Smartphone apps are becoming more and more important as a new report reveals that people spend 50 percent of their online time on apps. This data indicates the general shift from browsers towards apps when it comes to accessing information from the internet.

According to the report released by ComScore, US internet users now rely on apps half of the time they spend online. The figure is up from 41 percent reported in July 2014 and 34 percent back in 2013.

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There are several factors responsible for this shift including the growing popularity of smartphones and faster download speeds. Phone screens are also getting bigger with the introduction of phablets. Additionally, the rise of 4G LTE networks now provides faster downloading and browsing speed on the phones, making the use of PCs redundant.

Equally impressive is the increase in accessing the web on mobile. Surfing the internet on mobile phones now accounts for 57 percent of the total internet browsing time in the United States. Netizens carry out 11 percent of their browsing on tablets and the remaining 32 percent browsing time is spent on computers. However, the report also states that computers and tablets are expected to "maintain critical roles in consumers' online consumption for the foreseeable future."

Mobile apps have created a niche for themselves in less than a decade. Two major players in the arena, Apple and Google, debuted their apps in 2008. According to Tech Crunch, Google is now working to integrate app features into its search engine. This change points to the growing power of online apps. Some of the most popular apps nowadays are Facebook, Pandora and Pokemon Go.