Mobile devices have become an extremely important part of everyday life for Americans and many people around the world. People are unlikely to be away from their smartphone devices for more than half an hour, and they check them constantly again.

If there’s anything that better illustrates the increasing popularity of mobile devices, it’s that for the first time ever, US consumers are using their smartphones and tablets more than they are watching TV.

The data comes from a new report by eMarketer. which found that the average US adult is spending 3 hours and 43 minutes (3:43) on mobile devices every day in 2019. That’s slightly above (3:35) that they spend watching television. US consumers’ television viewing habits have changed drastically compared to five years ago.

In 2014, the population spent 4 hours and 20 minutes per day watching TV, this is almost two hours more than the time spent on mobile devices which is 2 hours 32 minutes. This demonstrates that mobile devices are now the leading source of internet traffic in the US, as people are spending more and more time staring at their smartphones.

A Figure Shows The Average Time Spent on Using Smartphones Versus Watching TV Over Time, 2019.