More than half of American adults believe they spend too much time on their smartphone, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center published September 1. The findings, drawn from a nationally representative sample of 9,750 U.S. adults surveyed between May 26 and June 1, 2026, paint a picture of a population increasingly aware of its own digital habits — and largely unable to change them.
Who feels it most
Fifty-three percent of U.S. adults say they spend too much time on their smartphone, while about a third say their use is about right. Just 3% say they spend too little time on their devices.
The sense of excess is sharpest among younger adults. Seven in ten adults under 30 say they spend too much time on their phone, as do about two-thirds of those ages 30 to 49. The figures drop significantly with age: Roughly half of those ages 50 to 64 say the same, and just a quarter of those 65 and older.
Usage patterns explain the age gap. About one in four U.S. adults overall say they are on their smartphone “almost constantly.” Among adults under 30, that figure rises to 42%. A third of those ages 30 to 49 say the same, compared with 21% of those ages 50 to 64 and just 9% of those 65 and older.
Read about trends among teens here.
Trying to cut back — and failing
Forty-five percent of U.S. adults say they have tried to cut back on their smartphone use over the past 12 months. Among those who feel they spend too much time on their phone, the share rises to 62%.
But wanting to cut back and actually doing it are different things. Among those who tried, only a quarter say they were extremely or very successful. Another 52% say they were somewhat successful, and 23% say they were not successful at all. Success rates varied little by age among those who made the attempt, even though younger adults were far more likely to try.
What smartphones help and hurt
Americans see clear benefits from their devices. Roughly three in four adults say their smartphone helps them stay informed, and about half say it helps them feel connected to others.
Views on productivity are more divided — similar shares say smartphones help, hurt, or have no impact on how much they get done. The same split applies to mood: about equal numbers say phones help and hurt how they feel, with roughly half saying phones make no difference either way.
Sleep stands out as the clearest downside. Forty-one percent of adults say their smartphone hurts the amount of sleep they get, compared with just 5% who say it helps. The impact is sharpest among the young: a majority of adults under 30 — 62% — say their smartphone hurts their sleep, as do about half of those ages 30 to 49.
The Catholic angle
The findings arrive in a cultural moment that Pope Leo XIV addressed directly in Magnifica Humanitas and at his general audience on August 5, when he warned against the confusion of prayer with “just another technique aimed at personal well-being” — and urged the faithful to use the summer to “cultivate your interior life by spending a little more time with the Lord in prayer.”
The Pew data suggests that the distraction he was diagnosing is not abstract: more than half of Americans already know the phone is taking something from them. The harder question — what to do about it — remains, by the survey’s own evidence, largely unanswered.
