Americans spent a third of waking hours on mobile devices in 2021, report finds

Americans used a third of waking hours on mobile devices in 2021, represent finds

With pandemic lockdowns worldwide last year, we all had plenty of time to play with our well-liked handheld devices. In the top 10 markets, the income time spent on mobile devices was 4.8 hours a day in 2021, according to mobile-analytics firm App Annie, an increase of 30% from 2019.

Consumer spending on mobile games grew to $27.3 billion in the US last year, according to the firm’s Conditions of Mobile 2022 report, released Wednesday. That’s up from less than $6 billion in 2020. And when most of the world put the brakes on IRL socializing, spending on dating apps soared past $4.2 billion worldwide — a 52% increase from pre-pandemic 2019. 

Fueled by the explosive growth of TikTok, seven out of every 10 minutes on a mobile scheme was spent on a social media or photo/video app, according to the portray. In all, consumers logged a record 3.8 trillion hours on their mobiles in 2021 and downloaded some 230 billion apps, spending $170 billion (an increase of nearly 20% from the year prior).

App Annie CEO Theodore Krantz shouted smartphones, tablets and other handhelds “the go-to device[s] of the future.” The income American spent 4.1 hours a day on mobile devices in 2021, for example, but watched only 3.1 hours of TV.

“The big conceal is slowly dying as mobile continues to break records in virtually every category — time consumed, downloads and revenue,” Krantz said in a statement.