News

For Mobile Development, Apps Are in, Web Is Out

• By David Ramel
• April 3, 2014

A new study by Flurry Analytics indicates where mobile developers should be expending their resources, as consumer time spent on mobile apps keeps rising while time spent viewing mobile Web browsers has fallen.

Flurry updated a five-year report on the mobile industry released last year with data collected from the first quarter of this year. Last year, the firm found that 80 percent of U.S. consumers' time was spent on mobile apps, while 20 percent was spent on the mobile Web.

Looking at the new data, the gap has widened. "Apps continued to cement their lead, and commanded 86 percent of the average U.S. mobile consumer's time, or 2 hours and 19 minutes per day," Flurry said this week. "Time spent on the mobile Web continued to decline and averaged just 14 percent of the U.S. mobile consumers' time, or 22 minutes per day."

The company gathered the data by integrating its analytics and ad platforms into thousands of developers' apps, starting in 2008. It also uses information from ComScore and NetMarketShare to compile its numbers. It measured time spent on Android and iOS devices.

"The data tells a clear story that apps, which were considered a mere fad a few years ago, are completely dominating mobile, and the browser has become a single application swimming in a sea of apps," Flurry said.

According to the company's analytics, the average U.S. consumer spends 2 hours and 42 minutes using a mobile device, up 4 minutes from last year.

"It is still too early to predict the trajectory apps will take in 2014," Flurry said. "But one thing is clear -- apps have won and the mobile browser is taking a back seat. Now every company in the world including Google is adjusting to that reality."

Flurry describes itself as a mobile measurement and advertising platform that collects data to provide growth opportunities for developers and mobile advertising solutions for companies and marketers.