Am I addicted to my phone? How to check with your own numbers
There is no official number of hours or pickups that means you are addicted to your phone, and the questionnaires researchers use say they measure risk rather than diagnose. You can still check yourself in two ways. First, read a week of Screen Time: daily average, pickups, notifications and your top apps. Second, answer a short validated questionnaire such as the 10-item Smartphone Addiction Scale (SAS-SV). If the numbers are higher than you would choose, start with the app at the top of your list.
Written by Ayumu Kitabayashi, the developer of minulo. Apple's help, the SAS-SV paper and the screening pages below were opened and checked on 2026-10-24. This page is for looking at your own habits. It isn't medical advice, and it can't tell you whether you have a disorder.
| What to check | Where | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Daily average | Settings > Screen Time > Daily Average, then Week | How it compares with the time you would want to spend. |
| Pickups | Same screen, scroll down to Pickups | How many times a day you pick up the phone, and which app you open first. |
| Notifications | Same screen, Notifications | Which apps keep calling you back. |
| Most used apps | Same screen | Whether one or two apps take most of the time. |
| SAS-SV (10 questions) | Kwon et al. (2013); a Japanese version from Kurihama Medical and Addiction Center | 31 or more for males, 33 or more for females is the high-risk cutoff. |
Signs people notice first
You unlock the phone to check the time and end up in Instagram. You reach for it at a red light. You meant to sleep at midnight, and at 1:30 you are still on Shorts. These moments are common and don't mean anything is wrong on their own. The useful question is whether you use the phone more than you want to, and whether it keeps getting in the way of things you care about.
Step 1: Read a week of Screen Time
Apple's iPhone guide says Screen Time gives you an overview of the time you spend on your devices, your most used apps, how often you pick up your iPhone and more.
- Open Settings, tap Screen Time, then Daily Average.
- Tap Week for the weekly summary or Day for a single day.
- Scroll down to see Pickups and Notifications.
- Swipe the chart to compare with earlier weeks.
For a typical week, write down four numbers: your daily average, your daily pickups, the app you open first after picking up, and the time on your top app. Then ask yourself what you would want each number to be. Apple doesn't give a normal range, and I haven't found a study that sets one either.
Step 2: Count the times you open an app without deciding to
For two or three days, every time you notice you have opened Instagram, TikTok or YouTube without having decided to, add a tally mark in Notes. This is the habit that Screen Time doesn't separate out. If most of your pickups start this way, making the app slower to reach is usually more realistic than trying harder.
Step 3: Answer a short questionnaire
The Smartphone Addiction Scale Short Version (SAS-SV) was developed by Kwon and colleagues in 2013 with 540 adolescents (average age 14.5). It has 10 statements, each rated from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree), so scores run from 10 to 60. The authors suggest cutoffs of 31 for boys and 33 for girls. They write that the scale is not designed to diagnose smartphone addiction but to identify the level of risk and pick out a high-risk group. Kurihama Medical and Addiction Center in Japan publishes the 10 items in Japanese with the same cutoffs.
In Korea, the Smart Shim Center run by the National Information Society Agency (NIA) offers its own 10-item overdependence test for young children, teens and adults. Each item is scored 1 to 4, and results fall into high-risk, potential-risk or general user groups.
How common heavy use is
In Korea's 2024 national survey (Ministry of Science and ICT, face-to-face interviews in 10,000 households, published March 2025), 22.9% of smartphone users and 42.6% of those aged 10 to 19 were in the overdependence risk group. In Japan, the Children and Families Agency's 2024 survey of 10- to 17-year-olds found that high school students used the internet for an average of 379.4 minutes on a weekday across all their devices. High school students who go online on a smartphone averaged 238.5 minutes on it.
What the results mean
A high score or a large Screen Time number is a reason to look more closely, not a diagnosis. The SAS-SV authors say so themselves. If phone use is causing serious trouble with sleep, school, work or relationships, or you feel you can't cut back at all, talk to a doctor or a counselor. In Korea, the Smart Shim Center takes counseling calls at 1599-0075.
Change the app at the top of your list
For most people, one or two apps take most of the time. If yours are Instagram, YouTube or TikTok, and what pulls you in is Reels, Shorts or the For You feed, you can remove just those parts. minulo is an iPhone app that opens these apps with Reels, Shorts and For You hidden while DMs keep working. Hiding is free. It can also lock the official apps with Screen Time, free for up to 2 hours per block. It is iPhone only. After a week, open Screen Time again and compare.
How do I know if I'm addicted to my phone?
There is no single test. Look at a week of Screen Time (daily average, pickups, top apps) and answer a validated questionnaire such as the 10-item SAS-SV. Its authors say it identifies risk rather than diagnosing addiction. If phone use is causing problems you can't fix on your own, talk to a doctor or counselor.
How many phone pickups a day is normal?
There is no official normal number. Apple shows your pickups but doesn't set a target, and I haven't found a study that does. Compare your own weeks, and notice which app you open first after picking up.
Where can I see my pickups on iPhone?
Open Settings > Screen Time > Daily Average, choose Week or Day, and scroll down to Pickups and Notifications.
What score on the SAS-SV means high risk?
In the original 2013 paper, 31 or more for boys and 33 or more for girls, out of 60. The authors say the scale screens for risk and isn't designed to diagnose.
What should I do if my screen time is too high?
Start with the app at the top of your list. If it is Instagram, YouTube or TikTok, removing only the endless feed (Reels, Shorts or For You) lets you keep your messages. On iPhone, minulo does this for free. Check Screen Time again after a week.
Sources
- Apple: Get started with Screen Time on iPhone
- Kwon M. et al. (2013). The Smartphone Addiction Scale: Development and Validation of a Short Version for Adolescents. PLoS ONE 8(12): e83558
- Kurihama Medical and Addiction Center: Smartphone Addiction Scale Short Version (SAS-SV), Japanese
- Smart Shim Center (NIA): smartphone overdependence scale, Korean
- Yonhap News (2025-03-27): 2024 smartphone overdependence survey, Korean
- Children and Families Agency (Japan): 2024 survey on young people's internet use, Japanese
- App Store (US): minulo
