App use surpasses desktop and mobile web consumption for the first time

(Yuri Arcurs/shutterstock.com)

In 2011 desktop PCs and notebooks shipments were eclipsed by smartphone and tablet shipments for the first time. Now, the mobile device race is also shifting the way people spend their time with mobile phones and computers.

For the first time ever, consumers in the US are spending more time engrossed in mobile apps than they are browsing the web on their mobile phones and desktop PCs, reports mobile app analytics company Flurry.

"This stat is even more remarkable if you consider that it took less than three years for native mobile apps to achieve this level of usage, driven primarily by the popularity of iOS and Android platforms," said Charles Newark-French in a June 20 post on Flurry’s blog.

In June 2011, Americans spent an average of 74 minutes per day browsing the web and 81 minutes per day using mobile apps.

App use has almost doubled in the last year, growing from just 43 minutes per day in June 2010, to 66 minutes per day in December 2010 to 81 minutes per day in June 2011.

Internet use, on the other hand experienced comparatively conservative growth in the last 12 months from 64 minutes per day in June 2010, to 70 minutes in December to 74 minutes in June 2011.

Interestingly, US internet users are spending more and more time on social networking site Facebook. Approximately 14 of the 74 minutes spent per per day are on Facebook - that's around one sixth of all internet minutes.

Applications in the social networking category also capture a significant amount of users' time.

"Consumers spend nearly half their time using Games, and a third in Social Networking apps," said Flurry. "Combined, these two categories control a whopping 79% of consumers’ total app time. Further, as we drill down into the data, consumers use these two categories more frequently, and for longer average session lengths, compared to other categories. Any way we slice it, Games and Social Networking apps deliver the most engaging experience on mobile today."