Do You Go Online More Often With a Smartphone?

Answer: Yes. With so much of the wonderful worldwide web at your touch-screen-connected fingertips, you're probably going online several times more on a given day than when you had a dumb phone. And if you're like one-third of Americans, you're taking your first web break before you even get out of bed.

What's the first thing you do every morning? Hop in the shower? Grab a glass of water? Hit the porcelain throne?

According to a study from Ericsson ConsumerLab (PDF), about one-third of you reading this should have answered that question with "Open up a smartphone app." Ericsson found that 35 percent of smartphone owners in the U.S. open up a non-voice application before removing the covers.

According to The Atlantic:

Checking Facebook is the most common activity, with 18 percent of social networking users logging in to their personal accounts "while their heads are still on the pillow," according to the 18-month survey. "Apps for news, weather and even Craigslist are all becoming a part of the morning routine for U.S. smartphone users," the survey found. "After getting out of bed, among those who use such services, 23 percent access the Internet via their browsers, and 24 percent check their mail."

It's part of a bigger trend, according to the study. Smartphones open up the opportunity for users to get online in frequent, short bursts. It's a stark contrast to pre-smartphone days, when web use was relegated to big, sparse chunks of time spent in front of a computer.

In our limited experience, the Ericsson study is right-on. Before my first smartphone, a Blackberry in 2007, I was online in big chunks, usually in the morning and afternoon before and after class. But now, as soon as I hear my alarm (also on my phone), I reach over to check my emails. If I'm having a particularly sleepy morning, I'll even check Facebook before I get up.

How about you? Does your smartphone compel you to open up apps in the early A.M.? Are you checking in with the web in short bursts all day? Tell us in the comments!

via The Atlantic

(Images: Flickr member Mely-o licensed for use under Creative Commons, Ericsson.com)

Comments (7)

My iPhone is certainly the first way that I access the Internet during the day because it's on virtually instantly, no waiting for a computer to start up.

I try not to touch my phone until I have my breakfast made in the morning. But then I read my rss feed while I'm eating.

Not really. Don't have unlimited data (too expensive and isn't truly "unlimited"), so I'm way too conscious of using 3g for data. Turning on the desktop computer is usually among the first things I do in the morning, including going to the toilet, brushing teeth, drinking a glass of water, etc.

I don't check FB on my smartphone (Android). I don't even have the FB app installed (never). The app versions of websites are just too limited for me. It's useful for when I want to upload just one photo or two to Flickr, but for browsing or typing purposes, I still strongly prefer a larger screen.

I'm guessing I'm in the minority, though. I don't think I even send more than 50 text messages in a month.

@randomname Why wouldn't you just access them using WiFi?

I have several email accounts that I need to monitor so having them all on my iPod Touch saves me the trouble of logging into each one individually, especially when email only occasionally trickle in from contacts not on Facebook. I had browser plug-ins for gmail and yahoo before but never got around to reinstalling them after one browser upgrade or another.

Guilty of checking everything before I get out of bed, and throughout the day, especially during the frequent bouts of waiting that is part of my job.

@Rob do you mean why don't I access the websites via Wifi vs apps? Or do you mean just do everything through wifi vs 3g? I don't find free/open wifi everywhere I go. I do sometimes check things while out and about using 3g if I need to. I guess by far I spend enough time on the computer, which I don't mind, so it doesn't bother me wait until I'm back on a computer to check something.

Or do you mean using wifi at home to check my smartphone first thing in the morning?

I think I just like my regular-sized keyboard and mouse too much to enjoy spending a lot of time looking at tiny little touchscreens.

@randomname The second option. I totally prefer to use a nice, big monitor and keyboard and mouse as well, but to check the weather in the morning seems to be easiest with my phone. A few purpose-specific apps might be nice to give yourself the quick view without having to fire up your rig.