Citing a study of survey responses by Reviews.org, WKRC reports that they found the average American spent five hours and 1 minute per day – a total of 2.5 months – using their phone in 2024, and checking it an average of 205 times daily. Many know it's a problem, but the 43 percent who said they feel as though they are addicted to their phones, is down from 67 percent in 2023.
The reporting was a little vague on what strictly constitutes "on their phone," which is to say the implicitly problematic 2.5 months out of a year spent may or may not encompass the general pre-smartphone era understanding of "on the phone" as in literally on a phone call. A lot of people still do that to conduct business and personal affairs, which could be padding that otherwise pretty eye-popping topline. Then there's listening to music or podcasts, a solid smartphone capability generally associated with more physically active, social, and/or mentally healthier pursuits than, say, watching porn while at work behind the wheel of a police car. Did audio streaming count for the 2.5 months?
This isn't to try to minimize it so much as say we could use some more pinpointed information about how bad America's staring slack-jawed at a phone screen habit is. It might be just slightly less bad.