TikTok passes YouTube among U.S. Android users in time spent watching videos

Sept. 7 (UPI) -- A new analytics report published on Tuesday said social video platform TikTok has surpassed YouTube in users' average time spent -- at least among those with Android phones in the United States.

The data from App Annie says TikTok overtook YouTube about a year ago, and the average user was watching videos on the platform for an average of more than 24 hours per month by June. For YouTube, that figure was 22 hours and 40 minutes.

In Britain, the report said, TikTok overtook YouTube in time spent per user in May 2020. The average British user now watches nearly 26 hours per month.

The data is limited to Android phones, but shows a sharp rise in TikTok viewership -- despite the fact that videos on the platform are limited to 3 minutes.

Google-owned YouTube still has more viewership overall, due mainly to its larger user base of about 2 billion. By comparison, TikTok has 700 million.

App Annie noted that "short-video, authentic content and live streaming" are driving TikTok's growth in time spent per user.

Earlier this year, YouTube introduced its short-form video platform, YouTube Shorts, to compete with TikTok.