Facebook and Google are almost neck-and-neck when it comes to consumer time spent within apps owned by their respective companies, with 13.4 and 12.5 per cent respectively, according to a new study.

The research, carried out by Forrester, surveyed nearly 2,000 US smartphone owners towards the end of 2014, and found that the two companies were the clear leaders when it came to smartphone minutes spent in apps.

Broken down by category, Facebooks minutes were of course dominated by social networking, which took up 11.5 per cent of all minutes, with the rest of its time made up by communication and news.

Googles spread was a lot more diverse. Video comprised the largest chunk, thanks to YouTube, at 4.8 per cent, but the remainder was spread between web browser, social networking, maps, email, communication and business productivity, a clear indicator of just how many pies Google has its fingers in.

The six largest tech firms only made up around 35 per cent of all app time overall, with Apple ranking surprisingly low, with only 2.5 per cent of all app time, most of it in device utilities, and only 0.2 per cent in web browser, reflecting the low adoption of its Safari browser.

The survey only included apps downloaded by users, not any native apps that are shipped with the phone based on the operating system, which goes some way to explain Apples poor showing. However, it does show how little its apps are actually chosen by consumers when they have the option of alternatives.