Hard to believe there was a time when the word “app” was not a part of our everyday vocabulary. And it wasn’t that long ago.

Both the iPhone App Store and Android Market didn’t launch until 2008. And this now-iconic “there’s an app for that” commercial didn’t appear until 2009:

Man, how times have changed. Today apps aren’t just part of our everyday lives, they’ve actually come to dominate our mobile time.

According to the 2014 Nielsen Digital Consumer Report:

Apps now capture 86% of U.S. adult mobile time; only 14% of smartphone time is spent using the mobile Web.

Here are some more mind-blowing stats about the growth of the mobile Web, and the rise of apps as a primary mobile Internet access point:

31% of all website traffic now comes from mobile devices

-From the Walker Sands Mobile Website Traffic Report

U.S. adults spent an average 34 hours per month using the Internet on smartphones

By comparison, they spend 27 hours per month using the Internet via PC

65% of U.S. adults own smartphones, while 80% own PCs

-From the Nielsen 2014 Digital Consumer Report

Time spent on a mobile device by the average US consumer has risen to 2 hrs and 42 minutes per day as of March 2014

Apps command 86% of the average US mobile consumer’s time, or 2 hrs and 19 minutes per day

Time spent on the mobile web averaged 14% of the US mobile consumer’s time, or 22 minutes per day

-Stats from Flurry

Adult U.S. Android and iPhone users spend 65% more time using mobile apps than they did just two years ago

In the last quarter of 2013 adult smartphone users in the U.S. spent an average of 30 hours and 15 minutes using apps

That’s up from 18 hours and 18 minutes in the same period two years prior

In that 2 years, the average number of apps used per month has grown only slightly from 23.3 to 26.8

-From the Nielsen report Smartphones: So Many Apps, So Much Time

3 Reasons to Consider Developing a Mobile App

1. More people are accessing the Internet on mobile

The numbers show mobile Internet access on the rise. They also show smartphone ownership currently sits at 65% of U.S. adults. That means there’s still a lot of room for growth. One of the simplest rules of marketing: Go where your audience is. And your audience is on mobile.

2. The majority are spending their time using apps

So you know the number of people accessing the Web via mobile is growing. And you also know the percentage of time smartphone owners spend using apps is astoundingly high (86%). The numbers would indicate the best way to reach this growing audience is with a mobile app.

3. Apps make access more convenient and more likely

Getting your app on users’ phones is like winning the gold. It stares out at them every time they access their mobile device (which we know they do for nearly 3 hours each day). That’s unbeatable branding, and an easy access point for the consumer to stay connected with your company.