iPhone owners are misusing their devices according to Apple Designer Jony Ive

While many stick to Apple’s flagship smartphones for the sleek operating system and accessible user interface, one of the most consistent complaints from iPhone users is the lack of battery life. Apple’s top designer Jony Ive might have answered why this is, stating that many in fact misuse their devices by not putting them down.

Taking the stage at the New Yorker TechFest on Friday, Ive commented on how the iPhone has changed the world by addressing the good and the bad. “Like any tool, you can see there's wonderful use and then there's misuse,” which Ive clarifies is defined by “constant use.”

Smartphone overuse is a growing problem; one which Apple is increasingly tackling with its public-relations team. Unfortunately, its solution to this issue is just as unsatisfactory and business-esque as you’d imagine, with Ive stating that his solution is to buy another Apple product.

Ive states that he doesn’t relate to those that check their emails on a regular basis, stating “With my new [Apple] watch, I tend to not.”

This is an extremely similar to CEO Tim Cook’s statement to Fortune regarding how the Apple Watch is perfect to curb the perception of iPhones as tools “bad social behaviour, like distractedness and children who stare for too long into a screen.”

“Our whole premise is to infuse our products with humanity,” Cook explains. “So if you think about what the watch does … it allows you to have a curated level of connection without being absorbed in it.”

Unfortunately for Apple, it is likely to be the biggest target as the problem of smartphone overuse and addiction continues to grow. While it is namely the fault of the user, the goliath company is one of the largest contributors and perhaps viewed as the originator, meaning it has its work cut out for it.

KitGuru Says: I’ll admit to an unhealthy amount of time on my phone occasionally, being so involved in the digital world and I’m not an iPhone user. I think that blaming Apple for the problem isn’t going to solve anything and that the fault really does lie on the user to recognise and do something about. Do you use your phone a bit too much?

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