Life isn’t what it used to be
before Mobile Applications

Most Canadians spend a lot of time on their phones, much of it using mobile apps

May 10, 2022

Most Canadians spend a lot of time looking at their phones, and much of the time we spend looking at our phones we spend using our mobile apps. Are you one of these Canadians? Well, probably. If you’re not sure, however, take out your phone and count how many apps you use on a daily basis.

Even if you only use two or three mobile apps, consider how much time you spend using them. If you’re unsure, check your phone to chart your screen time. If you don’t have screen time enabled, enable it! But brace yourself before you find out how fond you truly are of your phone, because you may be surprised by the results.

Around half of Canadians spend between 5 to 6 hours on their phones per day.

Around half of Canadians spend between 5 to 6 hours on their phones per day. Yes, you heard right, 5 to 6 hours. Americans spend about the same amount of time on their phones. In that amount of time, you could drive from Ottawa to Toronto, or write the first draft of a screenplay.

Remember Life Before Apps?

Depending on your age, you may remember a world before apps, even a world before the internet, when life was very, very different. Remember phonebooks?

It’s very difficult, perhaps even impossible—at least for many of us—to go about life these days without using mobile apps. Even if you belong to the rare breed of people who prefer to use regular maps over app maps, you need apps to order rideshares or check your work email when you’re not at a computer.

‘The world today is in your hands.’

Gone are the days when you needed manual calculators, radios, calendars, journals, novels, newspapers, photo albums, cameras, tape recorders, mailboxes—the list goes on and on. The world today is in your hands.

Entrepreneurial Opportunities

With the rise of apps comes the rise of new entrepreneurial opportunities. Nowadays, if you have a good idea for an app, then you also have a good business idea and, possibly, an idea that will change the world.

The mobile app market, in other words, has levelled the playing field. You don’t have to be a millionaire to create a successful app, you just need to have an idea that has potential. And, unlike many other business realms, the app game is welcome to virtually anyone willing to take their idea to a mobile app developer in Montreal.

App Dependence

The fact that the world is now in your hands can sometimes make it difficult to pay attention to the world outside your hands. Some apps soak up lots of screen time, as well as apps that are meant to limit screen time. We’ve become so dependent on apps that we even need apps to not use apps.

‘We’ve become so dependent on apps that we even need apps to not use apps.’

Is this a bad thing? Apps in themselves aren’t bad for us—at least, not most apps. On the contrary, they’re helpful—very helpful. It’s how we use and relate to apps that determine whether they’re good or bad for us. If we use a map app when we need to get somewhere, that’s good for us. If we use a social media app because we can’t handle being alone or because we struggle to socialize in real life, that’s a different story.