App use boosting smartphone time use

Android smartphone users spent 247 minutes on their phones daily during August, an increase of nearly 18 percent compared with a year ago, U.S. researchers say. Research firm NPD Group said mobile applications accounted for more than 120 of those daily minutes, more time than was spent on phone calls, texting and Web browsing combined, Online Media Daily reported. "At a high level, applications, messaging, and to a lesser extent Web browsing usage, all contributed to the growth, whereas voice has clearly become far less dominant and central to the smartphone experience," NPD's Linda Barrabee said in a blog post. Although games make up a lot of smartphone time use, people are also spending more time in music, weather, search/navigation and social networking apps, NPD said. "Gaming is a mature category, with reach trending down since March 2012, and consumers are clearly allocating more of their smartphone time to a myriad of other application experiences," Barrabee said.