US consumers will form new patterns of device use as pandemic norms become habits that are here to stay. This includes usage of mobile and other devices returning to pre-pandemic growth levels. Our forecast for time spent withmobile, connected TV, and other devices show businesses where they should invest.
US adults are spending more time watching YouTube on connected TVs and less time watching it on mobile devices. This year, for the first time since we began our forecast, less than half of time spent with YouTube will be on mobile, as viewers pivot to watching these videos on the same screen as their TV programming, separate from their TikToks and Instagram Reels.
The pandemic accelerated the increase in time spent with mobile activities in the US. Most of these gains will stick as people return to a more normal life in 2021.
Total time spent with media per day in the US will decline slightly in 2022, but most pandemic-era gains will be retained. Digital video, subscription OTT services, and smartphones will be among the bigger winners this year.
This year, TikTok will surpass YouTube in terms of time spent by their respective adult users in the US. The short-video app will see 45.8 minutes per day from its average adult user, edging out YouTube, at 45.6 minutes.
Mobile app gaming has managed to hold on to its pandemic-driven success and then some, reversing our previous predictions that time spent gaming with mobile apps would decline in the US after 2020.