Apple must use software to prevent excessive smartphone use by children

Apple should create tools to enable parents to combat the excessive use of iPhones by children. Two shareholders argue for this, who say they have a total of two billion dollars in Apple shares.

The tools should give parents control over how much their children can use their iPhones, the shareholders argue in an open letter on a specially made website. With this software, parents should be able to ensure that smartphone use remains within limits.

This is important for children, because their brains are still developing. The shareholders have consulted with professor Jean Twenge, author of the book iGen, which was published last year. In it she publishes many results of research among American teenagers over the years. This shows, among other things, a negative correlation between smartphone use and happiness; young people who use their smartphone more are more unhappy. Twenge does not know whether smartphone use leads to less happiness or whether less happiness leads to more smartphone use.

According to the shareholders, Apple will not make more money if users use their iPhones more and the company can benefit if customers become mentally healthier through changes to the software. There is no evidence that such tools in the software lead to young people using their smartphones less.

Apple has not yet responded to the call, The Wall Street Journal writes in an article that can be read publicly via an archive site. In the past, Apple has often listened to such calls. For example, there was an extra check on purchases, because many parents received high bills for in-app purchases from children. Apple has a large market share among American youth. According to recent figures, 76 percent of American teens own an iPhone.