Average Smartphone User Touches Screen 2,617 Times Per Day in 76 Separate Sessions

We have rare usage data on smartphones. Research by DScout using a special tool to capture every time a smartphone user touched a screen (so typing each letter of a word would count as one touch each time) and found that the average smartphone user touches the screen 2,617 times per day. This is across 76 separate sessions that use the screen (we also look at and touch other parts of the phone during the day such as plugging it in to get recharged). This is another very interesting view to how addicted we are to the smartphone and is consistent with the previous research that the average smartphone user looks at their phone 221 times per day. But how cool is this study? Now we know the number of times we touch the screen. 2,617 times per day. And 76 separate sessions (involving activity that touches the screen). So we start another new activity on the smartphone screen once every 12 minutes and 38 seconds of every waking hour of every day, 7 days a week (on average). Note heavy users like you and me, its 5,427 times we touch the smartphone screen daily (in 132 separate sessions). And for time spent with the smartphone screen? Average user 2 hours 25 minutes per day. Heavy users spend 3 hours 45 minutes on the smartphone screen daily. Yes. Do share. These are awesome new numbers for us helping explain the the level of addiction.

Comments

[E.Casais]

2:25 per day means that much time that people will not look at TV, a computer, a newspaper, a book, a gamestation. There is quite some impressive cannibalization of media going on here.

But if all that time is spent in 76 sessions, that means that each session does not even last 2 minutes on the average.

This is disturbing.

That kind of interrupt-driven, fragmented activity without sustained attention is very different from the aforementioned media it replaces, and I seriously doubt that this has, on balance, a positive effect.

Some serious studies and reflection are in order.

[Tomi T Ahonen]

Hi E

Very true, I hadn't yet gotten that deep into thinking about it. So first, its obviously an average. And second, remember the average person makes 3 calls, receives 3 calls, sends 10 messages and receives 10 messages. An average phone call is 3 minutes, so its a bit above that average but not much, the average SMS or Whatsapp message to send or read - takes only seconds. Of the 76 sessions a fifth are traditional telecoms or similar services and consume only that 25 minutes of the 2:25. That gives a somewhat longer period for the remaining uses. Then imagine checking the time or setting an alarm or hitting the snooze button etc. Those all are also very brief uses, so we do have 'room' to do one or two 30 minute or so longer session to watch a video or play a game or do a longer Facebook session etc (on average).

The biggest use is messaging of course. They are very short in duration. Not all sessions are that short or even as short as 2 minutes... But you are correct, very much of the smartphone behavior IS interruptive, short-attention span and 'disruptive'. It spoils concentration etc.

Now on using with other media - thats not strictly true. Much of the use of mobile is used WITH other media. We send a message while watching TV etc. So probably something like a third, maybe half of the total time spent is WITH other media also. So the 2h25min is not all 'stolen' from legacy mass media, part of it is complementary simultaneous use.

Tomi Ahonen :-)

[chithanh]

Simultaneous use also happens when using the companion app for the latest game. Or when you use the smartphone as a media remote (either as an augmented version of a classic remote control, or some newer concepts like Chromecast).

During the European football championship the TV stations offered apps which would allow users to replay certain events from different angles. Or in the Formula 1, would display sector times and apex speeds in real time.

This is mostly limited to sports events now, but I expect a big share of TV consumption will actually happen simultaneously with supplemental smartphone use in the future.

[ConcernedAntiPoliticalAnimal]

Why do you waste time speaking about the clownish American politics, when you should be talking about the sale of ARM to a Japanese company.

[Abdul Muis]

Qualcomm is selling more chips for high-end smartphones
https://www.engadget.com/2016/07/21/qualcomm-is-selling-more-chips-for-high-end-smartphones/

Qualcomm shipped more Snapdragon chips this quarter than even it expected, and for that reason (and others), made more money. It reported sales of 201 million high-end chips, beating its estimates by at least 6 million

meanwhile.....