Americans are spending half their time online using smartphone apps

[midian182]

How do you spend most of your online time? According to media analytics company comScore, it’s probably using a phone app. Recently released research has shown that as of July, applications make up 50 percent of the time Americans spend online – a new milestone for smartphones.

"While the smartphone app has been the most important access vehicle to the internet for some time, growing its share to a point where it now eclipses all other digital media platforms combined speaks to just how central to our lives the smartphone has become," comScore wrote on its blog post.

The share of time people spend on smartphone apps has been increasing over the years. In 2014 it was 41 percent, while last year it was 44 percent. Now, apps are ahead of desktops (32 percent), tablets (11 percent), and mobile web browsers (7 percent).

What are the reasons behind the increasing popularity of smartphone apps? ComScore say their convenience, larger phone screens, and faster 4G LTE network speeds are some of the main factors.

The high usage of smartphone apps compared to other media touchpoints shouldn’t come as much of a shock when you think about your daily online behavior. Chances are when you want to know what’s happening around the world, or in pop culture, or in your friends’ lives, your first move is to reach into your pocket and open one of the number of different social apps on your phone. And unless you already happen to be sitting at a computer, a smartphone app is probably your first option when you decide to listen to music, get directions to a destination, check the weather or catch up on email. The convenience factor is simply too powerful.

ComScore claims that apps’ "share of digital" is likely to keep growing beyond the 50 percent mark, but desktops and tablets will continue to play an important role for consumers as they perform some tasks better than smartphones.

As for the current most popular apps, Facebook continues to dominate with its social media and Messenger applications leading the pack. In order, here are the top fifteen applications people spend the most time using: Facebook, Messenger, YouTube, Google Maps, Google Search, Google Play, Gmail, Pandora, Instagram, Amazon mobile, Apple Music, Apple Maps, Pokémon Go, Snapchat, and Pinterest.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/66240-americans-spending-half-their-time-online-using-smartphone.html

 

[Kibaruk]

You mean people from the United States right? Or are they including people from Canada, Mexico, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina and so on?

Please Techspot, don't perpetuate the 'murican term.

 

[Trillionsin]

You mean people from the United States right? Or are they including people from Canada, Mexico, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Argentina and so on?

Please Techspot, don't perpetuate the 'murican term.

First few lines in the article state:

applications make up 50 percent of the time Americans spend online – a new milestone for smartphones.

As far as the article and the information in it... I don't know. *scratches head*

I use an app on my phone, but it accesses the web. So does this count it under web or apps? What if it's not as well known? Dolphin (the internet browser, no the Gamecube emulator) is also a browser. What if its an app specifically designed to access a wiki page? It's basically a limited browser, but I suspect this fits into the app column.

This information seems influenced by something, or rather, it's purpose it to continue this influence for some reason. I'm 29 years old, and I know I do not spend most of my time in apps on my phone. Most of my time is spent on desktops or laptops.

 

[MoeJoe]

Robots.
Brainwashed and useless robots.

 

[Bruce Fraser]

Another misleading headline: "Half their time" means twelve hours per day. That's not the same as "half their online time," which the text states accurately.
I take it there are no editors overseeing what gets posted at TechSpot.

 

[batsdude]

Really? Do you mean like the zombies crossing the street staring at their toys oblivious of traffic? They seem to think they are impervious to 40 mph 2 tons of steel.

 

[batsdude]

Regardless of your special toy, they use them driving and crossing roads!

 

[Jack007]

Thats why productivity at the office is at an all time low and the economy is sinking. And the mexicans and central american people are making all the money while americans sit back and complain about something that they cant change

 

[p51d007]

Figured it would be HIGHER...considering the 2 candidates we have running for president LOL.