Smartphone users devote same time to entertainment as texting

Smartphone users are likely to devote the same amount of time seeking mindless entertainment - playing a game or streaming a video - as texting their friends and family, a new US study has found.
When asked which smartphone activities are most important to them first thing in the morning, users mentioned texting most often, but also placed entertainment apps like streaming music services above Twitter and other well-known platforms.
The study, by a US-based consumer research company GfK MRI, was conducted among over 5,900 American smartphone users.
It shows that 22 per cent of time spent on smartphones is devoted to entertainment - games, music, web surfing, and watching streamed content; that is the same proportion devoted to texting.

Phone calls account for another 22 per cent of time; social media, 10 per cent, and emails, 10 per cent.
When researchers asked consumers which smartphone apps or functions they turn to first thing in the morning, texting was cited most often, by 67 per cent of respondents.

Email came in second, mentioned by 63 per cent, followed by Facebook (48 per cent) and the weather (44 per cent).
Hispanics were even more likely to mention texting (73 per cent), with email a relatively distant (64 per cent).
Games overall came in 7th first thing in the morning, mentioned by 19 per cent of respondents. A streaming music service (12 per cent) placed above Pinterest, Twitter, and other well-known social media apps.

Over two-thirds (68 per cent) of consumers - and more than 83 per cent of Millennials - reported that they text more than they talk on their smartphones.
Texting is the phone feature that respondents said they would miss most if it was not available.