Due to the pandemic, mobile adoption boomed in 2020, advancing 2-3 years in 12 months. Therefore, mobile time spent surpassed live TV, according to App Annie’s latest “State of Mobile” report. In fact, Americans spent 8% more time on mobile than watching live TV each day.
The study revealed that the average American watched 3.7 hours of live TV a day, whereas they spent 4 hours on their mobile device in the second half of 2020. The weighted average among countries analyzed in App Annie’s study for time spent surpassed 4 hours 10 minutes during the pandemic — up 20% from 2019.
Apparently, this trend is not only observed in the Gen Z, as Millennials and Baby Boomers also spend more time using mobile devices. In the United States, Gen Z, Millennials and Gen X/ Baby Boomers spent 16%, 18% and 30% more time year-over-year, respectively, in their most-used apps. In the UK, this was 18%, 17% and 27%, respectively. Regarding platforms, in both countries, Gen Z had the highest affinity for Snapchat and Twitch, respectively.
Interestingly, the “State of Mobile” discovered that TikTok outpaces top social apps in hours per user. The social video platform ranked in the top 5 by time spent and its average monthly time spent per user grew faster than nearly every other app analyzed, including 70% in the United States and 80% in the UK. TikTok is on track to hit 1.2 billion active users in 2021.
Regarding video streaming, time spent in streaming apps peaked in the second quarter of 2020 in the west, as the first wave of Covid-19 forced people inside. Even while at home, consumers turned to the small screens to stream content or engage in second-screening. By 2021, and in the new normal, the average mobile streamer in the United States, South Korea and the UK will download 85%, 80% and 60% more video streaming apps, respectively, compared to pre-pandemic levels.
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