The study, conducted by researchers at the University of British Columbia, explored the links between age and smartphone use by remotely tracking smartphone users’ habits. “As researchers working to protect smartphones from unauthorized access, we need to first understand how users use their devices,” explained Konstantin Beznosov, a professor of electrical and computer engineering who supervised the research. To collect their data, the research team recruited 134 volunteers, ranging in age from 19 to 63, and had them install a custom app to their Android phones for a period of two months. The app logged all of their lock and unlock events, including whether they opted for auto or manual lock, and the movements of the phone at the time of unlocking. This is how they discovered the generational differences in unlocking habits. The researchers also collected data on the length of user sessions. The team found that in addition to a person’s preferred method for unlocking their phones, the amount of time spent on the phone also correlated with age. As one report on the study explains, “Analysis showed that older users used their phone less frequently than younger users. For every 10-year interval in age, there was a corresponding 25 per cent decrease in the number of user sessions. In other words, a 25-year-old might use their phone 20 times a day, but a 35-year-old might use it only 15 times.“ae0fcc31ae342fd3a1346ebb1f342fcb
