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18-24 year olds Completely Lost with out Smartphones

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A study of 2,000 smartphone users has revealed that the younger demographic struggle the most when without an internet connection, with 50 per cent of 18-24 year olds admitting that they would feel “completely lost” if they are out and about and could not get online.

According to a new survey conducted by Telenav GMBh, the German  developer of Scout - a free sat nav app which includes offline functionality, nearly a third of respondents in the 18-24 age bracket say that they would have little use for a smartphone that didn’t have an internet connection, which is not surprising considering that they were born in the digital age  and 37 per cent say they use an internet connection on their handheld more than any other feature, including making calls this however did not distinguish between 3G, 4G and WI-FI.

What 18-24 year olds are doing the most is socialising taking selfies, surfing the web for anything that takes their fancy. 46 per cent regularly keep in contact with friends through apps like WhatsApp and nearly 30 per cent are frustrated if they can’t access social media accounts such as Facebook or Twitter.

The younger generation is also embracing more practical uses for their smartphones, with 45 per cent using maps on their phone to navigate and a third admitting they’d be totally reliant on the internet to find their way around in a new place. With just 15 per cent of respondents admitting to being comfortable getting to a destination by reading road signs and 85 per cent admitting they can’t read maps, it’s no surprise there’s an increasing reliance on online mapping solutions.

But problems arise when there is no access to data. Unsurprisingly a significant number of people get frustrated when 3G/4G isn’t working, and this is a continuous problem as 23 per cent of the UK landmass has no access to 3G at all.

With so many apps placing a heavy or total reliance on an internet connection we’ve seen how problems can arise when you can’t get online – services that were previously taken for granted suddenly become all but useless, which could leave people in a tight spot” said Marcus Thielking, Managing Director of Telenav GmbH.

What’s more, a third of respondents rely on an active internet connection to decide the best route from A to B and 35 per cent of UK adults – representative of 16 million people – refuse to pay for expensive online roaming costs, so getting stuck without access is a significant problem and with widely publicised issues surrounding roaming, sometimes resulting in bills that run into thousands of pounds, it’s one that needs to be addressed.

“Smartphone users, whether young or old, shouldn’t have to worry about running up huge bills or being stuck without vital functionality that they’ve grown to rely on,” Thielking continued. “That’s why apps that also work offline, like free sat nav app Scout, can help eliminate the problems smartphone users face. With Scout, if you lose your internet connection, you won’t lose your way.”