Apple counters smartphone addiction with new iOS 12 operating system

The smartphone has become the linchpin for an entire generation. Young people in particular can hardly imagine life without an iPhone or Android smartphone. Jean M. Twenge, Professor of Psychology at San Diego State University, speaks of a "veritable obsession". Almost all of the young people she interviewed for a study sleep with their smartphones, placing them under their pillow, on the mattress or at least within reach of the bed. "Their smartphone is the last thing they see before going to sleep and the first thing that catches their eye in the morning," writes Twenge in her latest book about the "selfie generation".

Their smartphone is the last thing they see before they go to sleep and the first thing that catches their eye in the morning.

The fact that this intensive use of smartphones can have negative consequences has now also gotten around to the manufacturers of the devices. At the Apple developer conference WWDC, the iPhone company's head of software, Craig Federighi, admitted that it was time to address the outsized impact of smartphones on everyday life. "For some of us, it's become such a habit that we may not even realize how distracted we've become," he said.

Apple is now taking several steps to counteract potential smartphone addiction. Firstly, with the new iOS 12 mobile operating system, which will also run on older iPhones from model year 2013 onwards, users can silence their iPhone more quickly. For dinner, at the movies, at night or on other occasions, the Apple smartphone can be quickly taught to stop begging for attention with ringtones, vibrations or screen displays.

At the same time, iPhone owners can see how much time they have spent using individual apps or how often they have checked for new messages. Users can also set upper limits for individual applications or genres such as "Games", which they can also override with a swipe.

Rigid are the functions that parents can use to control their children's smartphone and tablet use. Parents can use the "family release" function to specify, for example, that the device can no longer be used after a certain time in the evening. The limits can be set flexibly. For example, parents can block games, social networks, listening to music or video apps in the evening, but leave the app for learning Latin vocabulary available.

Apple is also meeting the demands of critical investors with the new functions. In the run-up to the most recent shareholders' meeting in January 2018, the investment firm Jana Partners and a pension fund for teachers in California, which together hold millions of Apple shares, sent an open letter to the company asking it to investigate the health effects of its products, particularly on children. However, as the development of a new version of the iOS mobile system has a good year's lead time, Apple's management around CEO Tim Cook is likely to have decided long beforehand to introduce this self-restriction.

A month ago, Google announced a similar program for self-regulation of its Android users before Apple. However, Google's "Digital Wellbeing" initiative is likely to have less impact: In contrast to the Apple ecosystem, only a minority of well under ten percent ever use the latest Android system. In contrast, the majority of iPhone and iPad users have the latest iOS installed after just a few weeks. In addition, children and young people often use older or cheaper models that will probably never be updated to the latest "P" version in the Android universe.

Apple does not have to take its own interests into consideration either: For the iPhone manufacturer, it hardly makes a difference after the sale of the hardware how many hours a day a device with the Apple logo is used. The situation is somewhat different for the competition. Facebook in particular benefits financially if users use the company's services as often as possible and are exposed to advertising, which is the main source of revenue for Apple's competitor. (AWP/SDA/DPA)