Final answer:
The reliance on smartphones has increased, especially during the pandemic, with significant shifts towards communication and information seeking on mobile apps. Messaging and calls dominate usage, while social media becomes a crucial source for political news, affecting traditional media consumption.
Step-by-step explanation:
People have become increasingly reliant on smartphones over recent years. Particularly, the pandemic has led to shifts in usage patterns due to social distancing and the temporary closure of physical stores. When assigning percentages to the types of motivations for using mobile apps based on personal usage, one could consider the recent survey findings. For instance, a survey in October 2020 indicated that 54% of mobile users used their phones for messaging, and 40% for calls. Considering these figures, one might allocate a large percentage to communication. Additionally, due to the impact of social media on political news consumption, one could assign a notable percentage to information seeking and political engagement, as studies show people aged 18-29 and 30-49 significantly leveraging social media for news.
The Pew Research Center reports that more Americans are obtaining news from online and digital sources, rising from 24% in 2004 to 39% in 2012. This trend, alongside increased smartphone ownership, suggests that there could be a shift in percentages towards news consumption using mobile apps. With a decline in traditional media consumption, percentages might be reduced for activities like reading print media or viewing television news, as digital sources become more prevalent.