As smartphone functionality has increased, so has the time we spend on them
Indeed, total smartphone shipments since 2014 are not far off the number of people on Earth.
As well as being de rigueur in the prosperous west, they are used by—to take random examples—two thirds of Azerbaijanis, a majority of Russians and Chinese, and nearly a fifth of Nigerians. The scope to facilitate business in regions like sub-Saharan Africa is real and enormous.
But closer to home, how much smartphone use is truly useful or even enjoyable, and how much is simply compulsion? Expanding functionality, social media—and the linked fear of missing out—make these devices hard to put down.
The average UK user is now eyeballing their palm for two and half hours daily; 62 per cent of Brits say they couldn’t live without their phone; half confess to needing it with them at all times.
More than a third recognise a problem—feeling they use it too much, rising to nearly two-thirds of the youngest. People worry about their family—especially their kids.
Even Apple investors are getting uneasy: in January they pressured the company to make people more aware of their smartphone use.
The result is Screen Time, a feature that allows users to track and cap their use of specific app groups—spend too long playing Angry Birds and no amount of swiping or tapping will let you carry on.
From the margins to must-have in a decade
Smartphone shipments have increased dramatically in the last decade (billions of units shipped worldwide)
Anti-social media?
As smartphone functionality has increased, so has the time we spend on them each day
Too smart by half?
% of smartphone owners who think they use their device too much… and those who think their family members do
