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Global Internet Users Logged 5.3 Trillion Hours on Apps and Websites in 2025
Global internet users on smartphones collectively spent 5.3 trillion hours across various applications and websites in 2025. This huge number comes from the ‘State of Mobile 2026’ report by Sensor Tower, a top source for mobile app data. The report shows that global internet users logged 5.3 trillion hours in 2025, marking a 3.8% rise from 2024. It highlights how much time people worldwide now spend on their phones browsing apps and sites.
These figures exclude third-party Android stores in China and other markets. When you break it down, the 5.3 trillion hours equals about 605 million years of nonstop use. That’s a mind-blowing amount that shows the deep role mobiles play in daily life. On average, each person on Earth spent less than 600 hours online that year. This works out to roughly 25 days per user.
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Daily, it means global internet users logged 5.3 trillion hours on apps and websites by averaging 3.6 hours per person each day. Sensor Tower based this on iOS and Android data from 80 countries, again skipping China. Their team used their own platform to track downloads and in-app spending from January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2025. This careful method ensures the numbers are reliable and paints a clear picture of mobile habits.
The year also saw 149 billion new app downloads, up 0.8% from before. That’s like 284,000 apps grabbed every minute. Global internet users logged 5.3 trillion hours in 2025 while chasing fresh apps for news, games, social chats, and work tools. People now open about 34 apps per month on average, a 5.4% jump year-over-year. Each day, a typical user taps into 10 different ones.
Social media apps topped the charts, eating up nearly 2.5 trillion hours across iOS and Android. This 5% growth ties back to more smartphones everywhere and habits formed during the pandemic. Standouts include ByteDance’s TikTok, Meta’s WhatsApp Messenger, Google Chrome, JioHotstar, WhatsApp Business, and Google Maps. The top 20 also feature Truecaller, Spotify, ChatGPT, PLAYit, Gmail, WEBTOON, Zoom, and CapCut. These apps keep users hooked with easy sharing, calls, maps, music, and more.
AI is shaking things up too. AI Assistants hit the top 10 subgenres by time spent, with a whopping 426% growth from last year. Global internet users logged 5.3 trillion hours on apps and websites, and a big chunk went to chatting with these smart helpers for quick info, tasks, or ideas. It shows folks leaning on phones not just for fun, but for real help.
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AI Companions didn’t make the top 20 yet, sitting at 23rd globally after a 68% surge in use. Still, they’re picking up speed. Generative AI apps alone clocked 48 billion hours in 2025, 3.6 times more than 2024 and almost 10 times 2023 levels. This boom means people are creating art, writing, or brainstorming right on their devices.
Overall, these trends reveal a world glued to mobiles. Global internet users logged 5.3 trillion hours in 2025 because apps make life simpler, funnier, and faster. From scrolling TikTok feeds to asking AI for recipes, phones are constant companions. As adoption grows, expect even more time online. Sensor Tower’s data urges developers to build better tools while users think about balance. The mobile era keeps evolving, pulling us deeper into digital worlds every day.
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