When deciding upon which phone to purchase, it's not always about how many megapixels the phone's camera boasts or whether there is a Qualcomm processor inside. You likely care more about the mobile platform it's based upon and the types of apps available.

Although Android and iOS are the main mobile platforms currently dominating the market, there are several options to choose from, such as Windows Phone and BlackBerry, as well as some lesser-known platforms like Firefox OS. But selecting a platform is only half the battle.

You also need to analyse your mobile habits and designate which apps and services you love or use most often, because then you'll want to go with a mobile platform that has all or at least some of those apps available in its app store.

Nielsen, the company that measures TV ratings in the US, releases a list of the most popular apps every year. We've plucked some of those apps and combined them with our personal favourites in order to assemble a collection of 10 apps you're most likely to download.

But that's not all: We dug deeper to determine if those apps are available across a variety of different platforms. The idea is that you'll be able to decide which mobile platform is best for you based on whether it offers the apps you need (not including third-party clients).

iOS

Apple App Store

Android

Google Play Store

Windows Phone

Windows Phone Store

BlackBerry

BlackBerry World

  • Facebook: Yes
  • Instagram: No
  • Snapchat: No
  • Twitter: Yes
  • Vine: No
  • Spotify: Yes
  • Netflix: No
  • YouTube: No
  • Google Maps: No
  • Skype: Yes

Firefox OS

Firefox Marketplace

  • Facebook: Yes
  • Instagram: No
  • Snapchat: No
  • Twitter: Yes
  • Vine: No
  • Spotify: No
  • Netflix: No
  • YouTube: Yes
  • Google Maps: No
  • Skype: No

Note: To celebrate the release of the first Samsung Tizen phone, called Samsung Z1, Samsung has just opened the Tizen Store to the public. Although the Tizen Store has a live website, it's unclear from that site which apps are available. We therefore didn't include Tizen.