Background:
Before the pandemic and economic shifts, online adults worldwide have adjusted which devices they use, how they use them, and how often they use them. Two major changes are the shift from feature phones to smartphones and, following that, the transition from computers to smartphones. One measure of this shift is the time users spend with each type of device.
Approach:
MetaFacts surveyed 81,608 online adults in the US, Germany, UK, and Japan from 2018 through 2024 as part of its annual TUP/Technology User Profile study. Within the survey, as part of detailing the multiple devices that respondents regularly use – smartphones, computers, tablets, and game consoles – we have them report the number of hours they use each device weekly. We aggregate these results for each respondent and then report the mean (average) hours within their country and generational age group.