A quick look at someone's home screen can reveal quite a bit about a person. Consequently, a quick look at the most popular apps in a given neighborhood is bound to at least tell us something. Perhaps a lot.
So one night this week we asked BuzzFeed employees to send us a screenshot of the most popular iOS apps in their respective areas, using the App Store's location-based "Near Me" App Store filter. The results gives us a glimpse of an invisible, unspoken topography of the city: an app map.
The Financial District in lower Manhattan likes an evening at the theater, investment strategies, budgeting, and some light gambling.
Residents in the Gramercy region of Manhattan enjoy keeping up with their studies, planning pregnancies, getting ripped, and eating.
In Murray Hill, Manhattan, it's all about throwin' iron, expensive blowouts, and taking the bus.
Nolita residents like crepes, making short films, group chats, and skater-inspired fashion.
Lower East Siders like loyalty rewards programs, turning their phones into flashlights, and off-brand social networks.
Upper East Siders like dining out, finding a broker, day trading, and "content resource management."
Upper West Side residents have nanny cams, love booking flights, turn on their lamps with their phones, and take the subway.
Up in Washington Heights, people like using their phone to watch TV and taking the subway. This is podcast country.
Over in Long Island City, Queens residents like soccer rumors, need help hailing cabs, manage property, and sweat it out in spinning class.
Brooklyn residents in Prospect Heights like to listen to podcasts, look up facts about movies, go on blind dates, and keep baby journals.
Fort Greene, Brooklyn is all about website analytics, surge-priced cars, collecting run data, astrology, and finding the damn Barclays Center.
Park Slope residents enjoy synchronizing grocery lists, have trouble sleeping, and love Citi Bike.
Denizens of Williamsburg are sculpting their bods, checking out cool nightlife, breastfeeding, and rating people online based on appearances.
And just to the north in Greenpoint, residents enjoy finding crafty, artisanal goods, podcasts, and the Associated Press.
Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, seems to enjoy sports and knowing how to get places.
And over at the BuzzFeed Flatiron offices, people like salads, moderately priced hotel stays, and stripping/punishing themselves all the way to a new bod.
While fascinating, these maps are pretty specific to exact location and are in no way comprehensive. With that in mind, we'd like to invite you to add your own screenshot along with your general location in order to paint a better picture.