The adoption of mobile technology has continued to increase as devices become more useful for business and home use. Business people find using smartphones and tablets in the field highly adaptable to a wide variety of situations. Staying connected with the home office while working with customers face-to-face can be accomplished almost anywhere as long as there is a mobile connection. This versatility has made mobile adoption just as high for personal users. Students use mobile technology to access resources from home, families find their favorite entertainment via mobile connections, and even senior citizens are learning to read newspapers and magazines on mobile devices. Mobile technology seems to have a niche for most demographics as long as they are willing to learn.

Popularity of Texting

Texting was first adopted by younger smartphone users. According to Pew Research Center, 15% of Americans ages 18-29 are heavily dependent on a smartphone for online access. Texting makes up 33% of Millennials’ mobile usage. For many younger users, texting is their primary method of communication; they prefer texting to making phone calls. Texting is fast and easy, and it can be done anywhere. Users can text multiple people simultaneously in the same message or in several messages. Texting is also unlimited for a majority of cellphone plans. Users can text from most types of cellphones; they don’t have to own a smartphone.

Messaging is the #1 reported use of smartphones. 70% of smartphone owners say messaging is one of the top 5 uses of their device. That’s at least 13% higher than any other phone feature. Texting can be done silently, making it easy to use when in a crowd, watching entertainment, or in a location that requires quiet such as a classroom or library.

Texting is Low-Cost

According to the Statistic Brain Research Institute, the number of texts sent each day in America has grown 23% since 2016. Texting can be done instantaneously, across long distances for a very low cost, especially when compared to long-distance landline rates. Texting is fast becoming the top method of communication for families and businesses. While texting is generally used to send short messages, smartphone users can attach files to texts in place of sending an email. Smartphones can send and receive text, image and video messages using text apps. Since at least 97% of smartphone owners text regularly, it is obvious that texting rates will continue to increase going forward.