More Americans rely on smartphones for online access

It's another indication of just how rapidly the world is changing for American consumers when it comes to how they go online and access the internet, social media and new-tech forms of communications.

According to new report on the state of smartphone ownership in the United States today, about two-thirds of Americans now own a smartphone, compared to 35 percent just four years ago.

But even as more Americans rely on their smartphones for digital services and online content, many of those users are facing financial constraints when it comes to accessing that information.

The report is based on a series of surveys conducted by the Pew Research Center in association with the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation.

It also notes that nearly one-fifth of those smartphone owners rely on their devices for information and connecting to the internet -- because they either lack broadband access at home, or because their cell phone is one of the only options available to them for that online access.

Indeed, 10 percent of those smartphone owners say they do not have any other form of high-speed internet access in their homes, besides their smartphone's data plan.

The report also found certain demographic patterns when it comes to those groups of Americans who rely heavily on their smartphones as a gateway to the internet. For example, 15 percent of younger adults, ages 18 to 29, are "heavily dependent" on their smartphones for internet access, as are 13 percent of low-income households (defined as a household earning less than $30,000 annually).

The reports adds that, compared with other smartphone users, those who are dependent on their devices for internet access are not only less likely to own another type of computing device like a laptop or desktop, they're also less likely to have health insurance coverage, and more likely to rent or live with a friend or family, compared to owning their own home.

"The connections to online resources that smartphones facilitate," the report adds, "are often most tenuous for those users who rely on those connections the most."