According to a new study by comScore, U.S. consumers are now spending 52 percent of their time with digital media via mobile apps. Marking a significant shift, we are now spending more time on mobile apps than we are on desktop PCs and mobile Web surfing. The report indicates that mobile usage as a whole now accounts for 60 percent of our time with digital media, while desktop-based consumption accounts for 40 percent. Additionally, one-third of U.S. users download at least one app per month.

“Apps today are driving the majority of media consumption activity, the report claims, now accounting for 7 out of every 8 minutes of media consumption on mobile devices,” reports TechCrunch. “On smartphones, app activity is even higher, at 88 percent usage versus 82 percent on tablets.”

Leading the charge is Facebook, YouTube, Google Play, Google Search, Pandora Radio and Google Maps. Nearly half the time spent on apps involves social networking, games and radio. Top brands include Facebook, Google, Apple, Yahoo, Amazon and eBay.

Quartz makes some additional observations:

• Facebook is by far the top app, with 115.4 million unique visitors in June. With 160 million total U.S. app users, that’s 72 percent penetration — pretty impressive. (For context, Facebook said it had 1.1 billion mobile users worldwide last quarter.)
• Google is the top mobile app publisher. Its apps represent nos. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 16. Facebook’s Instagram and Messenger apps are strong as well, though WhatsApp doesn’t make the list. Microsoft, historically the world’s largest software company, is only represented by Skype at no. 22. Yahoo is doing okay.
• Netflix is the top app that requires a subscription. Its 28 million unique visitors represent more than 75 percent of its U.S. streaming subscriber base, including trial members.

The full “U.S. Mobile App Report” is available online from comScore.

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