A Comparative Survey on Daily Health Habits Among iPhone and Android Smartphone Users

Abstract

Background: With the increasing use of smartphone-based lifestyle interventions, it is important to understand whether people’s preferred operating system (iOS or Android) is linked to their lifestyle habits. Purpose: Our goal was to determine whether the choice of an iOS- or Android-powered smartphone independently affected daily health habits. Methods: We recruited participants for an online survey using the CloudResearch® Connect™ platform. The survey collected basic sociodemographic data, information on the participant’s primary smartphone operating system, and the HLPCQ to estimate daily health habits. Results: Of the 195 participants, 54.4% identified as Android users. We found that iOS users tended to be younger, had higher estimated annual household incomes, and had higher levels of education. However, we found no statistically significant link between the operating system and the HLPCQ total score or any of its subscales. Instead, age, employment status, and estimated annual household income were found to be more strongly associated with daily health habits. Conclusion: This study did not find a significant association between the smartphone operating system and daily health habits as measured by the HLPCQ. The findings suggest that future smartphone-based lifestyle interventions should instead focus on established sociodemographic factors linked to lifestyle habits.