# Screen time data and research

Short, sourced reads on what the phone-use data actually says. Every number is labelled by what it measures and links to its primary source.

*Source: https://phonestop.app/data · Last checked September 2026 · PhoneStop. A daily screen time budget that stops you. A free Android app, on Google Play at https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.phonestop.*

## The reads

- **[How much of your screen time is really one app?](https://phonestop.app/data/screen-time-vs-most-used-app)**: your most-used app is about a quarter to a third of your phone time, and less for heavy users. Sensor Tower, DataReportal, Common Sense Media and Gallup.
- **[How much time do teenagers spend on their phones?](https://phonestop.app/data/how-much-time-teenagers-spend-on-phones)**: the heaviest users alive, at about 8 hours 39 minutes a day, and why blocking one app does nothing for them. Common Sense Media, Gallup, Ofcom and the CDC.
- **[What happens when you block one app?](https://phonestop.app/data/what-happens-when-you-block-one-app)**: the time tends to move to the next app, not disappear. The substitution effect, honestly, from the 2020 India TikTok ban to how the platforms behave.
- **[Knowing your screen time is not the same as spending less](https://phonestop.app/data/knowing-your-screen-time-is-not-lowering-it)**: your phone already shows the total for free, so why another tool. The self-report research, and what a report cannot do.

**PhoneStop** is a free Android app: set a daily screen time budget, get warned before it runs out, get stopped when it does. An iPhone version is coming soon. Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.phonestop · https://phonestop.app/

## Keep reading

- [Why blocking one app does not lower your screen time](https://phonestop.app/why-blocking-apps-does-not-work)
- [Best-of guides](https://phonestop.app/best)
- [Head-to-head comparisons](https://phonestop.app/compare)