comScore’s new mobile behavioral measurement service, Mobile Metrix 2.0, has revealed that the lion’s share of media engagement comes from apps. I don’t find this to be surprising, as apps are usually much easier to use versus most mobile site counterparts. However, I was a bit surprised to learn that as much as 82 percent of time spent with mobile media happens via apps. That’s a pretty high percentage and makes having a mobile app for your media almost a necessity.

Interestingly enough, both apps and the mobile browser shared about the same sized audience, yet apps accounted for 4 out of every 5 mobile media minutes. Among the top properties, Google Sites ranked at the top with nearly 94 million unique visitors, representing 96.9 percent of the mobile audience. Facebook ranked second with 78.0 million visitors (80.4 percent reach), followed by Yahoo! Sites with 66.2 million visitors (68.2 percent reach) and Amazon Sites 44.0 million visitors (45.4 percent reach).

Among the top properties, a huge gap can be seen between the percentage of user engagement when comparing the mobile app versus the mobile browser.

Top apps among Android and iOS varied a bit with the top apps of course being iTunes and the Google Play Store. After that it’s a mixed bag of Google services, games and the popular social networking site Facebook.

Social networking sites were obviously among the top properties garnishing a smartphone users time, and believe it or not, the average user is spending 7+ hours a month engaged with their favorite social networking sites (yes, you’re checking your Facebook account way too ofen).

These metrics provide an in-depth look into actual U.S. mobile media usage across apps and mobile browsing and provide important data for consumers, developers, and ad agencies across the board.

How about you, would you say you spend more time engaged in an app versus the mobile browser? I know I do. Well, I’ll let you get back to checking your Facebook account now.

• SourcecomScore