By CLICK Staff
NEW YORK—Fully 91 percent of American adults own a cell phone and many use the devices for much more than phone calls.
In a recent nationally representative survey,
Pew Internet & American Life Project checked in on some of the most popular activities people perform on their cell phones:
Leading the list is sending or receiving texts, followed by
accessing the internet and sending or receiving email. But app downloads
among most people have jumped significantly. In fact, now some 50
percent of cell owners download apps—up from 22 percent in 2009. Many
use certain location-based services like getting directions or
recommendations. Nearly half of cell owners (48 percent) use their
phones to listen to music. The proportion of cell owners who use video
calling has tripled since May 2011.
Overall, almost all activities have seen steady upward growth over time.
Findings in this report are based on data from telephone interviews conducted for Pew by Princeton Survey Research Associates International from April 17 to May 19, 2013, among a sample of 2,252 adults ages 18 and older.
Another related survey by Pew about the role of "location-based" usage habits revealed that many internet users are adding a new layer of location information to their posts, and a majority of smartphone owners use their phones' location-based services. This report shows that 74 percent of adult smartphone users ages 18 and older say they use their phone to get directions and other information based on their current location.
There is notable growth in the number of social media users who are now setting their accounts to include location in their posts: Among adult social media users ages 18 and older, 30 percent say that at least one of their accounts is currently set up to include their location in their posts, up from 14 percent who said they had ever done this in 2011. There is a modest drop in the number of smartphone owners who use "check in" location services: Some 12 percent of adult smartphone owners say they use a geosocial service to "check in" to certain locations or share their location with friends, down from 18 percent in early 2012.
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