Today's mobile device user is dissing web browsing in favor of spending more time on mobile apps than ever before, with the average daily use now at two hours and 42 minutes.
Mobile apps activity accounts for 86 percent of the device use, about two hours and 19 minutes each day. Time spent browsing the mobile web continues to drop and averages just 14 percent of a consumer's time-for a total of about 22 minutes.
The statistics from Flurry, as noted in a blog posted by CEO Simon Khalaf Tuesday, reveals that mobile apps are no longer a fad for users.
"The data tells a clear story that apps are completely dominating mobile, and the browser has become a single application swimming in a sea of apps," he writes.
Gaming apps are the most used software, grabbing up 32 percent of the user's time. Social networks and messaging apps, including Facebook, jumped from 24 percent prior to January, to 28 percent by the end of March. Entertainment software, think YouTube, maintained prior use level of 8 percent while productivity apps doubled.
The overall daily time spent on mobile increased four minutes as compared to last year.
"In terms of time spent, Facebook still has the lion's share of time spent in the US. While the social segment grew, driven mainly by messaging applications, Facebook was able to maintain its position with the help of Instagram," states Khalaf, who expects that Facebook's acquisition of WhatsApp will likely drive further growth.
"On its own, YouTube is a whopping 50 percent of the entertainment category," he notes.
The statistics, says Flurry, reveal that the mobile app market remains very fragmented despite the massive user outreach efforts by both Facebook and Google.
"We have seen new franchises emerge in almost every sector of mobile. Apps like Pinterest, Snapchat, WhatsApp (acquired by Facebook), Waze (Acquired by Google), Spotify and many more received wide adoption and commanded a percent or two of the time spent," writes Khalaf.
"In short, six years into the mobile revolution, there are numerous opportunities for new franchises to emerge in almost every segment of the mobile economy."
