Americans are using their iPhones much more than they realize
How often do you use your phone each week? The odds are that your answer is roughly 60% too low. A survey conducted in the states by free online web gaming platform Solitaired revealed that close to 80% of the 667 iPhone users participating had underestimated how long they use their handset each week when compared to the figure computed by the iOS Screen Time app.
The average guess was 25 hours and 54 minutes while the actual average was 39 hours and 54 minutes. Not only couldn't the vast majority of participants guess how often they used their iPhone during the typical week but their answer was 56% lower than the actual usage time.
The average American spends close to 40 hours on his phone each week
40 hours is nearly a quarter of the hours available in one week and over the course of a year, it equates to 87 days. Thus, the average American spends 25% of each year using his phone; remove hours spent sleeping and that percentage rises to 36%.
TikTok is the most popular social media app in the U.S.
Interestingly, 52% of those responding to the survey could not identify which apps they use the most. The survey also discovered that Americans use social media apps more than apps from any other category with TikTok being the most popular one. With 85 million users in the U.S. alone, Americans use TikTok an average of 1.6 hours per day with 90% of its users opening the app at least once per day (which works out to 76.5 million Americans visiting TikTok every day).
With close to a quarter of the country's population viewing the TikTok app daily, the cumulative viewing time of the app in the states is 136 hours daily.
The study also attempts to figure out how so much phone usage impacts Americans. 53% of those responding to the survey admit that they have tried to cut back on their phone usage for various reasons. 31% said that they were motivated to use their phone less because of a negative comment made by a friend or relative. 36% said that their phone usage has been an issue during a previous relationship.
A Solitaired spokesman said, "This data demonstrates that many people are not aware of their real screen time usage, despite often being aware that it can be damaging, or having received complaints about their excessive phone use." The spokesman added that since 2018, when Apple added Screen Time to iOS, iPhone users have had the ability to see their weekly phone usage.
Even with this ability Solitaired states that "it seems like these stats are lost on many individuals. If used in the correct and healthy way phones are powerful and useful tools which facilitate everyday life and keep us connected with the world. Using your phone is by no means a bad habit, but it’s important to do so with wisdom and control it rather than let it control you."
83% of Americans surveyed feel panicky when they realize they've left their phone at home
We tackled smartphone addiction last May when we passed along the results of a survey that showed 80% of Americans check their phone within the first 10 minutes of getting up in the morning. An even more troubling sign is if you feel uneasy once you realize that you've left your phone at home. 83% of that survey's respondents said that they do experience those feelings.
Results from another survey
In the same vein, 54% admitted to feeling panicky when their phone's battery drops under 20%, and 62% sleep with their phones at night. 52% have never gone more than 48 hours without having their phone. Yet, only 48% consider themselves addicted to their handsets.
And while a smartphone might not be the most expensive possession, 43% call it their most valuable possession. And here is an interesting little tidbit that has to do with the 1,000 Americans 18 and older who took this survey. The typical American checks his or her phone an average of 262 times per day, or once every five and a half minutes.
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