With smartphone apps now the answer to more real-life demands, mobile internet use has surged in China, although the advancing technology could pose a challenge for late adopters.

As apps have made it easier to hail taxis, order takeout and pay utility bills, people have embraced the mobile internet as a way of life, according to a report released on Sunday by the China Internet Network Information Center.

China had more than 695 million mobile internet users by the end of last year, a 12 percent year-on-year increase, accounting for 95 percent of the nation's 731 million netizens, the report said.