Revealed: The nocturnal habits of 15m smartphone users
We may now be living in a world of peak smartphone but that doesn't mean we're still not totally obsessed by our devices – as this one chart shows.
Astonishingly, a third of us check our phones if we wake up in the middle of the night according to new research doing everything from looking at emails and social media to reading a book, despite that notoriously bad blue light . That's the equivalent of 15m of us.
What we do at night with our smartphones
The rate of smartphone use at night is highest among young people, with half of 18 to 24 year olds saying they did at least one task and nearly as many – 48 per cent – of 25 to 34 year olds, according to Deloitte's latest annual Mobile Consumer report.
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It's not just the fresh-faced who are afflicted by the midnight mobile fomo (fear of missing out) though – more than half of middle aged people also admitted to sneaking a night time peek and even 14 per cent of over 65s did the same.
Who's fiddling with their phone at night?
The research also found more than half of smartphone users check their phone within 15 minutes of waking up in the morning while a third admit doing the same within just five minutes of opening their eyes.
In the evening, habits are a similar story, with more than half of people leaving less than 30 minutes between last checking their phone and preparing to sleep.
No wonder we're a nation of deprived sleepers.
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Paul Lee, head of technology, media and telecoms at Deloitte said: “For the first time we have captured data on the UK population’s nocturnal smartphone habits and have found that the smartphone is truly a 24/7 device, particularly among younger age groups.
“Smartphones are personal devices, but their usage impacts those around them. As with most emerging technology, consumers will need to learn how best to run their lives with smartphones, as opposed to having their lives run by their devices.”
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