The amount of time that Germans spend on their smartphones has risen again. A survey by the IT industry association Bitkom found that, on average, users keep their devices on for 180 minutes each day in 2026 – compared with roughly 150 minutes in 2024.
Youth use their phones the most. People aged 16 to 29 spend an average of 216 minutes per day on their smartphones, well above the figures for older age groups. Those between 30 and 49 use their phones for 192 minutes daily, 50‑to‑64‑year‑olds for 177 minutes, and the 65‑plus group drops sharply to 113 minutes per day.
When looking only at telephone calls, the daily usage is much lower: callers average 26 minutes per day, which is only a small portion of the overall 180 minutes. Calling remains important, but the smartphone is largely used for other purposes. For people up to 64 years old, call duration stays nearly constant at about half an hour each day. After age 65, it falls noticeably to just 18 minutes per day.
The way people hold their phones has also changed. Only 56 percent still hold the phone like a traditional handset. 48 percent use headphones or a headset for “hands‑free” calling, 42 percent rely on the speaker‑phone function, and 37 percent normally hold the device vertically in front of their mouth while talking.
To gather the data, Bitkom Research conducted telephone interviews with 1,006 German residents aged 16 and older, of whom 861 were smartphone users. The survey took place during the first five calendar weeks of 2026.