US Time Spent with Mobile 2019

Executive Summary

In 2019, for the first time, US consumers will spend more time with their mobile devices than they do watching TV. Smartphones account for 70% of that mobile time—21% of total time spent with media in the US—and continue to attract minutes.

How much time do people spend on smartphones?

The average US adult will spend 2 hours, 55 minutes on a smartphone in 2019, a 9-minute increase from 2018. Among smartphone users in the US, time spent with their device is 3 hours, 10 minutes per day.

Are smartphone minutes coming at the expense of tablets?

Yes. Tablets continue to lose share of time spent to smartphones. In the past year, they are also losing actual minutes to smartphones and other devices.

How much mobile time is spent in apps?

About 90% of smartphone time is in apps. That said, the distinction between the web and apps is fading as web experiences emulate apps. Nonetheless, the long-term trend is toward app-like experiences, whether native or based on advanced HTML.

What type of content are people consuming in apps?

Digital audio accounts for the biggest share of time spent, with social media and digital video following.

Will smartphones continue to gain minutes?

Although it is likely that smartphones will remain the dominant device for consumer media, other devices and societal trends may begin to chip away minutes. The big question is whether consumers will start to translate their unease with an over-connected lifestyle into concrete actions to limit screen time.

WHAT’S IN THIS REPORT? This report presents our latest forecast on time spent on mobile devices, and how that usage reflects broader media and device trends.

KEY STAT: In 2019, for the first time, the average US adult will spend more time engaging with their mobile devices than watching TV.

Behind the Numbers

eMarketer’s methodology for its US time spent with media forecast is based on an analysis of 2,265 metrics from 130 sources. This analysis involves the collection of third-party data—primarily survey data—from adult respondents, asking them about their media use habits. Data is also sourced from online and mobile activity tracking services, government data and interviews with industry experts.

Using a bottom-up analysis, we assess and analyze reported time spent with each device and media activity across various sources. And where definitions differ, the data is normalized and interpreted in terms of our definition (i.e., the US population ages 18 and older). The data is then aggregated with the time contributions from each device and media type to arrive at an estimate for average time spent with media per day.

In order to arrive at forecasts for growth rates by media and by device, this analysis is followed by extensive assessments of historical and expected future growth patterns with regard to device adoption, multiple and overlapping device usage, population and demographic factors and competitors to existing devices and activities.