When do we use smartphones

The print readers did much better on a reading comprehension test than the digital readers. Another study, conducted at the University of British Columbia, lends support to what many of us have concluded from first-hand experience: Smartphone use can adversely affect social interactions in the real world.

The researchers, led by Ryan Dwyer, a doctoral student in psychology, asked more than participants to have a meal at a restaurant with friends or family, instructing some to keep their phones on the table and others to put their phones away. Those who had their phones in front of them reported feeling more distracted during the conversation and enjoyed the meal less than the others. Using apps that count the number of times a phone gets unlocked, the researchers found that participants had gone from unlocking their phones about 56 times a day in to 73 times a day in Some of the blame lies with notifications, which can be turned off.

Responding to these criticisms, phone makers have developed apps to help users monitor their phone screen time. But they determined that about half of them made no changes to their behavior. The researchers are following up to find out what changes the others made. Rosen admits to being hooked himself. Learning to live with the technology without surrendering to it may be one of the biggest challenges we face in the digital era.

All rights reserved. Yudhijit Bhattacharjee is a contributing writer for National Geographic. Share Tweet Email. Read This Next Wild parakeets have taken a liking to London.

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Epic floods leave South Sudanese to face disease and starvation. The fact smartphone usage is increasing is pretty inevitable. After all, our devices are becoming more and more intelligent and improving all the time. Remember the days when we used to have to take a digital camera out with us as well as our phones?

How impractical! You could also be covered against phone theft. Gadget Cover compares policies from leading insurers , helping you to find the best policy for your needs and budget. A study carried out by Mobiles. Polling 2, smartphone owners in the UK, Mobiles. Across all 11 countries, those under 30 are much more likely to use a smartphone than those ages 50 and older. Lebanon and Jordan — where smartphones are widespread — stand out for being the only countries where a majority of adults ages 50 and older also report using smartphones.

Still, older Lebanese and Jordanian adults are far less likely than their younger counterparts to use a smartphone. People with higher levels of education are also more likely to use smartphones. In each country surveyed, a majority of those with a secondary education or more use smartphones.

The education gap is most pronounced in India, where more educated people are 41 points more likely to use a smartphone.

In six of these countries, men are somewhat more likely than women to use smartphones. While smartphone users are generally younger and more educated, the opposite is true of basic phone users: People who use these more technically limited devices tend to be older and have lower levels of education.

Facebook is most popular in Jordan and Lebanon, where about seven-in-ten adults say they currently use it. Respondents were asked about their use of seven different social media platforms and messaging apps. These platforms were chosen based on three criteria: high usage rates, input from local survey organizations and to capture a range of different types of sites with distinctive features.

The seven platforms included are:. As with Facebook, WhatsApp is most popular in Jordan and Lebanon, where about eight-in-ten or more say they currently use it. Use of the other platforms included in the survey is less widespread.

But some platforms are more popular in particular countries. The messaging app Viber is most popular in Lebanon and Tunisia, where about one-in-five adults report using it. In most countries, each of these social media and messaging services are more likely to be used by younger adults.

In most of the other countries surveyed, there are also large age gaps in WhatsApp usage. Educational gaps in usage are also significant for most of these services, with people who have a secondary education or higher being more likely to use them.

In most of the 11 countries analyzed, a majority of adults report using at least one of the seven social media platforms or messaging apps included in this survey. This type of online activity is especially common in Lebanon, Jordan, Colombia and Mexico, where about three-quarters or more use at least one of these services. Kenya and India are the only countries where a majority of adults do not use at least one of these social media or messaging services.

For adults who only use one of the social media platforms or messaging apps included in this survey, two services dominate: Facebook and WhatsApp. Smartphones use a touch screen to allow users to interact with them. There are thousands of smartphone apps including games, personal-use, and business-use programs that all run on the phone.

The picture is an example of the Apple iPhone , one of the most popular smartphones available today. A smartphone is sometimes incorrectly categorized as a microcomputer. A smartphone is better categorized as a mobile device. Smartphones are loaded with features and capabilities that make them more than a phone. Below is a listing of the most popular features of a smartphone.

More advanced smartphones are now foldable, which enables them to change between that standard smartphone and tablet screen sizes. For example, the Huawei Mate X can unfold to provide an 8-inch screen.