Story highlights
iPhone users typically spend more time on their phones than Android users, study finds
Americans are on their smartphones an average of 58 minutes each day, it says
People with Android phones spend more time talking and visiting websites
Think back on your past 24 hours. How much time did you spend on your smartphone? Were you mostly texting, reading news, checking Twitter, or were you actually talking to another human?
The answer may vary if you are an Android or an iPhone user.
A new study from Experian digs into the details of how people use their phones and finds that users on all systems spend an average of 58 minutes a day on their smartphones. Even with all the bells, whistles and apps, the biggest chunk of that time is spent talking on the phone.
There are differences in the way iPhone and Android users divvy up their time. Users of the iPhone spend more time on their devices a day (26 minutes more) but a smaller percentage of time talking and surfing the Web than their Android counterparts and more time texting and snapping photographs.
The study does not delve into how many minutes each side spends arguing online over which system is better.
Whatever the operating system, smartphones are still primarily used as communication devices, according to the study. On average, people spend 26% of their smartphone quality-time talking, 20% texting and 9% e-mailing. Social networking takes up 16% of our time, while games and “other” activities account for 8% and 9%, respectively.
Watching videos accounted for a small amount of time on average, but those who do usually watch videos a little more than four times a day for a total of five minutes daily.
Reading is also a blip, according to the study, with a half percentage of people reading on their smartphones each day.
