voicemails, and manage their call history.

On the road to safer driving 

Understanding the top apps used while driving and how people use them, can help create targeted interventions and develop effective prevention strategies to reduce distracted driving. 

Combining these efforts with the legal precedents set by the Scherer family’s advocacy, we have the tools to make our roads safer and prevent further tragedies caused by distracted driving.