We can't stop obsessively checking our phones and now we have proof.
Locket, an Android app that pays users in exchange for placing ads on their lockscreens, has compiled data on its 150,000-plus users and, guess what: They're constantly locking and unlocking their phones. In some cases, Locket has seen individual users unlock their phones up to 900 times in a single day.
According to Locket's data, on a given day, the average user checks his or her phone 110 times per day, with its highest frequency users unlocking their home screens many times more.
Locket's users are most active between 5–8 p.m. ET, when over 75% of users are actively swiping. During peak hours the average user checks his or her phone nine times an hour. Even during low frequency hours (3–5 a.m. ET), 24% of Locket users are actively swiping, with the average user checking his or her phone four times an hour.
While the numbers are insane, there are a few important caveats here. Locket may incentivize its users to unlock their phones by paying them to swipe across ads on their lock screens. However, other recent reports peg the number of home screen swipes unlocks even higher than Locket's average, suggesting that the average phone user checks his or her phone up to 150 times per day — Locket is likely capitalizing on an existing habit, not encouraging it.
And when you stop to think about it, 110 checks a day doesn't seem too ridiculous. Spread over 12 hours, that's one glimpse every six or seven minutes. When you factor in every clock check, text notification and Twitter refresh, that starts to sound... kind of low? God, we need help.