Android users respond to notifications on average more than twice as often as iOS users, with Android owners reacting to 20 per cent of notifications, compared to just eight per cent of iOS owners.

While both Android and iOS have spent considerable time and energy in elevating the visibility of notifications on lock-screens, the ease of finding notifications later on Android seems to be the key reason Googles OS shows much higher rates of response.

The figures, which compare nearly 3000 apps and 100bn push notifications sent to over 500m users, come from a new study by mobile engagement platform Urban Airship, and show medium-performing Android apps outperforming their iOS companions in every industry vertical.

Splitting the apps into high, mid and low-performing categories, the study found the gap between the high performers and medium performers was large and growing, with high-performing iOS apps receiving six times more engagement, and high-performing Android apps getting almost four times more than medium rated ones.

“A core advantage of apps is the ability to reach out beyond their confines to engage people on device home screens and smartwatch faces – the only always-on screens that are never more than a glance away,” said Brett Caine, president and CEO of Urban Airship. “Data shows the difference between good and great mobile engagement is only getting bigger, making it critical that brands treat mobile engagement as a personal experience for their users.”