Smartphone addiction statistics: Usage patterns you need to know

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Do you often find yourself compulsively checking texts, notifications, or emails? Is checking your phone the first thing you do after waking up, and the last thing you do before going to sleep?

If the answer’s yes, you might be suffering from cell phone addiction, which is why you need to remain in the loop regarding the latest smartphone addiction statistics.

It’s only normal for people to find ways to escape their realities, and a smartphone works as the perfect portal to a world of distractions. Since Apple’s iPhone debut in 2007, we’ve witnessed a spike in the number of smartphone users – there are 298 million of us in the U.S. alone.

This number is projected to reach 311.53 million by 2025, which shows an alarming reliance on this technology.

In this article, we will present some shocking statistics on cell phone usage to help you understand that it is posing a considerable risk to your health, mental well-being, and social life.

What is meant by cell phone addiction?

Smartphone addiction is less about the device itself and more about the apps or the online network it connects you to.

Constant usage can lead to a range of impulse control problems with nomophobia, the fear of going without your phone; textaphrenia, the fear of not receiving or sending texts; and phantom vibrations that make it feel like your cell phone is buzzing when it’s not.

There’s a heated debate among medical professionals on whether it’s an impulse control issue or an addiction. Although it is not yet classified as an addiction by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, there is plenty of evidence showing it could be.

Some of the signs and symptoms of cell phone addiction include lack of tolerance and feelings of withdrawal when phones are taken away. Patients also seem to lose track of time while browsing on the phone, suffer from text neck, and report failed attempts to discontinue smartphone usage.

Phone addiction statistics

• 17% of people in the world have smartphones today
• Mobile phone users check their phones 63 times daily, on average
• 86% of smartphone users check their phones while interacting with their friends and family
• Over three in ten American adults say that they are almost always online
• An average U.S. citizen spends 5.4 hours a day on their phone
• A smartphone user taps or clicks on their phone 2,617 times per day
• 73% of smartphone users experience anxiety over losing their phones
• Over 25% of adults wake up in the middle of the night to look at their phones

Alarming cell phone addiction statistics

Some shocking smartphone addiction statistics that will blow your mind:

• 87% of millennials always have their smartphone by their side
• Research suggests that more than half of smartphone users never turn off their phones
• An average iPhone user unlocks their phone over 80 times per day
• According to the National Safety Council, cell phone usage while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes each year
• An average U.S. adult spends 3 hours and 43 minutes on the smartphone every day

Smartphone addiction stats for teens and adults

Let’s see how phone addiction is causing mental problems in teens and how parents can deal with this issue. The following are some teenage cell phone use statistics worth pondering.

• The teens who spend five or more hours a day on their phones are 71% more likely to show suicidal thoughts
• 47% of parents believe that their child has smartphone addiction
• 67% of teachers noticed that their students are negatively impacted by mobile devices
• 41% of teens feel overwhelmed by the amount of notifications they receive daily on their cell phones
• 31% of teens are behind cyberbullying, which has led to an increase in physical violence
• 49% of teens feel that smartphone usage is limiting their attention span

The impact of phone addiction on our daily lives

Let’s find out the impact of excessive smartphone usage on our daily lives. The following are some smartphone addiction statistics you need to know.

• An average person checks their phone at least 110 times a day
• 40% of smartphone users check their phones while in the bathroom
• 12% of users use their cell phones while they are in the shower
• Over 56% of cell phone users check their smartphones before going to sleep
• Over 40% of users check their devices over the weekend
• 75% of users have texted while driving

The effect of overusing smartphones on our work

Smartphone usage is also impacting work quality and employee productivity all over the world. Here are some interesting smartphone addiction statistics on how it’s changing your work routine.

• More than a third of millennials and Gen Z employees say that they spend over two hours or more checking their smartphones during their workday. This means an employee spends 10 hours a week on their smartphone while at work
• 59% of employees believe that smartphones are more distracting than other work tools in the office; checking up on Facebook is the biggest distraction
• 78% of employees respond to their text messages during working hours
• 59% of the employees take calls during their workday
• 38% of workers check their social media profiles while they are at work

How to check if you are a smartphone addict?

You can be a smartphone addict if you demonstrate the following signs and symptoms:

• Failed attempts to decrease cell phone usage
• Experiencing anxiety or depression when you cannot access your smartphone
• Eyestrain associated with viewing digital screen for more than 2 hours
• Text neck that results from looking at your cell phone for too long
• Withdrawal symptoms that include anger, tension, irritability, or restlessness
• No sense of time when you are using your smartphone

What can we do about it?

This is how you can deal with your phone addiction:

Use appropriate apps

Several apps help you limit your smartphone usage and enable you to strike a balance between your phone and daily life activities. They monitor your usage time and lock away any distracting apps that can disturb your phone use habits. Apps like Screentime, Offtime, Flipd, and Space are excellent to start with.

Monitor your usage

It is imperative for you to be mindful about the amount of time you spend on your cell phone, to check your phone usage patterns, and to see where all that time is going.

Delete apps that suck away your time

A lot of the time, you are just scrolling through different apps unconsciously. All the apps that drain your time and compel you to tap around on your phone – delete them entirely.

Set a schedule

An essential step of limiting your smartphone usage is to set alarms that prompt you to check your phone at a specific time. Start by setting an alarm for 15 minutes, after which you can check your phone and then move on to setting the alarm for an hour or longer.

Consider a digital detox

Turn off your phone and put it in a cupboard or drawer for an entire day. Take a digital detox and refrain from checking up on your phone for the whole day, or you can consider taking more extended phone vacations.

Use business tools

Use tools like Textmagic that help business owners ensure their productivity by setting autoresponders, scheduling their texts, or storing information on their account to access through the PC.

Smartphone addiction: a real issue

Even though smartphones have brought people together and provided quick access to all forms of information, it has its cons. The most prevalent issue is rising phone addiction, which has a significant impact on people’s lives.

These smartphone addiction statistics suggest that it might be better for you to keep your phone down and allow yourself to enjoy life by being in the present.