From banking to playing music, so many things can be done on a smartphone.
And new research shows that the average Briton now spends two hours nine minutes a day on their phone – twice as long as in 2012.
But who are the worst offenders? Using specialist app Moment, which tracks phone activity, Sadie Nicholas put six volunteers, aged 12 to 61, to the test.
Child: 17 hours 15 mins
‘I hate missing any gossip on snapchat’
Daily Average: 2hr 27min
Weekly pick-ups: 161
Five most used apps: Instagram, YouTube, Whatsapp, Snapchat, Facetime
Most visited: Instagram (9hr 9m)
Libby says: ‘I hate missing any gossip on snapchat’
Libby Pugh, 12, lives in Worcestershire with her mum Clare, 40, a civil servant, stepfather Niall, 44, a stay-at-home dad, and siblings Miah, 17, Ollie, 13, and Lochlan, 19 months.
Libby says: Mum let me have a basic phone when I was eight, when she and Dad separated and I needed to keep in touch with each of them.
My friends got phones too, and I liked feeling included by texting and using Instagram.
Everyone at my high school has an iPhone so Dad treated me to one. We’re not allowed to have phones switched on at school, though, and at home Mum won’t let me have mine until I’ve done my homework. She has banned phones from the dinner table and I’m not supposed to use mine after 9.30pm. But I do, as Mum has now found out!
My friends chat on Snapchat and Instagram, which is good fun, and I hate to miss any gossip.
At home we all get annoyed with each other for being on our phones. Mum is often checking emails or on Facebook — then when she sees that we’re all on our phones too, she complains.
Sometimes I go to see if Ollie or Miah want to play but they’ll be on their phones, so I end up switching mine on, too. I’m surprised I only averaged 2.5 hours a day.
I’ve been busted now — I have to leave my phone downstairs at bedtime.
Single Professional: 44 hours 56 mins
‘I must get off my phone and get a life’
Daily average: 6hr 25 min
weekly pick-ups: 405
Five most used apps: Safari, LinkedIn, Facebook, Google maps, Twitter
Most visited: Safari (9hr 21m)
Kirsten Rees, 35, is a copywriter and author
Kirsten Rees, 35, is a copywriter and author. She is single and lives in Glasgow.
Kirsten says: Before I’ve even brushed my teeth in a morning I’ll have checked 15 apps, including social media.
Although I’ve had a mobile phone since my early teens, I was still shocked that I clocked up over nine hours of screen time last Wednesday. That’s insane. I rarely sleep for nine hours!
I was working from home and arranging to meet friends for my birthday, but it was still more than many people spend in an office for a day’s work . . . which has set me thinking. I’m always telling myself I’m too busy to finish writing my business book and my novel. But am I really?
If I halved my phone usage I could have them both written in no time. Still, it’s going to be tough separating my phone and me.
I’m an avid social media user and have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Snapchat for business and personal use.
I use Google for general research, Google Maps because I’m always using public transport, various banking apps, Kindle for reading and a music app. And they’re just my regular ones!
When I’m out with friends I put my phone away, apart from taking photos. But other times I’ll pick it up to answer an email, then I’m straight on social media, chatting with friends.
I’m going to continue using the Moment app to keep tabs on my usage. Nine hours staring at a screen seems like a shocking waste of time!
Teenager: 25 hours 8 mins
‘It’s impossible to ignore a ping!’
Daily Average: 3hr 34 min
Weekly pick-ups: 569
Five most used apps: Instagram, MapMyRun, Snapchat, BBC Sport, Facebook
Most visited: Instagram (9hr 12m)
Dawn Brown, 17, is studying for A-levels and works part-time
Dawn Brown, 17, is studying for A-levels and works part-time as a tutor for Explore Learning. She lives in London with her father, an accountant, and her mother, who retired from physiotherapy through ill health.
Dawn says: My parents gave me my first phone when I was ten, a hand-me-down from my cousin, along with the big lecture about it being for safety and not to be used at the dinner table. That was seven years ago — now I’m barely off it!
I access social media, listen to the radio, check live Arsenal football scores and exercise using the Nike or MapMyRun apps. I also use the Ocado app to do the weekly food shopping because of Mum’s ill-health.
In term time I use my phone on the coach to school, a bit at lunchtime, then after school. I can’t remember what life was like without one. My hands feel twitchy and empty.
That said, my screen time is unpredictable. Some days I can easily clock up three hours, faffing around on Instagram and Snapchat. But on Saturdays when I work all day, with an hour’s break for a driving lesson, I barely use it at all.
Although I don’t think I’m addicted, it alarms me how pressing the urge is to respond as soon as I hear the ping of a notification.
Sandwich generation mum: 27 hours 10 mins
‘My phone keeps me awake at night’
Daily average: 3hr 53 min
Weekly pick-ups: 349
Five most used apps: Facebook, Gmail, Facebook Messenger, Twitter
Most visited: Facebook (9hr 39m)
Laura Featonby, 49, is single and lives in Cheshire
Laura Featonby, 49, is single and lives in Cheshire with her daughters Konnie, 12, and Darcy, 14. She owns a travel company.
Laura says: I often tell myself I don’t have time to go to a yoga class five minutes from home, yet looking at the hours I spend on Facebook I have all the time in the world.
Although I communicate with clients through Facebook Messenger for work, I get sidetracked reading people’s comments and posts that pop up on my Facebook page.
Before I know it, 20 minutes have vanished.
I’m cross with myself about that, especially as my time is now so squeezed between work, my girls and my parents, who are both in their 80s.
My mum is very poorly with Alzheimer’s and is currently in hospital, so I spend a lot of time on my phone making calls to Dad, plus researching and contacting hospitals, social workers and carers on their behalf.
Those elements of my phone usage, and work activity, are essential.
But the Moment App has highlighted that as well as spending too much time on Facebook, I’m a devil for picking up my phone when I wake in the dead of night.
Typically I wake up at 4am and instead of trying to nod off again, some nights I’m on my phone for 20 minutes replying to messages I didn’t get around to the day before.
I nag my daughters for spending too much time on their phones but I’m not exactly setting a good example, am I?
Now, I’m determined to reduce my phone use and get to that yoga class.
Silver surfer: 18 hours 35 mins
‘My mobile is like an occasional friend’
Daily Average: 2hr 39min
Weekly pick-ups: 169
Five most used apps: Email, Outlook, Safari, WhatsApp, Notes
Most visited: Email (8hr 43m)
Moira-Ann Granger, 61, is a district councillor
Moira-Ann Granger, 61, is a district councillor and works in the family outdoor leisure business with her husband Nigel, 62. She lives in Leamington Spa and has two children, Elliot, 34, and Hayley, 33.
Moira-Ann says: What has become clear from using this app is that I use my phone as a friend on days when I don’t have much work on, the weather’s grim or I’m feeling a bit lonely.
Last Wednesday, for example, I was bored, catching up with laundry, so I sought solace in my phone, browsing (and sobbing) through photos from my daughter’s wedding last month. Mostly I use my phone for work, though, and field around 70 emails a day.
But I don’t enjoy speaking on the phone. Friends are always surprised if I answer their calls, and I use WhatsApp to communicate with my children and husband.
If I’m busy I find it easy to forget about my phone — last Friday I went to an exercise class, then out shopping, and didn’t look at it until after 11am.
I have Twitter and I’m on Facebook but I rarely post anything. I’m more of a social media voyeur.
I feel I’m in control of my phone usage. and if I’m at the dinner table or out with friends it stays in my bag unless someone asks me to check a diary date. I don’t think I’m at the stage where I have a problem with it. Yet…
Young Mum: 41 hours 3 mins
‘I spent 14 hours on a game app last week’
Daily average: 5hr 52 min
weekly pick-ups: 346
Five most used apps: Toy Blast, Facebook, Safari, Email, Twitter
Most visited: Toy Blast (14hr 27m)
Hollie Gregersen, 32, is on maternity leave from her job as a buyer in the public sector
Hollie Gregersen, 32, is on maternity leave from her job as a buyer in the public sector. She lives near Hull with husband Richard, 39, a sales manager, and their sons James, two, and Ted, nine months.
Hollie says: My life is on my phone, be it banking, shopping, blogging, working, social media or engaging with customers to generate new business.
But I wasn’t prepared for the truth about just how much screen time I clock up. I’m both impressed and horrified by the app.
For me, the most embarrassing revelation is that I spent over 14 hours last week on a game app called Toy Blast.
I’ve since deleted it in a bid to claim my life back and have been taking note of the tips from Moment for reducing my usage, such as leaving my phone out of reach. When my sons nap I immerse myself in my phone and justify it to myself as being mostly for work. But I’m easily sidetracked.
I can justify a lot of it, though. I use parenting websites to connect with other mums. Being at home with young children can be terribly lonely.
My husband and I each moan about how much the other uses their phone, but we both play games on them to de-stress once the kids are in bed.
I now feel terrible for all the days I’ve said I don’t have time to visit a friend or relative, when clearly I do have plenty of time.
This week I’m going to put my phone down for a while and go to visit my elderly grandparents instead of spending hours playing games or composing the perfect photo for Instagram.